Episodes

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss a major parent, learner, and educational therapist frustration today–which is why strategies don’t stick. In this episode they dig into the plethora of reasons why strategies don’t stick or rather become “generalized skills”. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website @learnsmarterp...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome back Diane Dempster, co-founder of Impact Parents. She discusses the different flavors of parent roles in the educational therapy process (“you handle it,” “micromanager,” and “in-betweeners”). She shares about the importance of creating a relationship with parents and personalizing the relationship. She also shares a tool, AC-E (acknowledge, show compassion, wait and explore) that can help diffuse upregulated situations. They on...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss the complex nature of disclosing diagnoses to learners. They discuss parents’ fear of disclosing diagnoses versus the reality of what it actually means to share diagnostic information. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website @learnsmarterpodcast, @kappedtherapy, @myedtherapist

In this re-air of episode 186, Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET explore the concept of the “all or nothing brain” and how it impacts learning, school, and daily life. Rachel and Steph break down what it means, how it commonly shows up, and why recognizing this pattern is so important. Through real-world examples, they highlight the ways an all-or-nothing mindset can influence decision-making and share insights into supporting learners who think this way. Support us on ...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Dr. Brennan Chandler, Assistant Professor at Georgia State University, for the second half of their conversation. Dr. Chandler shares what works: effective instruction and support can lead to skilled, confident readers. He discusses his role of breaking down the research and talks about the benefit of targeted, direct, explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling and reading fluency support. He discusses our job ...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Dr. Brennan Chandler, Assistant Professor at Georgia State University for the first part of our conversation. He defines dyslexia for us in 3 different ways (legal, medical, IDA/practical) and discusses myths of dyslexia. He discusses risk factors and protective or resilience factors which impact risk for dyslexia. He talks about how intervention needs to be maintained throughout education, not just in K-2. He shares how overacco...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, discuss their favorite word: studenting. They explain the concept, why it’s important to understand and how to use it as an effective tool to understand how time is best spent for learners. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website @learnsmarterpodcast, @kappedtherapy, @myedtherapist Oth...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Rachel’s client, Luke, to the podcast. Luke initially started working with Rachel to support his ability to organize, study, and learn how to be less reliant on his memory. Luke shares how simplifying his systems, learning to keep everything in one place and learning HOW to study was a gamechanger for him. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kap...

In this re-air episode, Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, sit down with Diane Gould to explore Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). Diane shares how she became interested in PDA, her role in raising awareness in the United States, and why traditional behavioral strategies often fall short for individuals with PDA. She explains the “can’t, not won’t” perspective, offering practical ways to provide support—such as building trust, prioritizing connection, fostering collabo...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Dr. Johan Wiklund, a Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship at Syracuse University. He chats with Rachel and Stephanie about how ADHD can be a huge benefit for entrepreneurs with ADHD. He discusses benefits of the high adaptability of individuals with ADHD and their ability to outsource tasks for which they’re not well-suited. He highlights that individuals with ADHD are more driven to take steps forward without worrying abo...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET explore the connection between ADHD and executive functioning in this re-air of episode 10. The discussion includes practical strategies to support skill development in reading, writing, and math, as well as methods for strengthening executive functioning. This episode highlights effective ways to build collaboration and promote academic growth in learners both in and out of the classroom. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/l...

In this re-air of episode 141, Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET sit down with clinical psychologist Dr. Donna Henderson to explore how our understanding of autism has evolved over time. Dr. Henderson shares the benefits of receiving a diagnosis, when it can be most useful, and why autism is often misunderstood—especially in girls. She offers expert insight into the nuanced ways autism presents differently across genders, helping listeners better understand why so many g...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET chat about a familiar story–“This year is going to be different.” Students start off the school year optimistic, energized, and determined to stay on top of their assignments, keep their binders neat, and avoid procrastination. Rachel and Steph unpack why students are so certain each new year will be different, typical executive functioning traps and what can be done to support systemic and sustainable change. Support us on Patreon: http...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET share all the ways strengthening executive functioning skills are layered into all the traditional summer things: beaches, camps and vacations. In this episode they break down all the executive functioning skills that learners can and do acquire over the course of their summers and some simple, non-demanding ways the adults in their lives can reinforce their growth. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How ...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET are excited to share this much requested episode about independent games that learners can play. Steph, the resident Game Guru, shares some of her favorite games and why they strengthen skills in an independent, fun, engaging way that mitigates learner resistance. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed T...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Integrative Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Sara Langley. She talks about what integrative psychiatric nurse practitioners do, how nutrition works in tandem with medication, and why it’s beneficial to look at the whole picture of a learner. She also makes some simple recommendations that are easy to implement and can have a tremendous impact. Connect with Sara Langley: www.childkindpsychiatry.com www.mommiesinmind.com Support us...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET are thrilled to welcome Anya Kamenetz to the podcast to discuss her book, The Stolen Year: How COVID Changed Children’s Lives, and Where We Go Now. This is an incredibly rich discussion about how remote learning was a force multiplier for inequity, what it revealed about our values in the United States, and so much more. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rach...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome parent educator, coach, former elementary school administrator and former special education teacher, Sari Goodman. She talks about the importance of empathy, being a resource for parents who don’t know what to do and need help, and how critical a village is. We talk about how important it is to demystify educational jargon and some simple tricks to helping parents and lay people to understand their learner. She talks about priori...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome LCSW Debbie Murad. She shares how digital addiction is akin to other addictions and the consequences. She shares the differences between heavy screen use and digital addiction. She discusses risk factors and discusses how relationship issues are often evident in digital addiction. She shares suggestions for reestablishing connection and prioritizing the relationship to begin addressing the digital addiction. She shares how to set...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET talk about one of the hidden and often overlooked elements of educational therapy–bandwidth. Bandwidth is the mental energy one has to devote to a task and understanding bandwidth in relation to school, learning and studenting is critical in the educational therapy process. In this episode, Rachel and Stephanie explore the impact of bandwidth. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Joi...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, welcome Emily Kircher-Morris and Amanda Morin on the podcast to discuss their new book, Neurodiversity Affirming Schools: Transforming Practices so All Students Feel Accepted & Supported. During this wide-ranging conversation, they discuss collaboration, neurodiversity affirming schools, and neurodiversity vs neurodivergent. They also discuss how small changes can make a big impact globally, behavior is communication and contextual, how...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss summer slide. They talk about all the opportunities for growth over the summer and share their own summer experiences. They chat about why it’s important for most learners to continue educational therapy over the summer. Of course, they also share some tips on how to maintain skills and avoid a summer slide. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s K...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss negative self-talk. They discuss what it is, why it happens and, most importantly, what to do about it. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website @learnsmarterpodcast, @kappedtherapy, @myedtherapist

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET are back to discuss their favorite topic: calendaring! Today they dig into ALL THE THINGS adults need on their calendars. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website @learnsmarterpodcast, @kappedtherapy, @myedtherapist Other episodes mentioned: Ep 02: How to calendar Ep 78: How to Calendar li...