Are "natural" remedies really better when it comes to ADHD, autism, and related conditions? What does it mean to use a "natural" treatment or intervention? In this episode, I discuss why those questions aren't easy to answer. Specifically, I discuss: ✅The "appeal to nature" fallacy, what it is and why it's potentially harmful. ✅Common "natural" treatments for conditions like ADHD (such as diet, sleep hygiene, supplementation) ✅How to avoid distorted thinking when making decisions about medication and other treatment options. ✅The problem with "child-led" interventions, and how to reframe that term in a way that helps kids build resilience. In this episode, I mentioned  this episode about homeopathy from the Unbiased Science podcast. I also mentioned the book "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. If you want to create healthy home environment that supports executive functioning and independence in school-age kids, check out my program for therapists, teachers, and parents, Executive Functioning for Success. Executive Functioning for Success provides a 12-week plan for optimizing your home for learning, and helping kids become more independent with daily tasks at the same time. Whether it be simple chores, basic self-care and hygiene, or academic tasks; this program will show you how to teach your kids the critical thinking skills to work through it. You can learn more about how to join here: https://drkarenspeech.com/executivefunctions (Disclaimer: This episode should not be considered medical or legal advice, and should not be used to diagnose or treat any specific medical condition). The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 
We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL and MyFlexLearning. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you simplify and streamline technology, reliably meet Tier 1 standards, improve assessment performance, and more. Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.MyFlexLearning is the scheduling platform that helps middle and high schools meet the individual needs of all students. Create and manage time for flex blocks, WIN time, activity periods, RTI, counselor and teacher appointments and much more. And with a built-in accountability tool and reporting features, solve your challenges around getting kids where they need to be and understanding how flex time is spent. Make your flex time work for you. Visit myflexlearning.com/BE to learn more and receive $500 off the first year.