Description:

Many children face challenges at school after epilepsy surgery. They may have difficulty making or maintaining academic progress for various reasons. This Power Hour will discuss the concept of cognitive load and offer perspectives on how it can help you and your child’s team understand how they learn, both at home and at school. We will learn about working memory and its relationship to reading, oral language, math skills, and other academic areas. Suggestions for advocacy and accommodations that can be integrated into the IEP process and in direct discussions with teachers and other educators will be provided.

Amy Maguire is a speech language pathologist who works in the Department of Speech, Language, and Swallowing Disorders at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. She is also a researcher at the MGH Institute of Health Profession’s (IHP) Rehabilitation Sciences program in the Brain, Education, and Mind (BEAM) lab, directed by Dr. Joanna Christodoulou. Amy’s research and clinical interests fall at the intersection of speech language pathology and neurosurgery, and she is passionate about understanding and advocating for the best possible neurocognitive outcomes in adults and children undergoing neurosurgery. While her expertise is focused on language and literacy, her clinical experience extends across other academic skill areas, including math and executive function skills.