About the Executive Function Institute
The Executive Function Institute was created to help professionals move beyond identifying executive function challenges to understanding why participation changes.
Our work is built on a body-first, participation-focused approach that integrates regulation, interoception, executive function, and meaningful participation into one clinical reasoning framework. Through education, assessment, and practical implementation tools, we help clinicians confidently understand, assess, and support executive function access across home, school, and community settings.
Why this work matters
Every day, professionals support children who struggle with participation, regulation, communication, learning, and executive function. Too often, intervention begins with observable behavior rather than understanding the underlying conditions influencing participation.
At the Executive Function Institute, we believe meaningful intervention starts with meaningful understanding. By integrating body-based systems, executive function access, and participation-focused clinical reasoning, we help professionals move beyond identifying challenges to confidently understanding why participation changes and how to provide meaningful support.
Meet the Founder
Dr. Cara Koscinski, OTD, MOT, OTR/L, CAS
Dr. Cara Koscinski is a pediatric occupational therapist, educator, author, and international speaker with nearly three decades of experience helping children, families, educators, and therapy professionals support meaningful participation. As both a clinician and the mother of an adult autistic son, she has experienced firsthand the importance of looking beyond observable behavior to understand the factors that influence regulation, executive function, communication, and participation.
Throughout her career, Dr. Koscinski recognized that many interventions focused on performance without first understanding the body-based systems that support participation. This realization led to the development of the Integrated Interoception Tree Model™, the Executive Function Express™ (EFX™) Method, and the Executive Function Express™ Access Profiler (EFX-AP™) - innovative frameworks and tools designed to help professionals identify why participation changes before determining how to provide support.
Today, Dr. Koscinski continues to advance body-first, neurodiversity-affirming, participation-focused clinical reasoning through the Executive Function Institute™, providing practical education, assessments, books, and resources that bridge research with everyday clinical practice.
What We Do
The Executive Function Institute™ develops practical, evidence-informed resources that help professionals understand, assess, and support executive function participation across childhood.
Our work includes:
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Clinical reasoning frameworks that help professionals look beyond observable behavior.
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Professional assessments that identify executive function access patterns and guide intervention planning.
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Education and training that translate current research into practical clinical application.
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Books, resources, and implementation tools designed for use across school, clinic, home, and community settings.
Everything we create is grounded in a body-first, neurodiversity-affirming, participation-focused approach that helps professionals move from understanding to confident action.
Our Commitment
At the Executive Function Institute, we are committed to advancing body-first, participation-focused approaches that help professionals understand executive function beyond observable performance. Through innovative frameworks, practical assessments, professional education, and clinical resources, we strive to equip clinicians with the tools they need to confidently understand, assess, and support meaningful participation.