Supporting neurodiverse learners at every stage of life has been Monica Osgood’s lifelong mission. For more than three decades, she’s worked with individuals with autism and other diverse needs across the lifespan. As founder of the Celebrate the Children school model, a school for neurodiverse children, and now as the founder and driving force behind Limitless, Monica Osgood brings deep expertise across education and developmental services. As Monica says, “I’m pretty much immersed in it all day, every day.” Monica has a particular passion for supporting neurodivergent adults in living purposeful, self-directed lives as independently as possible through a range of services, including schools, summer camps and adult day programs.
Meeting the Challenge: Teaching Executive Functioning at Every Age
Monica has long recognized the importance of building fundamental executive functioning skills—not just in early childhood, but across the lifespan. Many of her students are either too young for standard executive function curricula or are older learners who missed out on foundational skills. Her approach involves meeting each learner exactly where they are—adapting instruction and teaching materials based on their developmental level, interests, and unique needs.
Some of the most important life skills involve executive functions, although it is often an under-focused area in educational and therapeutic programs. In Monica’s work, her primary goals are to support learners in developing self-control over their attention and regulation, while promoting independence.
Partnering with a Guru: The Silas Toolkit & Dr. George McCloskey
Monica has partnered with Dr. George McCloskey, a leading expert in executive functioning, for over 15 years. As Monica says, “He is obviously the guru of executive functioning.” The two have collaborated on presentations, curriculum development, and school trainings over the years.
Dr. George McCloskey and Laurie McCloskey developed the Silas/McCloskey Executive Functions Toolkit to target the most critical executive functions (EFs) necessary for success in academics and beyond. Lessons include animated or live-action videos, games, scenarios, guided discussions, drawing and writing activities, self-assessments, and a movie maker tool for a comprehensive approach to learning. Monica appreciates the structured foundation within the EF curriculum, which she can tailor to meet each learner’s needs.
Inside the Silas Toolkit: Using Movie Maker to Build Real-World Skills
Silas' Movie Maker tool is central to Monica’s approach. After students complete Silas lessons, they act out related situations in play and then turn those moments into personalized avatar movies—bringing the concepts to life. Monica shared an example of a learner who struggled to be flexible when choosing the color of slime while playing with others. Together, they transformed this concept into a Silas video, reenacting the situation. As Monica explains, you can teach someone about an idea, but it isn’t until they’re actually in the moment, experiencing it firsthand, that it begins to truly click. The Movie Maker Feature of Silas helps foster a deeper connection with the skill while allowing the learner to safely explore and express their emotions.
Reinforcing Learning Through Visuals and Play
To reinforce learning, Monica combines visuals with play-based activities that naturally bring executive functioning concepts to life. After completing a lesson in Silas, they play an activity where the focused topic is likely to naturally arise, offering an opportunity to practice the skill they just learned about. This helps them to internalize the concept, making a connection to their personal experiences.
To further support this learning, Monica also incorporates a variety of visual tools. “It can’t be all language-based,” she explains. “The students really need that visual backup.” She prints screenshots from the Silas lesson and Movie Maker videos to use as an ongoing reminder. She also creates a large poster with a statement tied to the current focus; for example, “Let’s be flexible!” when working on flexibility. Throughout the week or month, she adds photos of the students demonstrating that skill, reinforcing the concept in a meaningful, personal way. These visual anchors help students recall and apply executive functioning strategies in the moment during their daily routines.
“The more visuals we can add...the more they’re going to comprehend it.”
Founder of Celebrate the Children
and Limitless
Structure + Emotion = Internalization
EF skills are complex. They involve abstract concepts, like flexibility and sustained attention, which can be challenging for children, especially those with special needs, to fully grasp. These concepts are most likely to click when children can connect emotionally to the moment. Monica’s approach—rooted in play, personalization, and trusted relationships—helps learners internalize core concepts by relating them to lived experiences. Emotional engagement with the concept lays the groundwork for true skill acquisition, generalization, and maintenance.
From Cardboard Games to Click-and-Play Magic
Monica didn’t always have the videos, pre-created lessons, and materials to teach executive functioning readily available. When she first started her career, there were no teaching resources for children with autism. Over the years, Monica created materials by hand—from cardboard games to filming social videos of her students with VHS video cameras. Now, she can leverage digital tools, such as the Silas EF toolkit and Movie Maker feature, transforming her efforts into something more scalable, engaging, and effective.
“30 years ago, I was doing these things homemade...now with technology and this too, it's just so much more comprehensive and easy,” she explains. With the amount of time savings Silas offers, Monica can dedicate more time toward customizing the learning experience for each individual. This allows for a personalized experience that meets learners where they are and helps them achieve meaningful, long-term progress.
Empowering Executive Functioning at Every Age
For Monica, executive functioning isn’t a checklist—it’s a personal, relational, and meaningful journey. After witnessing the positive impact Silas has had on her students, she’s now expanding the use of it into her Limitless summer camp, which draws children from around the world. Monica also plans to use Silas extensively in her new school opening in September 2025. She sees this as a valuable opportunity to introduce a broader audience to the engaging EF toolkit within Silas. She’s also beginning to integrate Silas within the Limitless young adult day program. She views this as an entirely different creative process, which Silas is well-equipped to support.
Silas gives her the structure; her students bring the magic.
Empowering learners of all ages to gain critical life skills and independence continues to be the driving focus of Monica’s work—a mission she furthers every day through her thoughtful integration of Silas.
Posted in Customer Story, Special Education
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