Recently I attended a lecture by Dr. Joyce Cooper-Khan, author of Late, Lost and Unprepared: A Parent’s guide to Helping Children With Executive Functioning(http://latelostandunprepared.com/), and it was extremely informative. Since so many students need support with executive functioning tasks, I felt it was important to share some of the information I learned. Tutoring is a great way to support a student needing help learning how to organize, plan and study for school. Tutors help preserve the healthy relationship between parents and their children because the tutor takes an active role helping guide the student to successful habits while parents can observe and support these strategies.
As Dr. Cooper-Khan explained, Executive Functions are “the mental processes that serve a supervisory role in our own thinking and behavior”. Executive skills include planning and organization, working memory, task initiation, task monitoring, self monitoring, inhibition, emotional control and shifting (being able to switch gears from one task to another). All too often we hear parents and/or educators use the term Executive Functioning Disorder: there is no such thing. A parent, teacher, tutor or school cannot say a child has Executive Functioning Disorder. “Executive Dysfunction” is a description not a diagnosis. It describes a person who has difficulty with one or many of the 8 areas described as “executive skills.” Students clinically diagnosed with ADHD, along the Autism Spectrum and/or those who have learning disabilities usually have trouble with executive functioning tasks. Stress and anxiety can also play a big factor in the breakdown of executive functioning skills. We can help restore the brain to focus on tasks by engaging in 20 minutes of exercise,doing something in nature (getting outside) or listening to (or playing) music.
There are many ways we can help students develop short term interventions that can become habits of good executive functioning. These supports should allow the student to be successful on a daily basis. By helping students feel like they are succeeding instead of failing each day, it helps avoid feelings of demoralization and depression. Little strategies such as post-it note reminders, to-do lists, checklists and schedules are all skills that students with poor executive functioning need to be taught and need to be practiced. Strategies should be developed as a team— ask the student what they think will work for them and get buy-in. Don’t force feed a strategy they don’t think is working. Support them by being non-emotional and non-nagging about practicing strategies.
The educators at LS Tutors have a broad understanding of executive functioning and know practical strategies and helpful habits to work with students. Please contact us today if you feel your child needs help on any of the areas discussed in this blog. We are here to help students use the tools that best match their learning style and will set them up for success!
HELPFUL BOOKS ABOUT EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
Late, Lost, and Unprepared is a must-have book for parents of children from primary school through high school who struggle with:
Impulse Control (taking turns, interrupting others, running off)
Cognitive Flexibility (adapting to new situations, transitions, handling frustrations)
Initiation (starting homework, chores, and major projects)
Working Memory (following directions, note-taking, reading and retaining info)
Planning & Organizing (completing and turning in homework, juggling schedules)
Self-monitoring (making careless errors, staying on topic, getting into trouble but not understanding why)
Written by clinical psychologists, Late, Lost, and Unprepared emphasizes the need for a two-pronged approach to intervention: 1) helping the child to manage demands in the short run, and 2) building independent skills for long-term self-management. Full of encouragement and practical strategies, the book’s organization–short chapters with overviews, summaries, case studies, tips, and definitions–makes it easy to grasp concepts quickly and get started.
If you’re the parent of a “smart but scattered” teen, trying to help him or her grow into a self-sufficient, responsible adult may feel like a never-ending battle. Now you have an alternative to micromanaging, cajoling, or ineffective punishments. This positive guide provides a science-based program for promoting teens’ independence by building their executive skills–the fundamental brain-based abilities needed to get organized, stay focused, and control impulses and emotions. Executive skills experts Drs. Richard Guare and Peg Dawson are joined by Colin Guare, a young adult who has successfully faced these issues himself. Learn step-by-step strategies to help your teen live up to his or her potential now and in the future–while making your relationship stronger. Helpful worksheets and forms can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2″ x 11″ size.