Consider the skills and thinking of a person dealing with Executive Function Disorder. The dots are there but the connections are not being made. Maybe they are being made in such a long convoluted manner that time, effort, and frustration come easily.
We need to figure out how to help our kids tame the tangled yarn of weak Executive Function skills.
What is executive function?
Executive function refers to a set of cognitive processes and mental skills that allow individuals to plan, organize, initiate, manage, and complete tasks. These functions are essential for higher-order thinking and goal-directed behavior.
Executive function skills help individuals regulate their thoughts, emotions, and actions in order to achieve specific goals or adapt to new situations.
Some of the key components of executive function include:
- Inhibition: The ability to control impulses and stop automatic responses. It also helps in avoiding distractions and staying focused on a task. This helps our kids complete schoolwork on a timely manner.
- Working Memory: The capacity to hold and manipulate information temporarily in one’s mind. This skill is crucial for homeschool tasks that require holding and manipulating information in real-time, such as mental math.
- Cognitive Flexibility: The ability to switch between different tasks, strategies, or ways of thinking. Cognitive flexibility enables individuals to adapt to changing circumstances and solve problems creatively. As we all know, the world is not black and white.
- Planning and Organization: The skill to create a structured approach to achieve a goal, including breaking it down into smaller steps and allocating resources effectively without assistance. The last part is crucial.
- Initiation: The ability to start tasks or activities independently without procrastination, excessive hesitation, or with many outside prompts. We call this see a need fill a need.
- Time Management: The capacity to estimate how much time is needed for a task and allocate time appropriately to complete tasks efficiently. This skill alone will enhance our special kid’s quality of life immensely.
- Emotional Regulation: The skill to manage and control one’s emotions in order to make rational decisions and respond appropriately to various situations. This does not pertain to meltdowns which are not goal oriented but rather reactionary to sensory needs.
- Self-Monitoring: The ability to evaluate one’s own performance, recognize errors, and make adjustments as necessary to achieve a desired outcome.
- Goal Setting and Follow-Through: Setting clear objectives and maintaining the motivation and persistence required to achieve those goals. Being able to use their own Autism Action Plan independently would fulfill this requirement.
Notice that the earlier ones need to be successfully learned before the higher number ones can be attempted. Think of it like a ladder with each skill building on one another.
Executive function skills are important throughout life, from early childhood development to adulthood. They play a crucial role in academic achievement, job performance, social interactions, and overall daily functioning. Their impact on quality of life can not be overstated.
Challenges with executive function can be associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders, traumatic brain injury, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Effective strategies and interventions, including cognitive training and behavioral therapy, can help individuals improve their executive function skills and better manage their lives and tasks.
We have had incredible success with equine therapy for helping Logan connect those pesky dots. Music therapy is also well known to help connect the neurological dots. Brain Balance is an often recommended therapy for kids with executive functioning needs.
Play is an important part of your child’s day for many reasons. It makes neural pathways needed for many things. Make sure your child is playing every day. It matters not if it’s structured play or unstructured play.
Therapy is great if you can find it in your area, afford it without insurance, and have a child that responds to it. But if you don’t meet the above criteria, how can you help at home?
I highly recommend that you immediately start using more than one way to teach your child Executive Function Skills.
Break down the steps for verbal directions AND have pictures that do along with those instructions. This encourages your child’s brain to make several pathways to the information needed. That means they have several ways to retrieve the information later.
SUCH AS: My daughter she could not dress herself long past the time when it was a skill that should have been checked off the list. She could get clothing she loved. There were parts of caring for herself she could do but she had problems putting it all together.
I got simple straight forward pictures for shirts, socks, pants, etc. and taped them to her dresser. Then I made a picture / written simply directions to getting dressed.
It took a few months but the light went on and the right mental connection was made. She was able to start dressing and putting away her clothing. One day she told me I could take the pictures off her dresser she had learned where everything needed to go. Success!
A great example of the child having working memory issues along with the inability to follow multi step directions.
How To Work On Executive Function At Home
Break down multi-step directions into incremental steps – think Google Maps from your home to your favorite grocery store. You know the route by heart and don’t need to be told to drive 40 ft down your street to turn right but at one time you did need that info.
We recently moved across the country from Arizona to Georgia. I had no clue where to find anything when we first arrived so Google Maps and I were best friends even when I took a wrong turn. Google just recalculated like it was no problem. Take the same approach with your child.
It’s ok to scaffold the activities in order for your child to be successful. They need all the information at first. Gradually pull back and allow your child to make assumptions as they get better and better at taking directions.
Clear voice non-judgmental- Many kids with executive function issues already privately or openly think they are stupid or dumb. Don’t feed that lie to them even when you are as frustrated as they are. Keep that clear calm voice encouraging them on. Be their biggest cheerleader!
Use multiple ways to give the same information (Visual, Audio, Kinetic)- More pathways made neurologically the more possibilities to get to and retrieve that information later! Let them see it, hear it, feel it, taste it, whatever you can do
Organization of self and space- Help your child minimize the clutter in their area and learning space. If they have less to keep track of and account for the more focused they will be on learning.
You will have to keep them clutter free at first and train them how to do it themselves. Remember everyone has to start somewhere.
We need to help our children learn how to choose the best path to create the best outcome!