Parents are often confused when they are told that their child, who is often late, often loses his homework,shoes, or games, and comes unprepared to school, has deficits in his “executive functions.” Those seem like big words to describe the frustrations of having a child who seems more disorganized then other kids: The kids who take forever to get dressed, are too tired to do their chores, have backpacks overflowing with papers (but never the paper they actually need!) and have trouble getting their homework done and who start on their 3-page book reports the night before they are due.
“Executive functions” are simply the self-regulating skills that we use everyday to get any task done, from simply getting dressed or eating breakfast, to getting a backpack packed and choosing which friend to play with. “Executive functions” help us plan, organize, make decisions, shift between situations or thoughts, control our emotions and impulsivity, and learn from past mistakes.
(A great book on this topic is, Late, Lost, and Unprepared: A Parents’ Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning
In the next series of posts we will explore in depth and try to understand the role Executive Functions play in our lives and why they are so essential to our children’s well-being (as well as ours).
To begin with Executive Function is a set of mental processes that helps connect past experience with present action. People use it to perform activities such as planning, organizing, strategizing, paying attention to and remembering details, and managing time and space. Everyone uses the Executive Functions in their brain to:
- Make plans
- Keep track of time and finish work on time
- Keep track of more than one thing at once
- Meaningfully include past knowledge in discussions
- Evaluate ideas and reflect on our work
- Change our minds and make mid-course corrections while thinking, reading and writing
- Ask for help or seek more information when we need it
- Engage in group dynamics
- Wait to speak until we’re called on
Executive Functions broadly encompass the following areas: (Cooper-Kahn & Dietzel, 2008)
a. Inhibition – The ability to stop one’s own behavior at the appropriate time, including stopping actions and thoughts. The flip side of inhibition is impulsivity; if you have weak ability to stop yourself from acting on your impulses, then you are “impulsive.” It is hard to manage your behavior and act appropriately.
b. Working memory – The capacity to hold information in mind for the purpose of completing a task. This can impact a child’s ability to listen to directions and can cause friction between adults and children.
c. Organization of Materials – The ability to impose order on work, play, and storage spaces. Children who have difficult may be considered scattered. This can also contribute to a poor ability to follow directions and listen.
d. Self-Monitoring – The ability to monitor one’s own performance and to measure it against some standard of what is needed or expected.
Having difficulty with Executive Functions strongly relates to deficiencies in crucial emotional and physiological development, referred to as Executive Skills.
In our next post we will discuss Executive Skills.
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Resources:
http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/executive-function-disorders/what-is-executive-function