Executive Function Skills

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Executive Function Skills

• Strategies interventions created by
• Jim Henry Holly Irvin, Special Educators
• Definitions executive function descriptions
  from
• Dawson, P., Guare, R. (2004). Executive Skills
  in Children and Adolescents. New York The
  Guilford Press.
• Papolos,J., Papolos, D. (June 2004). The
  Bipolar Child Newsletter, 17.
• Stewart, K. (2002). Helping a child with
  nonverbal learning disorder or Aspergers
  syndrome. Oakland, CA New Harbinger
  Publications, Inc., 2002.

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Executive Function

• Common Goal Organized students
• Current status of students Work in progress
• Together, well help them get there.

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Working Definition

• Executive Function Skills
• are the higher-order thinking skills required to
• organize a plan
• carry it out.

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Executive skill areas

• Planning
• Organization
• Time management
• Working memory
• Metacognition
• Response inhibition
• Self-regulation of affect
• Task initiation
• Flexibility
• Goal-directed persistence

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Good News!

• Students may perform below expectations, but..
• They have a desire to learn!
• Now, how can we (parents/school) help?

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How?

• General process
• Describe the problem.
• Set goal.
• Establish a procedure or steps to reach the goal.
• Supervise the child following the procedure.
• Evaluate the process make changes if necessary.
• Fade the supervision.

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Environmental PersonalInterventions

• Environmental
• Physical Space
• Other people
• Personal
• Teach skills
• Coach to use skills/strategies

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Strategies

• External to Internal

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Interventions to Promote Planning

• Environmental level
• Personal level

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Interventions to PromoteOrganization

• Environmental Predictable routine structure of
  class

• Personal
• Efficient study space homework routine

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Interventions to PromoteTime Management

• Personal
• Predict Check

• Environmental
• (Coaching)
• Where Does All the Time Go?

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Interventions to Promote Metacognition

• Environmental
• Predict Grades Check

• Personal
• SLANT
• Sit up
• Lean forward
• Activate thinking
• Name key info
• Track the talker

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Interventions to Promote Working Memory

• Personal
• Math

• Environmental
• (coaching)
• Analysis of
• Returned Tests

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Interventions to Promote Response Inhibition

• Blurt out without being called on
• Visual cue
• Post-it note
• 1) Silently raise hand.
• 2) Keep Q in mouth.
• 3) Speak when called on.

• Think it out
• What did I do?
• What should I have done?
• What am I going to do next time?
• Prevention Cue Are you thinking?

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Interventions to Promote Self-Regulation of
Affect

• Personal
• Mantra/Pep-talk before tests

• Environmental
• Advocacy Steps

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Interventions to PromoteTask Initiation

• Personal
• Study schedule
• With child, come up with written homework
  schedule.
• Cue Start work right after The Simpsons.

• Environmental
• Task Analysis

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Interventions to Promote Flexibility

• Back up plans for knowing what the homework
  assignment is
• Teacher web site
•  Classmates email
• Classmates phone

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Interventions to Promote Goal-Directed Action

• Personal
• Study by DO-ing what youll be asked to DO on the
  test

• Environmental
• Distractions
• Slide Show

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Executive Function

• Complicated case?
• ASK for school support.

• Now what?
• TRY interventions presented tonight.

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Top 10 List

• Process approach
• EF skills are developmental
• External --gt Internal
• Long-term planning
• Patience
• Incentives
• Prioritize
• Partners!
• Be explicit.
• Be prepared for the long run!