Executive Functioning Flashcards
Executive Functioning
Executive functions (controlled by the brain’s prefrontal cortex) are overlapping skills that have a direct impact on academic performance, behavior control, and social interactions.
89%-98% of students with ADHD have deficits in executive skills
These students struggle to see beyond the moment
Appear less mature because of delayed organizational and social skills
A 12-year-old with ADHD may have the executive skills of an 8-year-old and should be monitored at this age level – but is it feasible in the real world?
Three Categories of Executive Functioning
Working memory
Process by which information is temporarily held in mind while complex tasks are performed and problems solved (central executive, visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop, episodic buffer)
Mental/Cognitive flexibility
Ability to adapt, change, or shift one’s responses, behavior and emotional reactions with new, unfamiliar or unexpected tasks, activities, and situations
Self-monitoring
Impulse control
Working Memory
Process by which information is temporarily held in mind while complex tasks are performed and problems solved
Develops with the maturation of the brain
Not fully developed until teenage years
Norms
7-8 year old student can hold 3 pieces or chunks of information
11 year old can hold 4-5 items
15 year old can hold 7 chunks
Working Memory Continued
Speech of processing
WM impacts speed of processing (may still be processing as more information is presented)
Processing speed affected by type of content
Crucial for academic performance and social competence
Conversational skills; needing repetitions
Working Memory Contributes To:
Remembering and following instructions
Memorizing math facts, spelling words, and dates
Performing mental computations
Completing complex math problems
Remembering one part of an assignment while working on
another segment
Paraphrasing and summarizing
Organizing events
Working Memory Test
Let’s test our working memories!
N-back task
What strategies did you use?
We used a visual task, but much more difficult for most when auditory.
Even with visualization: teach it; take nothing for granted. So much of what comes naturally to some does NOT for students with S/L disorders.
Mental Flexibility
Defined- ability to adapt, change, or shift one’s responses, behavior and emotional reactions with new, unfamiliar or unexpected tasks, activities, and situations
When may this be required at school?
Mental Flexibility at School
Schedule change
Finding multiple ways to solve a math problem
Using different sentence structures in writing
Different ways to achieve goals
Inferencing
Abstract reasoning
Perspective taking
Envisioning and predicting outcomes
Altering a plan due to change in circumstances
Generalizing from one situation to another
Crucial for our work
Modifying behavior when confronted with frustration
Self-Monitoring/Impulse Control
May include
May include:
Being unaware of personal strengths and weaknesses
Situations to seek out, avoid, ask for help
Lacking insight into one’s own behavior
Having difficulty understanding effects of actions on self/others
Neglecting to use strategies
Making careless errors
Emergence
“ADHD brick wall” often happens in middle school
New structure
Demands include
working independently
organizing oneself
getting started
remembering assignments
Often the primary cause of academic struggles
EF skills such as attention, focus, memory, effort, emotional regulation necessary at all levels of schooling – language and EF intertwined
Therapists of elementary school students can make transition to middle school smoother
Executive Dysfunction Leads to Difficulties:
With organization
Remembering homework
Getting started and finishing work
Memorizing facts
Writing essays
Working complex math problems
Remembering what is read
Completing long-term projects
Being on time
Controlling emotions
Planning for the future
Task Forethought
Strong EF skills allow us to do a mental “dry run” of carrying out a task
The imagery is a mental anchor that helps them resist distractions
Promoting forethought is crucial
Use words that create mental imagery
Don’t say: “get ready”
Say: What does “ready” look like?
Can have a photo of what “ready” looks like to show the child
Pre-discuss sequences of steps to carry out for classroom tasks
Students benefit from drawing out sequences of tasks
Leads to self-talk
Analog Clock Strategy
Provides a visual
Can break time up into “slices”
Useful for planning out assignments
Can work backwards from an end time
Promotes self-awareness
When task is complete, match up outcomes to plans
Have checkpoints to determine if on track
Use timer
Ask: Am I on pace?
Inner Voice
We use it to problem solve and plan
Apply what we have learned to current issue
Students with executive dysfunction do not develop inner voice independently
What can we do?
Model thinking
Talk it out
Think aloud
Work through problems
Make predictions
Consider options/possibilities
Language Disorders and Diagnoses
Before school age, a spoken or oral language disorder involves a deficit in auditory comprehension and/or spoken production of any of the five domains of language (phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics)
When child reaches school age, diagnosis may be written language disorder
Impaired reading decoding, sight-word recognition, reading comprehension, written spelling and/ or written expression
Involve any or all the five domains of language
Reminder: when not considered part of another medical condition, it is considered a:
Developmental Language Disorder or Specific Language Impairment
An impairment of one or more of the basic processes involved in understanding or producing spoken and/or written language that affect listening, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, and mathematical calculations
