Does your toddler melt down because their socks feel ‘wrong,’ forget what you asked them to do halfway across the room, or insist on doing everything themselves but then can’t quite follow through?
Does your school-age child sometimes stare at their homework like it’s written in ancient runes? Or start building a Lego civilisation after being asked to clean up their room?
Welcome to the puzzling, often misunderstood world of executive dysfunction!
Executive dysfunction isn’t about laziness, defiance, or a lack of intelligence; it’s about the brain’s ‘air traffic control system’ struggling to manage planning, focus, memory, and follow-through.
What is Executive Function?
Executive function refers to a set of skills we use to manage everyday tasks and to plan and organise our interactions and activities. It includes skills such as working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibition control. Difficulty with executive functions (referred to as executive dysfunction) can make it hard to focus, follow directions, and handle emotions, among other things.
Babies are not born with executive function skills, these skills develop over time. The process starts in infancy and continues into early adulthood and is shaped by a person’s experiences.
How Does Executive Function Affect My Child?
There are three main areas of executive function:
- Working Memory — The ability to remember information and use it.
- Cognitive Flexibility — The ability to adapt one’s thinking and behaviour in response to changing situations.
- Inhibitory Control — The ability to manage one’s thoughts and emotions when reacting to situations.
People who struggle with executive functioning, sometimes referred to as having executive dysfunction, may have difficulty with:
- Paying Attention or Staying Focused on an activity
- Remembering Information that they have just Read or Heard
- Following Multi-Step Directions or Activities that involve a Sequence of Steps
- Organising, Planning, and Prioritising
- Keeping Track of Belongings
- Starting Tasks and/or Staying Focused on a Task to Completion
- Following Rules or Routines that may Change based on circumstance
- Understanding Different Points of View
- Regulating Emotions
- Self-Monitoring (keeping track of what they are doing)
- Time Management
How Can I Support My Child’s Executive Functioning?
Children learning executive functioning skills as well as children who struggle with executive functioning, benefit from adults modelling executive functioning strategies as well as support with putting external organisation aids in place. As a parent or educator, things you can do to support a child’s executive functioning include:
- Create a Routine. If the routine changes, explain why the change is necessary and how to organise yourself as a part of the change in routine.
- Break Down Tasks. Break multi-step tasks down into single-steps to make the task more manageable.
- Remove Distractions. When your child is completing a specific task or activity, remove anything that may distract them.
- Introduce Memory Aids. Use visual or other memory aids that work for your child.
- Check-In. While your child is developing independence with strategies, they may need you to check-in to help keep them on task.
- Seek Professional Support. If your child is struggling with executive functioning tasks and it is affecting their friendships and/or education, speak with your child’s school or GP. Your child may need specific support from a professional, such as a Speech and Language Therapist, to help them develop strategies to support executive functioning.
If you would like more information about executive functioning in children, please get in touch. Follow us on Facebook for more speech, language, and feeding tips, and sign up for South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy’s newsletter if you would like new posts sent directly to your inbox.