This article is written by Katie Lorandeau, Family Advisor for Neurodiversity Celebration Week
Executive Function is a set of skills that we as humans use every day, they function from our pre-frontal cortex and help us to learn, work, follow directions, and regulate emotions and managing daily life. Most people use their Executive Functioning skills throughout everyday life without even thinking about it, for example – our executive functions are what help us to get up in the morning and know what needs to be done to get the kids to school and to get to work or an appointment. People who are Neurodivergent or have Special Educational Needs or Disabilities will often have difficulty with multiple areas of their Executive Function.
We can break executive functioning down into eight different categories to better help us understand, these are:
Self-Monitoring – Being able to look inwards at your ability and evaluate your own behaviours.
Someone who struggles with this function may…
- Find it difficult to know when their emotions are affecting their behaviour.
- Find it difficult to regulate, hold back and adjust in response to demanding situations.
- Often repeat mistakes as they find it difficult to learn from past experiences as well as accepting responsibility for their actions.
Ways to help them …
- Think aloud’ strategies, talk about the strategies they are using or could use, talk about the strategies you are using.
- We as adults need to model self-monitoring and teach them to reflect.
Planning and Prioritising – the ability to set and meet goals. Being able to make decisions about what is important to focus on and the best order to complete the tasks to reach your end goal.
Someone who struggles with this function may…
- Feel overwhelmed with projects that require multiple steps as they struggle to break down larger tasks in to smaller manageable steps.
- Struggle to plan the day, allocating time to different activities and prioritising what is most important in the situation.
- Find time management difficult.
Ways to help them …
- Break down tasks.
- Look at how much time you have to do them and write down what needs to be done first.
- Set reminders or alarms.
- Role model how to plan and prioritise.
Task initiation – The ability to take action and to get started on a task. Although there are certain tasks we all like to put off, most people are able to take the necessary steps to start tasks and get them completed.
Someone who struggles with this function may…
- Have difficulty starting and finishing a task, often delaying the task or trying to avoid it altogether.
- Not know how or where to begin the task.
- Struggle to transition from one task to another.
Ways to help them …
- Break down tasks in to smaller chunks.
- Using prompts, visuals and timers.
- Set a starting point and reduce any distractions.
Organisation – the ability to keep track of things both physically and mentally. Many of us, myself included, don’t always see ourselves as organised but if we break it down and think about it we are more organised than we give ourselves credit for.
Someone who struggles with this function may…
- Have an inability to keep track of things, they may lose things or forget where they have put them.
- Have difficulty using planners and calendar, and often have a cluttered desk or work space.
- Consistently forget to write down homework or deadlines leading to them forgetting to complete the task.
Ways to help them …
- Implement colour coded systems.
- Set achievable goals and expectations.
- Declutter and simplify together to teach sorting habits.
Impulse control – Thinking before we act. Most of us get to a certain age and we know if we need to cross the road we need to stop, look both ways and assess it is safe before crossing, this is because of our impulse control. Someone that struggles with impulse control may run across the road without thinking about the dangers first.
Someone who struggles with this function may…
- Not think before they act, have trouble putting the brakes on or act/react impulsively. Many parents will report their child having no concept of road safety or stranger danger.
- Find it difficult to pause and consider an alternative response. They could respond by hitting someone but can’t explain or understand why they responded this way.
- Interrupt when you are talking or find themselves in trouble for shouting out in the classroom.
- Overshare or display risky behaviour.
Ways to help them …
- Use visual aids as a reminder of expectations and routines.
- Use resistance bands, stress balls and fidget toys to support regulation.
- Set clear expectations and teach and practice self-regulation.
- Use post-its or notebooks to right things down before shouting out the answers.
Flexible Thinking – The ability to adjust our behaviours to unexpected changes. If we think of this as the morning routine, as a parent if a child can’t find their school shirt in the morning and goes in to a panic you have to think flexibly to help them resolve the situation as this is not something you may have planned for in the morning.
Someone who struggles with this function may…
- Find it difficult to adapt to new situations as they struggle to shift their thoughts and actions.
- Resist change and prefer to stick to routines, places and behaviours that are familiar and feel safe to them.
- Prefer to do things a certain way and struggle to cope with unexpected changed.
- Have difficulty navigating social rules and seeing things from another’s point of view.
Ways to help them …
- Planning ahead, look at ‘what if’ scenarios. What could we do instead?
- Model flexible thinking and introduce small changes.
- Use visuals to support.
Emotional Control – This is the ability to keep our feelings in check. This function allows us to take a step back and assess the situation before our emotions take over.
Someone who struggles with this function may…
- Have difficulty with emotional regulation and may experience intense emotional reactions. This could be in the form of a meltdown, a shutdown, defiance, demand avoidance, aggression etc. Which is often experienced during stressful situations or times of overwhelm.
- Have difficulty controlling their reaction and processing and regulating their emotions.
- Be sensitive to rejection or perceived rejection.
- Experience emotional fatigue or burn out.
Ways to help them …
- As an adult we need to model self-regulation for our children and young people.
- It’s important to validate their emotions and encourage positive self-talk.
- Create a calming space for them to regulate.
- Encourage physical activity and teach both emotional vocabulary and calming techniques.
Working Memory – The ability to keep key information in mind while using it. Think of the working memory like a note pad or post – it note reminders in your head. I know that in the morning I have a list of jobs in my head that I need to get through in order to get everyone to their destination on time and with everything they need. For example, in the morning I know I get up, I wake the kids up, let the dog out, make the lunches etc.
Someone who struggles with this function may…
- Find it hard to connect past experiences to current actions, and will often find themselves repeating the same mistakes.
- Struggle to remember instructions or key details like important dates, instructions, appointments commitments etc.
- Have difficulty multitasking.
- Find it difficult to follow or maintain a conversation.
Ways to help them …
- Break information down in to chunks.
- Repeat and rehearse, use memory games like BrainBox games to improve working memory.
- Reduce the information gap, provide written/visual instructions in front of them as well as verbal instructions or instructions on the board.
- Use talk tins, voice memos, recording whiteboards.
Our children and young people can learn the skills to help them overcome these barriers. As parents we can support them by modelling these behaviours, creating visuals like task planners and calendars to help them. As a team we often suggest that when looking at managing emotions and learning strategies it is best to do this as a family. Looking at what your child or young person struggles with in terms of Executive Functions can help them to find strategies and different ways to manage.
The Zones of Regulation – Suffolk Family Carers
Activities to support executive function in the classroom – ADHD Foundation : ADHD Foundation
Zones of Regulation Workshop Recording (youtube.com)
Free Resources Archives – Elsa Support (elsa-support.co.uk)
Autism and Executive Functioning Skills – Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust
