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What is executive functioning?
I get many questions about what executive functioning coaching is, and how it can help students and families. First let’s talk about what executive functioning is. Executive functioning refers to a group of skills that create the optimal environment for other learning to take place.
These skills include working memory, task initiation, planning and prioritization, organization, emotional regulation, time management, and flexible thinking to solve problems. Weaknesses in executive functioning skills can cause stress both at home and at school.
Executive functioning challenges may make it difficult for students to begin assignments or chores. This can look like students being in a “frozen” state where they are not taking any action all the way to extreme distress and dysregulation that can sometimes even include verbal and physical aggression towards.
Executive functioning deficits can also result in forgotten deadlines and repeatedly losing items. Student’s might even attempt to and actively engage in assignments, only to have misunderstood expectations or forget to turn in the assignment. This can result in failing grades that can potentially reinforce school related anxiety. No matter the executive functioning challenges, the individual experiencing them struggles to achieve full independence and fulfill their personal goals.
How can executive functioning tutoring help my family?
I have found that the majority of the families I work with see an improvement in the parent-child dynamic within the first semester of working together. Most students also increase their ability to self-regulate, independently manage their own assignments and monitor their grades.
Middle and high school students often reduce the amount of missing assignments they have on average, younger students become better at managing their attention, focus, and emotional and behavioral responses. One of the improvements I think is most important is that students start independently reaching out for help more readily from teachers, their own available resources, and from other people in their support system.
What has also been quite a special bonus for me is to watch my students thrive in their own unique way as they step into school leadership and explore their own creative passions. Finally, many students who I have directly worked with have been accepted to their first choice of college and university, and more importantly have been able to articulate which colleges are the best fit based on their learning profile. So, you may be wondering, how does executive functioning tutoring create these types of results?
What is Executive Functioning Coaching?
Although the impacts of executive functioning weaknesses may be upsetting to learn, the good news is that executive functioning skills are malleable and I personally believe it is never too late to develop them. Executive functioning skills are essentially building habits, reframing perspectives, and helping students access their resources.
Although there is some great executive functioning curriculum around, executive functioning coaching can also be tailored to each individual students needs. For example middle school students often need explicit instruction and practice on how to manage due dates, communicate with many different teachers, and understand assignment directions.
Students with anxiety and emotional regulation challenges may be better served by learning different coping mechanisms including meditation, journaling, and sensory regulation techniques.
Executive functioning skills do not develop in the same way that traditional subject area learning happens. They often develop at a slower pace, and can actually be simultaneously strengthened while being challenged in new environments.
Executive functioning coaching has become more available in the past decade, but it is still a new concept for many. Executive functioning coaching is different then traditional tutoring. Academic work is still incorporated, but it is not the main focus of the intervention.
Executive functioning coaching teaches students how to become aware of themselves and their environment around them, understand what environmental modifications and tools will best help them, and identify and solve problems.
Skill development often focuses on task initiation, emotional regulation, working memory, planning and prioritization, time management, and problem solving. One of the best executive functioning practice is learning how to independently manage assignments.
What are sessions like?
When I first started teaching executive functioning skills, I mainly focused on backwards planning, being aware of assignments and due dates, and learning how to manage a calendar.
As I worked with new and different students, I learned to change my lessons based on their needs.
Sometimes our coaching has included difficult family conversations that centered on accountability and transparency. I have also guided students and families in self advocacy. At times sessions have involved guided meditation and grounding exercises.
A lot of sessions involve working with students to discover what resources are available to them in the form of tutoring, helpful websites, and peer support. All of my sessions have involved self awareness work that is often facilitated by dialogue with students, and sometimes dialogue as a family.
I often work with the student to collectively review assignment directions, monitor grades, create lists, and update a calendar of some kind. I have explicitly taught each of my students how to communicate with their teachers and check their online website portals- both of which are important, but can be very overwhelming at first.
How I plan for students
Each student has unique needs that can be identified based on initial interviews, diagnostic measures, evaluation results, and student interactions. Executive functioning skills are often grouped into 6-8 buckets, and some people may need more skills within one bucket than another.
For example students with working memory challenges may need more time to practice creating visual reminders, agendas, and self talk. On the other hand, a student that has difficulty regulating their emotions but has average working memory will benefit from self awareness tools and learning healthy ways to process difficult emotions.
Who would benefit?
Executive functioning coaching is for everyone, including adults. Students also require different strategies at different ages. A college student may need more help breaking down long term multi step projects, and middle school students often need guidance in learning how to manage daily class assignments, homework, and monitor their grades. Elementary aged children may benefit the most from learning self awareness and emotional regulation tools.
Executive functioning skills also involve our cognitive processes like working memory, fluid reasoning, visual and verbal perception and awareness. That means that each person will have a unique set of innate executive functioning strengths and weaknesses. These strengths and weaknesses can also be impacted by environmental modifications and specific interventions.
Executive functioning skills can be life changing for students who struggle with organization, emotional regulation, time management, task initiation and completion, and problem solving. A diagnosis or evaluation is not required to receive or benefit from executive functioning, but many students who struggle with executive functioning skills have diagnoses that include ADHD, anxiety, and Autism.
Why do it?
Executive functioning skills lay the foundation that all other learning can happen. They can develop on their own, sometimes by seeing others around us use certain strategies and tools and also by reflecting after different situations and events. Executive functioning coaching can also help explicitly teach these skills through direct instruction and consistent practice. I hope one day that executive functioning skills are taught alongside core subjects like math, reading, and writing.
Educational Therapy a great way to learn executive functioning skills
Educational therapy is highly individualized, but also accounts for the whole child- not just specific content areas. Educational therapists are experienced in reviewing psychological evaluations that speak to both the students academic achievement, but also the reasons why including different cognitive processes.
As educational therapy sessions initially begin, student centered goals are developed with an understanding of the underlying causes of executive dysfunction and interventions are carefully developed based on the unique students that we specifically are working with. For these reasons educational therapy is a great space to develop executive functioning skills and learn to thrive independently in school and at home.
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