Across many different neurodivergent profiles we hear the term ‘executive function’ and the difficulties that many children have with it. But what is executive function and how do difficulties present themselves in everyday lives?
In this blog, we will dive into that in the run up to our webinar on Thursday 17 April which will look in close detail at executive function and how difficulties with it can impact all children, whether neurodivergent or not.
To find out more about the webinar and to book your tickets, click here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1001216494487
What is Executive Function?
In simple terms, executive function refers to a set of cognitive skills that allow us to plan, organise, make decisions, solve problems, control our impulses and manage our time. So, quite a bit! This means that if you have executive function challenges, it’s likely to impact upon many aspects of your life. These executive function skills are critical for carrying out everyday activities, from getting dressed to completing homework or even interacting with friends.
For children, especially those who are neurodivergent, executive function is an area which typically can prove difficult. What’s really challenging is that these difficulties might not seem obvious immediately but failing to identify them and put supportive measures in place can significantly affect a child’s ability to succeed in school, complete chores and navigate social situations.
The main bits of executive function
There are several important cognitive skills that make up executive function, including:
- Inhibition Control: The ability to stop yourself from doing something impulsive or inappropriate.
- Working Memory: The capacity to hold information in mind while using it to complete a task.
- Cognitive Flexibility: The ability to switch between tasks or adjust your thinking when faced with new information or challenges.
- Planning and Organisation: The skill of breaking down tasks, planning steps and staying organised.
- Emotional Regulation: The ability to manage your emotions appropriately in different situations.
- Task Initiation: The ability to begin a task without excessive procrastination.
- Self-Monitoring: Being able to assess your own work and adjust your behaviour or effort accordingly.
Summing it all up like this really goes to show how widespread executive function challenges can be. One person won’t necessarily struggle in each one of these cognitive skills but even one or two areas add up.
How does this look in the real world?
Here’s some of the ways you might already be noticing your child struggling in:
Getting started on a task
Homework is a great example here. Children come home from school with clear instructions of what work they need to do and everything is ready for them but they just can’t get started. They might get to their desk, even get all the pens and paper out but it’s like there is a block to actually doing the homework. This can easily be interpreted as laziness or an unwillingness to do what’s being asked of them but for those who struggle with executive function, this relates to task initiation challenges – a difficulty in starting tasks.
For those who struggle, tasks of any kind can feel overwhelming and too complex to even begin. That mental shift that is needed to get started on something is really difficult to kick into gear.
Actually doing something which you said you would
Have you ever asked your child to clean their room, only to find them distracted by something else halfway through? This may look like a lack of effort or an attempt to avoid the task, but it’s likely a challenge with working memory and self-monitoring. For children who struggle with this, the likelihood is that they’ve actually forgotten what they were supposed to be doing in the first place as their brain has struggled to keep that task at the forefront of their mind.
Switching from one task to another
We know that transitions can be a huge challenge for neurodivergent children and that’s down to executive function and their lack of cognitive flexibility. This can present in so many ways which we are sure will be daily occurrences for so many people reading this – iPad switch off time, bedtime, switching from playing to homework, getting dressed for school. Basically it’s anything where the brain is being asked to stop focussing on one thing and move to another.
Impulsivity and emotional outbursts
While we might think of impulse control as being things that might put a child in danger, like running out in a road, in fact we see it in so many normal everyday ways like their inability not to interrupt a conversation or shouting out the answer in class. It’s simply the brain not having the ability to say, wait a sec.
Similarly with regards to emotional outbursts we might see children go from 0-60 in seconds, one minute they’re fine and the next they’re screaming while as parents we are left scrambling and wondering how everything got so bad so fast. This lack of emotional regulation is down to executive function.
What can you do to support your child and their executive function challenges?
If some of this sounds like your child and the difficulties they are facing then do come along to our executive function webinar on Thursday 17 April. Led by Sunshine Support SEND Consultant Gabby Gregory, she’ll be going into so much more detail covering:
- More on what is Executive Functioning?
- How to ensure your child stays on top of their homework without feeling like a nag
- Ways to incorporate learning at home to help build your child’s study habits and organisational skills
- How to model early advocacy skills, so your child knows how to “get unstuck”
- Opening the lines of communication to improve the parent/child relationship and avoid conflict around academics
Book your tickets here now: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1001216494487
