Executive Skills and Your Child with Learning Disabilities - Page 2

Eight Important Skills

Scientists and learning specialists have varying lists and descriptions of executive skills. Keep in mind that progress in executive functioning is developmental and varies from child to child. As you look through the following list of skills, you will notice overlap in the descriptions and examples. These skills are closely linked, and the same behavior may reflect weaknesses in more than one skill. Further, these skills may be explained in the same ways as learning disabilities are. But executive skills are basic to learning, no matter the disability.

 

1.   Impulse Control — the ability to stop and think before acting.

This skill tends to be first on most lists and is a fundamental weakness in many children with AD/HD. A child with weak impulse control says or does things without using a cushion of time to reflect. These children may pay much more attention to their text messages than to their schoolwork. They will do whatever pleasurable thing comes along without considering their obligations or commitments. Children with this weakness often speed through schoolwork, sacrificing accuracy and completeness along the way.

If your child needs help with this skill, he or she may:

• interrupt a lot, chatter excessively, speak out of turn
• not get started on homework until close to bedtime
• make impulsive decisions that interfere with school demands
• rush through assignments without reading directions or checking work
• be very inconsistent, following rules one day but not the next

2.   Emotional Control — the ability to manage feelings by thinking about goals.

Closely related to impulse control, emotional control helps people keep their eyes on their goal even when painful or unexpected things happen. Children who can’t manage their emotions have trouble accepting criticism. They’re quick to call a situation “unfair.” They overreact to losing a game or getting called on in class. They have difficulty sticking with schoolwork when they are distressed about something.

If your child needs help with this skill, she or he may

• be easily frustrated and quick to give up
• be unable to tolerate corrections or criticism
• find it difficult to calm down and do homework
• have trouble postponing play or favorite activities until work is done

3.   Flexibility — the ability to change strategies or revise plans when conditions change.

A child who behaves in ways that are inflexible, or “cognitively rigid,” has difficulty when a familiar routine is disrupted or when a task that seems easy becomes complicated. This child gets frustrated when a first attempt to solve a problem isn’t successful. She or he is unable to see other ways to do familiar tasks or to make another choice when the first choice proves unworkable.

If your child needs help with this skill, he or she may

• not tolerate a change of strategy or tactics
• have difficulty with open-ended assignments that require brainstorming or choosing a topic
• panic when there’s a lot to remember or when a task doesn’t look like it will lead to success
• have trouble with transitions

4.   Working Memory — the ability to hold information in mind and use it to complete a task.

Children with weaknesses in working memory are unable to remember and apply crucial information so they can move to the next step of a task. They falter when a task requires that they remember a series of directions, generate ideas in response to the directions, and then express their ideas. Information just doesn’t “stick” for them.

If your child needs help with this skill, she or he may

• have trouble following directions, particularly when they are only given orally
• have difficulty with writing and other complex, multi-step tasks
• not remember what has just been read or explained
• have trouble taking notes in class
• forget the steps of, say, long division, when trying to solve a math problem
• forget to take what they need to school or to class

5.  Self-Monitoring — the ability to monitor and evaluate your own performance.

Children who are weak at monitoring themselves may not notice that they’re not following directions until someone points this out. They tend to misjudge their own efforts and have trouble adjusting what they’re doing based on feedback or cues. They are often completely surprised by a low grade on a test or project.

If your child needs help with this skill, he or she may

• make seemingly careless errors in math
• have trouble proofreading and checking work
• not notice when off on a tangent or not following directions
• lose sight of goals and endpoints
• skip test questions without noticing
• do things too fast or not pay attention to time limits and end up running out of time