Executive Skills Coaching for students with ADD/ADHD/LD or
just executive skill weakness
Executive skills are brain based skills that are required for people to execute or perform tasks. Executive skills are a frontal lobe skill that consists of eleven skills:
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Executive Skill:
Response Inhibition Working Memory Emotional Control Sustained Attention Task Initiation Planning/Prioritization Organization Time Management Goal-directed persistence Flexibility Metacognition |
Meaning:
Thinking before you act Hold onto information in memory and use to complete tasks Manage emotions to achieve goals or to control behavior Ability to keep paying attention in spite of distractibility, fatigue or boredom Ability to begin projects without undue procrastination in a timely manner Create a roadmap to reach a goal also to make decisions about what is important Create and maintain systems to keep track of materials or information Capacity to estimate how much time one has and how to manage it Ability to have a goal, follow through to completion despite distractions Capacity to revise plans in light of setbacks, mistakes, or new information Ability to stand back and think of your situation, problem solve and self monitor |
Above terms taken from: Smart But Scattered. Peg Dawson Dawson and Richard Guare. Guilford Press. New York, NY. 2009.
Executive Skill Dysfunction simply meanis some or several parts of the above skills may not be developed fully) may be present in children with or without learning disabilities. However, executive skill dysfunction may cause obvious academic problems that may look like a learning disability, or a lack of motivation.
How we work to improve executive skills:
Therapists help to determine which executive skill areas are strengths as well as weaknesses. Therapists develop a plan to improve executive skills through use of any/all techniques of: direct training of skills (often including organizational coaching) , compensation, Interactive Metronome, family education/support, strategies, and environment modification. In order to get the most benefits from executive skills coaching, parent involvement is necessary. Students will be trained to increase executive skills, but parents will also be trained to assist the student through compensation, environmental modification and often, through communicative strategies. It is integral that the parent be trained in these strategies as the parent will be the student's home "coach".
Our occupational therapists will not only work with the students to increase skills in weakness areas but will also work with parents (and often teachers) to put strategies into place that will increase their success at in domains.
Executive Skill Dysfunction simply meanis some or several parts of the above skills may not be developed fully) may be present in children with or without learning disabilities. However, executive skill dysfunction may cause obvious academic problems that may look like a learning disability, or a lack of motivation.
How we work to improve executive skills:
Therapists help to determine which executive skill areas are strengths as well as weaknesses. Therapists develop a plan to improve executive skills through use of any/all techniques of: direct training of skills (often including organizational coaching) , compensation, Interactive Metronome, family education/support, strategies, and environment modification. In order to get the most benefits from executive skills coaching, parent involvement is necessary. Students will be trained to increase executive skills, but parents will also be trained to assist the student through compensation, environmental modification and often, through communicative strategies. It is integral that the parent be trained in these strategies as the parent will be the student's home "coach".
Our occupational therapists will not only work with the students to increase skills in weakness areas but will also work with parents (and often teachers) to put strategies into place that will increase their success at in domains.