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    Executive Function For Kids: EF Training

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    Executive Function For Kids: EF Training

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    Executive Function for Kids: EF Training

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    Executive Function For Kids: EF Training

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    of 4

    Inside the ADHD mind

    ADHD & Symptom Tests > ADHD Guide


    EXECUTIVE DYSFUNCTION

    It’s Easy to Hover Over a Child with Executive Function


    Deficits. Don’t.
    Executive functioning might be a key part of human behavior, but ADHD can make it tricky for kids to
    execute. Learn how to use memory, organization and self-regulation to nurture your child’s EF skills.

    BY JEROME SCHULTZ, PH.D.

    E!cient executive functioning is critical to all human behaviors — thousands of articles and books have
    been written about this set of brain-based skills.

    Noted EF/ADHD expert Thomas Brown, Ph.D., likens executive functioning to being the conductor of an
    orchestra. Researchers at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University have compared EF to
    the air-tra!c control system in a busy airport.

    Brain scientists agree that strong working memory, self-control, or self-regulation, and the ability to
    maintain and shift attention are the foundation upon which academic and social success is built. Well-
    developed executive functioning skills unlock human potential; deficits in EF prevent us from living up to
    our personal best.

    Nature or Nurture?
    A baby’s brain development begins to happen before it is born, shaped by his parents’ genes, by the
    physical and mental health and nutrition of its mother, and by exposure to certain chemicals and loud
    noises. Children are not born with EF skills — the ability to control impulses, make plans, and stay
    focused. But they are born with the potential to develop these abilities. Some young children are
    genetically wired in a way that makes learning EF skills more challenging, and kids with ADHD tend to be
    in that group.

    Regardless of the amount of EF potential a child has (and this is not something that we know how to
    measure yet), the degree to which all children develop these abilities depends on the nature and quality of
    the experiences they have during infancy, throughout childhood, and into adolescence.

    [Could Your Child Have Executive Function Deficits? Take This Test to Find Out]
    Children who grow up in home and school environments that nurture their ability to control impulses,
    make plans, remember things, and stay focused tend to enjoy healthier, happier lives. Children who are
    born into chaotic, unsafe, unpredictable environments, or are exposed to traumatic events that impact
    the development of neural circuitry early in life, may develop brains with ine!cient executive function
    centers. Their brains become wired for self-protection, and they are always on high alert for danger. They
    are poor planners and problem-solvers who lack the confidence that comes from successful interactions
    with books, ideas, tasks, and people.

    In humans, the brain regions and circuits that control executive functions have connections to the parts
    of the brain that determine how humans respond to fearful events and to stress. It’s impossible to think
    about the development of executive functions without considering the emotional responses of a child
    who is faced with tasks that require these skills. Emotions and cognition are inexorably linked.

    What Weak EF Looks Like


    Researchers acknowledge that there is no commonly used, single definition of EF. But if you’re reading
    this article, you probably know and love a kid whose potential is thwarted by poor executive functioning.
    Do you recognize that child in the following paragraphs?

    Children who have weak EF find it hard to carry out tasks that have multiple steps or complex rules. Have
    you ever been frustrated by seeing your son or daughter look like you spoke to him or her in a foreign
    tongue? “You need to clean up your room, do your English homework, and take a shower before you go to
    bed.” If you are a teacher, are you surprised that some kids can’t follow through when you say: “Before
    you close your notebook, write down tonight’s homework in the section with the green tab.”

    [Free Checklist: Common Executive Function Challenges — and Solutions]

    Kids with weak EF have a hard time focusing their attention or “shifting attentional gears.” They find it
    hard to “stop what you’re doing for a minute, and look up here at the board.” They can’t pay attention to
    one thing while not paying attention to other things (sights and sounds) around them. (“Hey, the furnace
    just kicked in! Math? What math?”) Kids with ine!cient EF systems find it hard to hold a rule or di"erent
    rules in mind while they carry out several tasks. (“Compute all the functions within the parentheses, and
    then carry out the operations indicated in this math equation.”) They can’t take something learned in
    one situation and apply it to another.

    The good news is that executive functioning skills can be improved, and many of the programs designed
    to enhance these skills in kids have shown impressive results. I am convinced that e"orts to improve the
    executive functioning of students with ADHD are likely to meet with success if the following conditions
    are met:

    There is a concerted e"ort to identify weaknesses in EF-related skills very early in a child’s life.
    There is a school- or program-wide commitment to making sure that specific EF instruction is
    embedded in all classroom instruction. When this happens, the emphasis is placed on engaging
    students to learn “how” they learn. Content-based instruction (“what” to learn) will follow
    naturally, and more e"ectively, in such an environment.
    Schools use targeted, intensive interventions designed to have an impact on weak neural systems
    involved in EF.
    Students are given opportunities to use EF-related skills through formal instruction and in guided
    and unstructured play.
    Students are expected to take more responsibility for predicting the need for EF-enhancing
    strategies that eliminate or reduce roadblocks to learning. After completing work successfully,
    students should be able to state the relation between the strategy they employed and the positive
    outcome. (“This is great! How did you accomplish it?”)
    Using developmentally appropriate strategies, students are taught about the negative impact of
    stress on brain function, and they are taught ways to reduce stress, like self-calming, meditation,
    and mindfulness activities.

    Professionals who work with kids with weak EF recommend two types of interventions — environmental
    modifications and EF training. The first approach requires the creation of environments that are well
    organized, have lots of structure, minimize distractions, provide pre-transition cues, and use consistent,
    clear language to deliver instruction or give directions. They o"er systems, forms, and roadmaps that
    give concrete structures for thinking. It’s like putting up bumpers on bowling alleys.

    I like this method, but it’s not enough. Kids reared in this kind of environment learn to rely on mom- or
    teacher-made structures, and they function pretty well as long as the bumpers are up. When structures
    are reduced or removed, deficient EF is still deficient.

    The other type of intervention involves teaching a student EF skills until he masters them. Students with
    poor memory might be taught to follow several approaches to improve their ability to retain new
    material. In her book Promoting Executive Function in the Classroom, Lynn Meltzer, Ph.D., recommends:
    attending to detail; repetition, rehearsal, and review; attaching meaning; and grouping bits of
    information.

    There is abundant research to confirm that these strategies work for a lot of kids. Creating organized
    classrooms and providing sca"olding for learning EF skills can enhance a student’s ability to attend and
    improve memory, organization, and self-regulation. But some kids do not fully develop their executive
    function capabilities, even with these approaches.

    Lost in Translation
    A primary reason that EF training does not “take” or transfer to other learning is the impact stress has on
    the parts of the brain that are involved in executive functioning. If a student believes that he can’t do the
    task he is assigned — if he has an “I can’t do it” mindset — a couple of things happen: If a kid feels under
    threat or has stress because he feels he will look stupid if he tries to do something he thinks he can’t do,
    the survival-oriented midbrain goes into full fight-or-flight mode. This, unfortunately, leads to the
    thinking, organizing parts of his brain (the prefrontal cortex) shutting down in the service of survival.

    We have to teach kids what EF skills are, and we have to give them the chance to practice these skills.
    Unless we ask kids to apply these skills in learning to get a feel for what it’s like when EF is working, their
    brains will go into fight-or-flight mode. No one learns anything when that escape alarm goes o". It’s
    survival biology. Kids have to believe they will be successful for the EF training to become internalized
    and automatic. Think of it this way: You wouldn’t teach a kid to play piano in a concert hall filled with
    music critics.

    [Read This Next: The Parent’s Guide to Executive Functioning Skills]


    Jerome Schultz, Ph.D., is a member of ADDitude’s ADHD Medical Review Panel.

    Updated on July 27, 2021

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