Executive Function Skills
Executive functioning skills is used as an umbrella term, but it includes a lot of things.
- Planning/prioritization.
- Response inhibition. I have a lot of children who struggle with response inhibition. This is always a big focus.
- Working memory. This is being able to take the information from the past and bring it to the present. This can also be challenging for children. Children with dyslexia have a difficult time with working memory, and a lot of the children I see, who have sensory processing disorder and ADHD, also have a lot of difficulty with working memory.
- Emotional control. This is another big one. As you heard in my bio, I am focused on social emotional learning. You cannot have executive functioning skills and be at a high developmental functioning level if you do not have emotional regulation. I also think this is probably an area in OT that we need to be addressing more.
- Sustained attention. For some of our children, you will hear the complaints that they have a hard time with attending and focusing. Sustained attention is a developmental skill related to executive function.
- Task initiation. This is the child who has a hard time starting a project. Some of you might call yourselves procrastinators, because you have a hard time with task initiation, while for other people, it is easy for them to start a task. This is another executive function skill.
- Organization. How many of you consider yourself an organized person? How many of you consider yourself to be a disorganized person or not so organized? I consider myself someone who is disorganized in the traditional sense. Although I work in this area, I think my understanding of what it is like to struggle with organization skills is what allows me to help people who also struggle because I understand it. The thing about organization is everyone can be organized. There are traditional ideas of what is organized and what is not organized. We will talk about learning styles and behaviors, and how that influences organization.
- Time management. This is another one that is difficult for people. Many children have a difficult time with time; understanding it, estimating it, and being able to manage their time while they are in the moment. It is difficult to manage time when you are experiencing flow, which is another goal that we have as therapists. When you are playing, you often lose recognition of time. Time management is a tricky one, and sometimes it is important for children not to overly manage time. It can also be a red flag. It is an interesting thing to consider.
- Goal-directed persistence. Can our children, as well as adults, create a goal, stay on that goal, and use the goal to actually motivate him or her?
- Cognitive flexibility. Some of you who work with children on the autism spectrum are probably working with children were challenged by their ability to display some cognitive flexibility.
- Metacognition. Metacognition is incredibly important. I think it is not given the attention it needs. That is thinking about one’s thinking.
Executive Function and Self-Regulation
Executive function and self-regulation go hand-in-hand. Miyake et al., 2000, scrutinized the literature and the research out there. They found that inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory were the three dimensions related to executive function. This is how we are able to remember information, filter distractions, resist impulsive urges, maintain our attention during an activity, and stay on that goal. We then adjust our plan or problem solve as needed, as well as avoid frustration and regulate our emotions. That is the complication of executive function that we related to being air-traffic controller. I also would call this occupational performance, which is a term used a lot in the OT practice framework, through an OTA, and through the way that we are teaching students these days. The goal of OT is to increase performance and participation. This is what we are talking about when we talk about the analysis of what it takes to have true occupational performance.
