Work is no FUN?
Blame Executive FUNctioning Skills!
The common challenges related to learning and daily living tasks explained.
Having worked with many school-aged children during the difficult times of the COVID-19 remote learning, I have heard frequent complaints about feeling overwhelmed by the less structured and more flexible learning environment. Some common challenges identified by kids include managing their time, transitioning between activities, approaching novel tasks and remaining focused when there are multiple distractions in their home environment. Most, if not all of the difficulties described are closely related to what’s known as Executive Functioning skills (EF). Executive Functioning refers to a number of higher-order skills that we use to problem solve, think and behave in a planned and controlled manner. The specific skills that fall under this umbrella term include attention, planning, mental flexibility, working memory, emotional and behavioural control.
So how can these abstract concepts influence the child’s daily functioning and learning? Well, there are plenty of ways they do, and this goes well beyond the remote learning context! Let’s look into each of these skills and how weaknesses in these areas can manifest:
Attention– Do you find that your child is struggling to stay focused on a task? Do they often daydream at times when they are supposed to be paying attention? Are they easily distracted by their gadgets or other sources in the environment? These issues may suggest attentional difficulties which can have a big impact on the child’s learning and other areas of daily functioning.
Planning– Kids with planning difficulties often struggle to approach new or multi-step tasks, not knowing where to start and how to proceed in a structured way, whether it’s working on a school project or cleaning up the bedroom. Does that sound familiar to you?
Mental Flexibility– This is a big one for many kids! Do you often observe your child getting stuck if the initial way of approaching something does not work? Do they always want to be in control and have difficulty adjusting to others? Do they get very upset or angry if things do not go the way they intended? If you answered yes to these questions, you may have a child who lacks mental flexibility.
Working Memory– This is a very important capacity and has been described as a one of the strong factors predicting the child’s school performance outcomes. Here’s how you can spot possible Working Memory difficulties at home: Do you find that your child doesn’t seem to remember the instructions you give them? Do they often forget the due dates for school work? While at school, do they miss some of the instructions given by the teacher when explaining a task and subsequently feel like they do not understand what is expected of them? All of these issues are commonly experienced by people with working memory weaknesses.
Emotional and Behavioural Control– Does your child have difficulty regulating their emotions, often erupting in tears or anger outbursts? Do they have frequent tantrums? Do they have difficulty waiting for their turn or blurt out in class? Do they easily lose track of time and can’t adhere to the time limits?
It is evident that children who have lagging EF skills may experience challenges in various aspects of their life, from interpersonal issues, relating to poor emotional control and limited flexibility, to academic difficulties. You might be wondering, if my child has EF weaknesses, does it mean that there is something wrong with their development? The answer is no, it certainly doesn’t, as the part of the brain responsible for EF skills continues to develop until the person is in their mid 20’s-early 30’s. Having said this, there are conditions that do go hand in hand with EF weaknesses, such as Autism, particularly in females, mood disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Hence, if you can relate to several of the issues described, it is worth considering whether your child has difficulties in other areas of functioning, such as interpersonal relationships, academic performance and emotional wellbeing.
And here are several tips on helping your child if they experience difficulties with daily tasks requiring EF skills:
Avoid multitasking! This is a number one trap that many children get into, particularly during the remote learning context. The golden rule is that if we try to focus on several things at once, we will not be able to display optimal performance in either of these tasks. Hence, ensure that during learning time, your child does not try to simultaneously check their phone for new messages or watch YouTube videos. There are some exceptions however. Some children do study better if they have room for movement, so having something in their hands to fiddle or using a wobbly stool may actually contribute to better concentration. Utilising certain sounds/music can also help! Some children actually work better when listening to white noise, such as the sound of rain or a spinning fan. Certain types of music can also help the child focus on their work and remember the material. Choosing the type of music is very individual, however, the rule of the thumb is that it must be very familiar and therefore predictable, so don’t have your child listening to a new soundtrack while doing homework.
Declutter! This is another key strategy to help your child focus on their work instead of getting distracted by things around them or wasting time in search for the essential items. This, by the way, also applies to online browsing! It is very difficult for your child to navigate between several learning-related tabs if there are multiple other tabs or browsing windows open. To help your child with keeping their study and living area clean, you may use colour-coding to show them where everything must go, and together, prepare a checklist of things that need to be in place before commencing work.
Create habits and routines! Kids with EF weaknesses benefit from a structured environment and feel calmer when things go as planned. Together with your child, prepare a visual schedule depicting their timetable for the day. Include times allocated to their homework, rest, exercise break and bedtime.
Checklists! Checklists are huge support to people who lack organisational skills. Whether it is a school project or a cleaning task at home, break it into concrete achievable steps and present them as checklists for your child to follow. With time, teach your child the skill of creating checklists, so that they can become more independent in approaching multi-step tasks.
Mind mapping! Here is another one of my favourites. Mind mapping actually helps the child organise their ideas in a visual way (and many kids are visual thinkers!), and serve as a guide on how to proceed with a task. This can be done by hand or you can teach your child to use an application such as Popplet to organise their thoughts.
Remember, that implementing new strategies requires consistency and a positive mindset. Use these suggestions to empower your child, explaining that these are great tools that they can add to their personal toolkit for succeeding in the areas of life that are important to them. If, however, you are still feeling concerned about the child’s functioning in the areas described, a formal Neuropsychological assessment may provide important information for a tailored and individualised approach to supporting the child and fostering their EF development.
Remember, that implementing new strategies requires consistency and a positive mindset. Use these suggestions to empower your child, explaining that these are great tools that they can add to their personal toolkit for succeeding in the areas of life that are important to them. If, however, you are still feeling concerned about the child’s functioning in the areas described, a formal Neuropsychological assessment may provide important information for a tailored and individualised approach to supporting the child and fostering their EF development.
© This post is subject to copyright and is an intellectual property of Dr Anastasiya Suetin
