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).
Appreciating the uniqueness of every individual, it is essential to develop a deep understanding of the child, including how they perceive the world, which difficulties their encounter on a daily basis, what influences their positive and negative emotions, and where do they seek comfort and support. In turn, this information sheds light as to WHY the child may be experiencing certain difficulties.
Working with families and schools, I often hear phrases like “he is lazy!’, ‘she is unfriendly!’, ‘he is ignoring me!’ or ‘she is disobedient!’. When I start untangling the actual story that has led to this opinion, I generally find that this negative connotation does not reflect the real essence of why the child is behaving in a certain way.