During the past decade, brain researchers have identified a set of abilities that help us manage our time, energy, resources, and talents: these skills are called “executive functions.”
Researchers, educators, and clinicians have also learned that these skills can be taught. We are proud to provide services and solutions aimed at improving executive functioning skills in children, teens, and young adults.
Contact us to make an appointment to learn how we can help you or a loved one.
What is “Executive Functioning”?
Internationally known expert Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D. (2012) has defined executive functioning as “self-regulation across time for the attainment of one’s goals (long-term self-interests) typically in the context of others.” This simple yet complex definition elegantly emphasizes the importance of starting productive behaviors and stopping unproductive behaviors to set and achieve goals while staying connected to others.
Here’s my simplified definition:
Many have compared the executive functions to the CEO of a company: these skills help us efficiently and effectively manage all our other abilities. Over the years, researchers have identified specific cognitive processes that are necessary to successfully execute daily tasks. Each child, teen, and young adult may have a unique set of executive skill strengths and weaknesses. Understanding specific executive skill strengths and needs can help you better understand how to help.
Depending on whose research you read, there are anywhere from 5 to 20 executive functions. I have settled on 11 executive skills, and I put them into three categories.
Attention Management
Sustained attention, working memory, and organization have a tremendous impact on success in school, on the playground, at work, and in life. Read more about attention management.
Time and Task Management
Managing their time and priorities, as well as planning, starting, and persisting are important executive skills students and young adults need to complete their tasks and achieve their goals. Learn more about time and task management.
Self-Management
Self-management involves the executive skills that are necessary to stay on track in life and then get back on track when we have lost our way: self-monitoring, response inhibition, social cognition, cognitive flexibility, and emotional control. Read more about these executive functioning skills.
Good News about Executive Functions!
Children, teens, college students, and adults can benefit from developing executive skills utilizing research-based practices developed by educators at the New Hampshire Center for Learning and Attention Disorders, the Research Institute for Learning and Attention, and the University of Toronto. For over 20 years, these groups have shown that executive skills can be improved in children and teens using a variety of approaches.
We offer help for children, teens, and young adults all year round!
We provide students tools and strategies based on the research completed by educators Lynn Meltzer, Ph.D., Rosemary Tannock, Ph.D., Peg Dawson, Ed.D., and Richard Guare, Ph.D. Click the links below to see how we have integrated this research into the following solutions and services.
Student Success for middle school, high school, and college students
Stop & Think for impulsive elementary through high school students
Emotional control and counseling methods
Young adults can benefit from Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) to develop executive skill strategies as shown by clinicians and researchers at Mt. Sinai in New York and Mass General Hospital in Boston over the past decade.
Need Help with Executive Functioning?
Contact us to make an appointment to learn how we can help you or your struggling loved one develop improved executive functioning skills.
© 2009-2019, Monte W. Davenport, Ph.D.
