Executive Functioning

Some children need a change of habit.

I often hear parents say, “My child needs help, but I can’t explain what it is.”

Executive functioning helps provide children with the skills necessary to overcome challenging tasks and behaviors.

Children express a lack of executive functioning in many ways.

Being organized is beyond their ability.

Children lacking in executive functioning are unorganized because they don’t have the proper tools.

Some children lack organizational skills related to cleaning their room and keeping their homework in order. A lack of organization makes it hard to be successful when their room and desk are messy. In these cases, I bet your child doesn’t even want to be messy, but they don’t know how to be organized.

Being organized takes practice, but once your child learns the right system, we can help them tackle these problems. We will help your child learn, keep, and develop a plan that promotes organization.

They have the ability – but it takes the right system.

Planning – What planning?

The ability to figure out how to accomplish goals seems impossible for your child.

When a homework assignment has a specific due date, either this week or in a month, your child doesn’t need to wait until the last minute.

We can plan and take steps to complete a large task by reducing that task into smaller pieces, so there is less stress and worry about how and when it will get done

Time management and task initiation are challenging.

It’s time to get ready for school in the morning and catch the bus, but your child is barely out of bed, half-dressed, and clueless about the time.

Your child initiates nothing no matter how many times you say, “Finish your homework before soccer practice. Clean your room before going to see your friend.” All your effort makes you angry, resulting in your child crying because they don’t know what to do.

We will work together on how to understand how long a task will take and how to complete that task wisely and effectively, so your child can be ready for school on time and catch the bus without you having to remind them a million times about each task.

We can help your child independently start tasks when needed, even if they don’t want to. We can help them clean that messy room so they can go to that friend’s house and get to that soccer game.

There is a lack of attention.

Some children cannot focus on a task or person without shifting their attention or gaze.

Focusing is hard, and it’s overwhelming for these children.

It’s hard for some children to multitask.

Short attention spans are typical in a young child, but sometimes, difficulty paying attention may have other causes. It is best to let us take the lead in evaluating and addressing this issue.

Your child lacks self-control and flexibility.

As you sit down to order at your child’s favorite restaurant, the waiter indicates that the restaurant is out of your child’s favorite cheese pizza. Your child starts screaming while your body cringes, and you feel embarrassed. The store is out of your child’s favorite yogurt, and their response is to start crying and throwing a tantrum.

These emotional responses are expressions of anger, frustration, and confusion, and it is difficult to see your child struggle and in pain. So many emotions for a child are hard to understand and control, but every child needs to regulate their thoughts, emotions, and actions safely and effectively.

We can help your child learn that there is a time for each emotion. Together, we can discuss and learn ways to cope and understand our feelings, so those big emotions don’t result in big reactions.

As a result of the process, they know to be flexible in demanding situations so big emotions won’t ruin the day and cause you to cringe in embarrassment.

They can’t hold on to information.

Your child has difficulty with their working memory, failing to remember sequences of information.

“Clean up your shoes, put them in the closet, and bring me your backpack.” You are lucky if your child remembers one of these three requests.

Following instructions is a problem both at school and at home.

We can help improve your child’s working memory. Specific exercises can help your child’s brain become stronger, so they learn tools and techniques to improve their working memory.

Then, following directions, cooking recipes, and remembering all practice equipment and other items becomes easier for your child.

Help your child with their executive functioning.

Stop feeling frustrated, angry, and confused about your child’s behavior.

They want to perform tasks on time, control their emotions, remember information, plan, and pay attention. With professional guidance and the right tools, they can learn how to perform these tasks.

Let us help – you are NOT alone. We are here. Contact us for a free consult.