The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Executive Functioning Disorder

The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Executive Functioning Disorder

by Rebecca Branstetter
The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Executive Functioning Disorder

The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Executive Functioning Disorder

by Rebecca Branstetter

eBook

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Overview

The vital skills children need to achieve their full potential!

Being organized. Staying focused. Controlling impulses and emotions.

These are some of the basic executive functioning (EF) skills children need to function and succeed as they grow. But what can you do if your child is struggling with one or all of these skills? With this hands-on guide, you'll learn what EF difficulties look like and how you can help your child overcome these challenges. Psychologist Rebecca Branstetter teaches you how to help improve the executive functions, including:
  • Task initiation
  • Response inhibition
  • Focus
  • Time management
  • Working memory
  • Flexibility
  • Self-regulation
  • Completing tasks
  • Organization

With checklists to help enforce skills and improve organization, The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Executive Functioning Disorder is your step-by-step handbook for helping your child concentrate, learn, and thrive!

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781440566868
Publisher: Adams Media
Publication date: 11/08/2013
Series: Everything® Parenting Guide Series
Sold by: SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format: eBook
Pages: 256
File size: 596 KB

About the Author

Dr. Rebecca Branstetter is a school psychologist, speaker, parent educator, and author on a mission to help students thrive. She collaborates with school psychologists across the country to help them move from surviving in the profession to thriving. Dr. Branstetter is a sought-after speaker for professional development for school psychologists and parents. Her expertise in supporting school psychologists, parents, teachers, and students in the public school system has appeared in media outlets such as the Huffington Post, NPR, Education.com, and Parents magazine.
Dr. Rebecca Branstetter is a school psychologist, speaker, parent educator and author on a mission to help students thrive. from UC Berkeley in 2004, and has worked as a school psychologist and in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area since then.

Table of Contents

Introduction 11

01 What Is Executive Functioning? 13

Defining Executive Functioning 14

Being a Parent: The Ultimate Test in Executive Functioning 16

The "Boss in Your Brain" 17

"Smooth Sailors" versus "Boat Rockers" 18

Parenting a "Boat Rocker" 19

02 The "Big Ten" Executive Functions 27

Task Initiation 28

Response Inhibition 29

Focus 30

Time Management 31

Working-Memory 32

Flexibility 33

Self-Regulation 35

Emotional Self-Control 36

Task Completion 37

Organization 39

Prioritizing Interventions 40

03 How Does Executive Functioning Develop in Children and Adolescents? 41

Typical Development: The Smooth Sailors 42

When Challenges Arise: The Boat Rockers 45

Delay or Disorder? 45

Assessment of Executive Functioning Difficulties 46

04 Disorders with Symptoms of Executive Functioning Weaknesses 53

Executive Functioning: "The Big Umbrella" 54

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 54

Autism Spectrum Disorders 60

Learning Disabilities 64

Medical Conditions 65

Emotional Disorders 66

05 Task Initiation: Taming Your Child's Procrastination Monster 69

What Is Task Initiation? 70

The Young Child (Ages 1-4) 70

The Elementary-Aged Child (Ages 5-12) 75

The Adolescent (Ages 13-18+) 79

Social Media and Procrastination 83

06 Response Inhibition: Teaching Your Child to Control Impulses 85

The Importance of Controlling Impulses 86

Stanford Marshmallow Study 88

Strategies for Kids Who Act First and Think Later 89

Strategies for Kids Who Make Careless Errors 91

07 Focus 95

What Do Focus Problems Look Like? 96

Sustained Focus 96

Divided Focus 98

TV or Not TV? There Is No Question! 100

Music and Focus 101

Mindfulness 102

08 Time Management-Strengthening Your Child's Internal Clock 103

Development of Time Management Skills 104

Getting Out the Door on Time 104

Getting Homework Done Efficiently 107

Teaching Activity Scheduling 110

09 Working-Memory 113

The Importance of Working-Memory 114

The "RAM" in Your Brain 115

Remembering and Following Directions 116

Remembering Appointments and Assignments 118

Can You Strengthen Working-Memory? 119

10 Flexibility: Rolling with Changes 125

What Does Flexibility Entail? 126

Learning How to Reset 128

Changing Plans Midstream 130

Repairing 132

11 Self-Regulation: Thinking about Thinking 133

What Is Self-Regulation? 134

Self-Regulation in Reading 135

Self-Regulation in Writing 138

Self-Regulation in Math 141

Educational Media 144

Developing Self-Regulation 145

12 Emotional Self-Control 149

Why Emotional Self-Control Is Important 150

The Tale of Phineas Gage 150

Labeling Feelings 151

Providing Behavioral Choices 152

Tracking Emotions to Build Awareness 153

Dealing with "Meltdowns" 155

13 Task Completion 159

What Is Task Completion? 160

Short-Term Tasks 160

Reading Assignments 167

Long-Term Projects 169

14 Organization 171

Organization Is in the Eye of the Beholder 172

Finding the Floor in Your Child's Bedroom 172

The Backpack Vortex 174

Binder Systems 175

Homework Systems 176

Planners 178

Helping Lost-and-Found "Frequent Flyers" Keep Track of Belongings 180

15 Setting Up Your Home Environment to Support Executive Functioning Development 183

Making the Home Environment Positive for Teaching Executive Functioning 184

Routines Are Your Friends! 185

Stop the Homework Battles 187

Getting Your Child to Do Chores 189

16 How to Advocate for Support for Your Child at School 191

Bridging the Home-School Gap 192

Special Services 194

Supporting Transition to Middle School 201

Supporting Transition to High School 203

17 Parenting Children with Executive Functioning Challenges 205

Your Changing Role 206

Parent as Orchestrator 206

Parent as Monitor 207

Parent as Facilitator/Supporter 209

18 Manager or Micromanager? 211

Helicopter Parenting 212

Lending Your Child Your Frontal Lobe 215

How to Pull Back Support Without the Crash and Burn 216

After High School: College and Beyond 217

19 What If You Also Have Executive Functioning Challenges? 221

Genetics versus Environment 222

The Importance of Modeling 222

Getting Support 225

20 Building Resilience 229

Smoothing Out the Ocean versus Riding the Waves 230

Success Factors 230

The 1:5 Rule 234

Appendix: Checklists for Supporting the "Big Ten" Executive Functions 237

Index 249

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