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How do we break down tasks to support executive function development?
Its not about being smart. Executive function does not impact intelligence. Executive function is doing something with purpose. When we have a purpose, we have a goal. It might include getting ready, completing tasks, writing a paper, staying quiet while the teacher is speaking or planning a holiday. Executive function also affects social interactions.
Think about all the things you needed to do to get ready for today. Take one of those simple task like eating breakfast. It requires developing and sequencing a set of smaller tasks just to have a bowl of cereal on the table ready to eat. It’s not just about the steps, but managing your emotions and energy levels to complete these smaller tasks. And what happens when you get interrupted?
How do we support students in the classroom who struggle organising even beginning a simple task of getting books and pencils ready? Many tasks have implicit instructions and it is assumed students can get ready without a breakdown of steps.
How do we help students to begin and complete a task
We need to focus on the process that help us manage our self to achieve a task or goal. Executive functions affects:
- impulse control
- attention
- emotional control
- flexible thinking
- working memory
- self monitoring for self-regulation and co-regulation
- planning and prioritization
- task initiation
- organisation
- perspective taking
5 steps to move from select executive functions towards executive functioning
- Have a goal
- identify a series of sequenced steps
- Do each step
- Self-regulate your behavior and emotion to complete each task
- Be flexible on the plan
It also requires time management and predicting how much time each task will take. For an ADHD student, if they learn to predict time they are not building the tools for time management for executive functioning. The future is now, not in 5min minutes. If you don’t do it now, it will not be done.
If a child is good at video games but cannot organise any other part of their tasks, it does not mean that they have executive function. They are using different parts of the brain. Completing other tasks means that there is difficulty with one of those steps to complete their goal.
Using visuals/objects to create logic and systems thinking helps. Set a task or goal by identifying the beginning and end for time management. Decide what needs to be completed between these two time goals. Compare what the ideal time management should look like to what is happening.