ABSTRACT
Setting the goal provides the motivation, but there’s another component–breaking down the required steps to achieve the goal. It requires a level of self-talk that is often delayed in kids with executive functioning difficulties. Clearly, the ability to plan, problem solve, and think critically requires competence in a number of other executive functions: focus, organization, working memory. When raising a child with an executive functioning difficulty, we continue to help our kids create their own systems. Structure will always help a child who struggles with planning and execution of a task. Step-by-step photo checklists can be a great help. Time management is an essential part of planning for schoolwork. Children with executive functioning difficulty have a faulty sense of time and underestimate, or don’t estimate at all, how long a project will take to complete. Deficits in executive functioning, like having difficulty with problem solving, setting goals, and using critical thinking can significantly impact children in the classroom.
