What Is Executive Dysfunction?
Executive function skills enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and manage multiple tasks. Up to 90 percent of kids with ADHD struggle with executive dysfunction, which impairs goal-directed behavior.
By Janice Rodden Medically reviewed by Sharon Saline, Psy.D.
Executive dysfunction is a term used to describe the range of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional difficulties which often occur as a result of another disorder or a traumatic brain injury. Individuals with executive dysfunction struggle with planning, problem-solving, organization, and time management.
Children and adults with executive functioning problems struggle to organize materials, regulate emotions, set schedules and stick with tasks. They misplace papers, reports, and other school materials. They might have similar problems keeping track of their personal items or keeping their bedroom organized.
Brain & Cognitive Skills
Brain and Cognitive Skills Training
Weak underlying cognitive skills may be the reason why a person struggles to read or learn at a even a basic level. If this is the cause of the learning difficulty, it can be corrected. Research has shown that the brain never stops changing. If you or your child experience learning or reading problems, brain or cognitive skills training can be your most effective choice to eliminate the cause of the struggle, and move on to learning and reading success.
Understanding individual cognitive skills helps us understand how they impact learning. These skills include:
Attention Skills: A student’s ability to attend to incoming information can be observed, broken down into a variety of sub-skills, and improved through properly coordinated training. We train and strengthen the three primary types of attention:
9 Food Rules for ADHD Families: What to Eat, What to Avoid
A well-rounded diet can have a powerful, positive effect on your cognition, mood, memory, and behavior. The wrong diet can aggravate ADHD symptoms. Here’s what you should (and absolutely should not) be eating to help your brain and body.
The right foods can have a powerful, positive effect on your cognition, mood, memory, and behavior. The wrong foods can worsen symptoms of attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD). That’s why it’s important to note the best foods for ADHD.
In two studies done in Holland, Lidy Pelsser, Ph.D., demonstrated that an elimination diet (eliminating sugar, gluten, dairy, eggs, certain meats, and food dyes) improved symptoms in 70 percent of children with ADHD. (That was without eating some of the best foods for ADHD, the powerful brain-focusing foods that I will tell you about later.) As someone who knows what it’s like to grow up in an ADHD household filled with drama, this little food fact got my attention.
The Benefits of Breakfast Are Real – and Delicious
High protein breakfast foods help boost focus and mood all day long. Use these recipe ideas to help your child shine from the first bell to the last.
By Laura Stevens, M.S., Susan McQuillan
Maryanne knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but getting her 8-year-old son, who has attention deficit disorder (ADHD), to eat in the morning is difficult. Getting his clothes on, teeth brushed, and backpack filled leaves Maryanne little time to prepare a serious morning meal, let alone something Steve will eat. When it comes to breakfast, 8-year-old Madeline, diagnosed with ADHD last year, knows what she likes: carbohydrates. Her meal of choice is toast with jelly or waffles topped with fruit or, as her mother puts it, “anything made with white flour.”
While there’s nothing wrong with eating carbohydrates in the morning, an all-carb breakfast, or no breakfast at all, is a recipe for inattention. Carbs won’t steady a child’s blood sugar throughout the morning, help her stay alert, or prevent the energy dips that cause her to lose focus in the classroom. High-protein breakfast foods are ideal.
After a Good Night’s Sleep
After a Good Night’s Sleep Brain Cells Are Ready to Learn
Stephanie Dutchen, National Institutes of Health
On top, the brain of a sleep-deprived fly glows orange because of Bruchpilot a communication protein between brain cells. These bright orange brain areas are associated with learning. On the bottom, a well-rested fly shows lower levels of Bruchpilot, which might make the fly ready to learn after a good night’s rest.
CREDIT: Chiara Cirelli, University of Wisconsin-Madison
This Research in Action article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
How Parents Can Help
How Parents Can Help With Homework
by LD Online
- Show an interest in your child’s homework. Inquire about the subjects and the work to be done. Ask questions that require answers longer than one or two words.
- Help your child organize homework materials before beginning.
- Establish a regular time with your child to do homework-developing a schedule helps avoid procrastination.
20 Classroom Accommodations That Target Common ADHD Challenges
The best IEP is the one with accommodations designed for your child’s very specific symptoms. Here are some of our favorite solutions for addressing common ADHD challenges at school.
By Bob Seay
Students with ADHD often benefit from special ADHD accommodations established by teachers and parents who spend thoughtful time pinpointing problematic ADHD symptoms, and then devising classroom accommodations that help solve those problems.
Everything You Need to Know About Creating an IEP or 504 Plan
Your child’s IEP or 504 plan maps out her path to the education she deserves. Use these expert tips so you’ll be prepared to navigate the process and create ADHD accommodations that work.
What is the format of the IEP or 504 meeting? I would like to know what to expect.
After a child is found eligible for special education and related services, a meeting must be held within 30 days to develop the IEP. An IEP or a Section 504 meeting can be intimidating. It can run as long as three hours. Each school district handles things differently, but usually teachers, principal, school psychologist, guidance counselors, special education teachers, school nurse, and others directly affected by the IEP or Section 504 will attend.
Learning about Learning Disabilities
Your chances of knowing someone with Learning Disabilities are very good.
Learning Disabilities Association of America info@LDAAmerica.org
2.3 million students are diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLD) and receive services under IDEA. This represents 35% of all students receiving special education services. 75% – 80% of special education students identified as LD have their basic deficits in language and reading. 60% of adults with severe literacy problems have undetected or untreated learning disabilities
Children with learning disabilities begin school expecting to learn and be successful. If your child is having difficulty in school, she may learn differently from other kids. Parents are often the first to notice that “something doesn’t seem right.” But sometimes knowing what to do and where to find help can be confusing.
Explaining ADHD to Teachers
Twelve Myths We Tend to Believe About Dyslexia
1. People with dyslexia see words backward, such as “dog” for “god” or “was” for “saw”.
This myth is incorrect. Dyslexia is not caused by a vision problem. Many people have a lifelong confusion over left and right. Plus, they have difficulty sounding out the words in the first place and may simply mix up the words. They do not see things backwards.
2. Dyslexia is a medical diagnosis.
Physicians do not test for dyslexia and it is not classified as a medical term. Physicians are not trained to test for reading, spelling, and writing difficulties and there is not a pill or medical procedure to help with those types of issues.
3. Dyslexia cannot be diagnosed until third grade.
False. Professionals conducting cognitive testing can accurately diagnose reading problems as early as five years old.
5 key skills for academic success
How children with attention deficit disorder (ADHD) or learning disabilities like dyslexia can improve reading skills and achieve success at school.
Early Years
For grades 1st through 3rd, the object of most school reading assignments is to build reading skills. You can help with the necessary practice and offer support to your child with attention deficit disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, or other learning disabilities.
Do You Read to Your Child?
How children with attention deficit disorder (ADHD) or learning disabilities like dyslexia can improve reading skills and achieve success at school.
Early Years
For grades 1st through 3rd, the object of most school reading assignments is to build reading skills. You can help with the necessary practice and offer support to your child with attention deficit disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, or other learning disabilities.
Why Some Children Have Difficulties Learning to Read
How children with attention deficit disorder (ADHD) or learning disabilities like dyslexia can improve reading skills and achieve success at school.
Early Years
For grades 1st through 3rd, the object of most school reading assignments is to build reading skills. You can help with the necessary practice and offer support to your child with attention deficit disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, or other learning disabilities.
5 key skills for academic success
It’s never too early or too late to help your child develop the skills for academic success. Learn how to build these skills and stay on track all year long.
It takes a combination of skills — organization, time management, prioritization, concentration and motivation — to achieve academic success. Here are some tips to help get your child on the right track.
Talk to your child.
To find out which of these skills your child has and which he can develop further, start a simple conversation that focuses on his goals. Ask him about his favorite subjects, classes he dreads and whether he’s satisfied with his latest progress report.
10 Truths & Tips for Making and Keeping Friends
Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC-SLP and Pamela Crooke, PhD, CCC-SLP
Making and keeping friends is something that most of us take for granted, in much the same way we take for granted our ability to learn to skip and run, be part of a classroom discussion, learn to write, stand in line, and do arithmetic. Furthermore, the nature and quality of friendships evolve as we mature. What makes for a good friend in elementary school is different from what makes a good friend in high school, and these shifts continue in our 20s, 30s, and across our lifetimes.
