Executive Functioning

Guiding Students to Improve Executive Functioning Skills

Executive function needs become more complex among high school students as their life roles evolve.  Too often, chaos results as they use self-management approaches they have outgrown, like keeping track of their assignments in their heads. Read more ›

Potentia Institute: My Brain Explained [web resource]

Knowledge is power. It enables us to find our right fit, strengthen areas where we have challenges, seek support, advocate for ourselves and design our own learning or work environment. Yet, Information about our brains has not been readily available to most people in a practical manner. Read more ›

My Teen Struggles with Executive Function

It was January 2021. Our son Jack’s second term as a freshman in high school had just ended. Two weeks earlier, my husband and I scanned the school’s database to check his grades. We counted more than 20 missing assignments.

A bright, conscientious, and capable teen, Jack had often struggled with organization and procrastination, especially with research and writing assignments. Read more ›

Raising a Son with ADHD: One Mother’s Journey

CHC staff member Lauren Sims recounts her experience with raising a son who has ADHD—the challenges and the rewards—and offers advice for parents who may be just beginning their ADHD journey. Read more ›

Understanding Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Young Adult: Get the Facts [downloadable]

Hearing a health care professional say you have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be confusing. The good news is that the emotions and behaviors you have been concerned about are actually symptoms of a treatable disorder. Read more ›

Trouble With Executive Function at Different Ages

Executive function is a set of mental skills that act as a command center in the brain. They help us plan, manage time, control emotions, and get tasks done. They’re also important for staying focused and solving problems. So struggling with executive function can have a big impact on kids.

Trouble with executive skills is common in kids who learn and think differently. And all kids with ADHD struggle with it. Read more ›

Making the Move to Middle School? How to Improve Executive Functioning Skills

Executive functioning isn’t something that just crops up during adolescence. Our kids have been working on their executive functioning skills since they were babies.

“Executive functioning is a set of skills that allow kids to organize and complete tasks in a timely manner,” says school psychologist Kevin Kemelhar. These skills include initiating tasks, maintaining steam while completing them, and reaching goals. A big part of this process involves “inhibition,” where kids learn to mute their impulses to do something else (like Snapchatting their friends) while they complete the task at hand. Read more ›

Therapy Dogs Reduce College Stress, Improve Executive Functioning

Spending just one hour per week for a month with therapy dogs led to a significant improvement in executive functioning for college students at risk of failing academically. Read more ›

Executive Functioning: What It Is and How to Help [presentation]

In this presentation, neuropsychologist Jennifer Rosenthal, PhD, and CHC education specialist Ann Lyke, MEd, discuss Executive Functioning: what it is, what executive functioning skills look like in the classroom, and why many children are facing additional challenges with executive functioning during the pandemic. Read more ›

Helping Students Develop Executive Function Skills Remotely

Online learning can create unique challenges for students, as they don’t have in-person signals such as bell schedules or classroom cues to help them stay focused and on track during the day, writes middle school language arts and social studies teacher Kasey Short for Edutopia. Short developed online tools to help her students organize their time and work even while they’re remote. Read more ›

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