What is Executive Function Coaching and is it Right for my Child?
The Science behind ADHD and Executive Function
After an initial diagnosis, it can feel overwhelming when trying to figure out what the best course of action is to support your child with ADHD. It's common to see the recommendation “work with an Executive Function Coach,” on a neuropsychological evaluation—but then comes the question of what is executive function and what does executive function coaching entail?
Dr. Russel Barkley, one of the most prominent clinicians in ADHD research, argues that ADHD should be seen as a difference in executive function rather than one of just inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Executive Function skills are brain-based skills that help a person self regulate, manage tasks and organize resources involved in achieving a goal. These skills are housed primarily in the prefrontal cortex of the brain (the front of the brain) and include the skills listed in the graphic below.
Although children with ADHD may be intellectually typical, Dr. Barkley says that children diagnosed with ADHD can have up to a 30 % deficit in their executive function capabilities when compared to neurotypical children of the same age. That means a 10-year-old child with ADHD would have the executive function skills of a 7-year-old.
While executive function skills typically develop by age 25 to 30, ADHD is a chronic neurocognitive difference in executive function skills, and struggles can persist throughout adulthood. It’s important to observe your child’s behavior through an Executive Function Deficit lens as it offers clarity to some of the frustrating and often confusing behaviors your child may continue to exhibit.
So what can you do to help your child with their executive function challenges?
The answer is multifaceted. I like to tell clients that executive function coaching is an accessory service—let’s make sure your child is first getting the proper mental health support if anxiety, perfectionism, and/or depression are co-occurring conditions. Once a trained mental health professional is on your team, buy-in from your child and commitment from the adults supporting the child is the next step. Once these key pieces are in place, that’s when executive function coaching can really be supportive.
At The Learning Collective ATX, we offer executive function coaching to teach students the strategies and tools they need to help strengthen their executive function skills. We offer a three-part approach:
Personalized Executive Function Coaching for your Child: This is 1:1 coaching that is tailored to your kiddo’s needs—whether it is teaching backpack and school supply organization, time management strategies, creating a homework routine, promoting growth mindset shifts, keeping track of homework assignments etc.
Parent Coaching: This is where a lot of the magic happens. At the end of the day, the parents are the ones who have to be equipped with the knowledge and commitment to help their child put these executive function strategies into play.
The Learning Collective Tool Kit: The Toolkit includes the The Learning Collective Student Executive Function workbook, a visual countdown timer for time management (this is different than a timer on your phone or clock), a moveable/erasable to-do list, homework assignment task cards and calm down sticks (our emotional regulation tool). We also sell a monthly/weekly student planner designed for students by our current students :)
