Practical Strategies To Address Executive Function Deficits In Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Executive functions are the cognitive tasks that allow us to regulate and monitor behavior. If your student or child has any of the following concerns, he may be struggling with executive function deficits: *Is unorganized *Can’t seem to hold directions in his/her brain *Lacks motivation *Can be blunt *Is forgetful *Has difficulty “letting things go” Come and learn practical strategies for school and home that will empower your student or child to succeed while capitalizing on his/her strengths. “Executive functions” have been defined as those neuropsychological processes that impact in human self-regulation (Barkley, 1997).  Research studies have provided for us a strong indication that executive functions are regulated by the frontal cortex of the brain, and in particular, by the frontal lobes of the brain. Thus, children with executive function disorder are thought to have some dysfunction in this particular region of the brain.

The frontal lobes are the “executives in charge.”  They can be compared to the heads of our families, the clergy of our churches, or the supervisors at our places of work.  Without good leadership, effective operations will be fragmented and inefficient.  So it is, too, with our cognitive abilities.  Efficient functioning of the frontal lobes is necessary for each and every learning experience to be successful. 

In contrast, frontal lobe damage or dysfunction can cause significant problems for individuals.  Working memory, attention, behavioral inhibition, and organizational skills may all be impacted.  Although we sometimes assign these deficits as characteristics of particular disabilities, they are also typical of a wider range of deficiency known as frontal lobe dysfunction.  Frontal lobe dysfunction can be found in many children with learning disability, ADD and ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism, and Asperger’s syndrome.  Children with nonverbal learning disorder also typically display frontal lobe dysfunction.  These disorders affect a sizeable amount of the student population in any given school today.  For this reason, it is important that educators and parents recognize the cognitive deficits associated with frontal lobe dysfunction and create programming to support these students.  Even bright children with ASD are frequently described as lacking in many of the executive functions that would allow them to make progress academically, behaviorally, and socially.

Students with executive function deficits are often targeted for behavioral consequences when they do not follow through with the expectations of the classroom teacher.  In other words, they are judged by school personnel to be noncompliant, when in fact, they are incompetent.  Often what is missing in these classrooms are the accommodations and modifications that would help make the educational experience for such students more successful and would serve to level the playing field for these atypical children.   These children need educators and parents to teach them valuable replacement skills so that they can begin to better monitor their own behaviors.

The field of education has readily available today a wealth of information regarding special education students and their learning styles.  It is important that educators and administrators avail themselves of this research.  School psychologists need to be especially vigilant so that they can recognize children who present with symptoms of executive function disorder and be able to select testing instruments that are sensitive to teasing out their deficits. 

The presentation will provide practical strategies for addressing executive function deficits including organizational skills, motivation, working memory, behavioral inhibition, and theory of mind.

 Learner Outcomes:

1. Participants will be able to list and describe several executive function deficits.

2. Participants will be able to list symptoms or behaviors that students may demonstrate if they are experiencing executive function disorder.

3. Attendees will be able to implement several strategies to improve organizational skills that will empower students to be successful with these types of skills.

4. Attendees will be able to implement practical strategies to teach social and emotional skills that will help to develop behavioral inhibition.

5. Participants will be able to demonstrate ways to increase motivation in students with executive deficit disorder.

References:

Pennington, B.F., & Ozonoff, S. (1996). Executive functions and developmental psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37, 51-87.

 Barkley, R. A. (1997). ADHD and the Nature of Self-Control. New York: Guilford Press.