Your child's report - breaking down executive functioning terms and strategies

When you have a child with a learning disability, ADHD, dyslexia (we like to call them learning differences),

or someone struggling with executive function, you likely also have a report or assessment from some sort of professional, like a psychologist.

These reports are normally based on data collected over a number of sessions with your child. They can be very helpful for breaking down what your child struggles with, what their strengths are, and how you (and their school) can help them to be most successful.

...BUT...These reports are only helpful if you actually understand what is in them.

Yes, re-read that….a report is not valuable if you don’t understand what it means! They are often full of psychological terms, test names, numbers, statistical terms and charts. They can also be VERY long and can feel daunting and overwhelming (we get it!). 

They ARE full of potential to provide insight into how your child learns and processes information. That is why we brought in clinical psychologist Lindsey Dogali - to help us to better understand Neuropsych Reports and Psych Ed Tests.

Dr. Lindsey Dogali broke down some of the areas that are discussed in the reports. She shared that there are four components to a Neuropsych Assessment: 

1. General Intelligence

2. Executive Functioning

3. Memory

4. Language

Within the report itself, there are tons of terms (phonological awareness, orthographic processing, metacognition, visual-motor integration, cognitive flexibility etc). However, the ones that we focussed on during this call were related to Executive Function, a term that is confusing to many parents and professionals. In simple terms, Executive Function is about the “ability to get stuff done”. 

Dr. Dogali did some deep dives into some areas related to Executive Function: Attention, Working Memory, Processing Speed and Inhibition. All of these are common terms that you would find on an educational assessment report. 

ATTENTION

1. Attention is related to being alert (ready to take in information), being selective (being able to choose what you are attending to), sustainability (being able to sustain attention over time), and dealing with shifts (having to deal with shifts in attention, or divided focus). 

2. Strategies for attention include trying to find an optimal environment for YOU (which will be different for everyone, it could be a little background noise for someone, but silence for someone else), using focus cues (such as getting the child’s attention by name and letting them know that you are about to tell them something important), fidgets (which can help channel attention), rotating tasks (between harder and easier tasks), movement breaks (move your body, get fresh air, stretch) and mindfulness (paying attention to the current environment, what distracts them etc). 

WORKING MEMORY 

1. Working memory is the ability to hold things in mind without losing track of what you’re doing. Things like distraction or cognitive overload can affect what can be held in your working memory. If a child you are with has working memory challenges, it may present as looking lost, challenges with daily routines, seeming like they are off task, forgetting steps, abandoning tasks, misplacing belongings, or issues with retention and retrieval of information. 

2. Strategies for helping with working memory (in terms of accommodations, not necessarily interventions) include developing routines and systems, using visual checklists and labels, break tasks into simple steps, managing distractions and stress, and  trying to find tricks to help make information stick, such as mnemonic devices. 

PROCESSING SPEED

1. Processing speed is the pace that you can take in information, make sense of it, and respond to it. It can impact home (with daily routines, decision making and feeling overwhelmed in general), school (trying to keep up with the pace of class, trying to finish on time, when there are timed tasks, and with trying to keep up with making notes) and social situations (trying to keep up with conversations, missing out on social cues, or being slow to respond to others). 

2. Strategies for processing speed include keeping a routine as much as possible, practicing tasks, trying to infuse some fun and urgency into tasks by gameifying them (ie. how fast can you get ready for school), allow more time to get things done, shorten or modify what actually needs to be done, and help to teach them time awareness (which may include some time awareness activities). 

INHIBITION

1. Inhibition is the ability to pause, think before you act, and show self-restraint. When there is a lack of inhibition, it may look like hyperactivity, interrupting, being the class clown, being sucked in by distractions, being impulsive, and being emotionally reactive. 

2. Strategies for hyperactivity include using fidget aids, flexible seating, movement breaks and time outside. 

3. Strategies for impulsivity include fostering self-awareness (modelling emotion identification and regulation, practicing observing others and self-evaluation skills), teaching coping skills for self-regulation (validating emotions without validating the behaviours, staying calm, teaching mindfulness and pausing/counting skills) and implementing behaviour management plans (rewarding instead of punishing, being clear on expectations, being consistent with consequences and showing the child that you believe in them). 

All of these terms are an incredible starting point for understanding what the report is trying to tell you, and what the next steps are to help your child/student. We will chip away at all of this, one step at a time, in order to help you to truly demystify that complex report. 

Check out Dr. Lindsey Dogali’s Masterclass here to learn even more about this topic. 

So what about all of the other jargon? There are many other words that will be included and related to actually reading the statistical numbers from a Psychoeducational report, or Neuropsych report. WSe’ll cover this in our next blog article!