Post on 27-Dec-2015
ORGANIZING THE RACING,
CLUTTERED MIND
Jessica Blasik, M.S.Ed.
Lisa Pass, Ed.S., NCSP
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
LEARNING GOALS: Understand some neurodevelopmental reasons
why children and adolescents may struggle to stay organized
Identify some of the most common Executive Functions and how they influence behavior
Determine you and your child’s EF strengths and weaknesses
Learn a problem solving technique to use to plan and implement your own behavioral interventions at home
THE HUMAN BRAIN: THE BASICS
EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS
Executive Functions:
mental processes that
control and regulate
behaviors and abilities
Orchestra Conductor/CEO Organization Planning Initiation Shifting Working Memory Emotional Control Self-Monitoring Inhibition
BRAIN DEVELOPMENT CHILDHOOD THROUGH EARLY ADULTHOOD
(Thompson PM, Giedd JN, Woods RP, et al., 2000; Shaw, Greenstein, Lerch, et al., 2005)
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
Neuronal pruning (decrease in gray matter) occurs as brain becomes more “hard wired”
White matter increases as associations are made throughout the brain
Skills and behaviors practiced consistently during late childhood and early adolescence have a higher probability of being hard-wired into the adult brain
NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF GIFTEDNESS
Some evidence that gifted children have larger parietal and frontal lobe areas
fMRI studies indicate that gifted children may have more efficient connections between frontal lobes and other areas of the brain (including emotion centers)
More widely spread activation when problem solving
GIFTED BRAIN (BOYLE, CUNNINGTON, SILK, VAUGHAN,
ET AL., 2005)
Brain activation in gifted (a) and non-gifted (b) students Mental rotation task
ASYNCHRONOUS DEVELOPMENT
Asynchronous
Development: uneven
intellectual, physical, and
emotional development.
Most noticeable in individuals with higher IQs.
Some cognitive abilities may be much more developed than others
Executive Functions normally develop at different times, so may appear asynchronous
ASYNCHRONOUS DEVELOPMENT OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS
-“My teachers saw me at once backward and precocious, reading books beyond my years and yet at the bottom of the Form. Winston Churchill
-“The servants all thought that young Isaac was foolish, and his mother did not know what to do with him…”
From Isaac Newton, The Greatest Scientist of All
Time
-“I used to take these maths tests which were supposed to be done in one period and it took me not just that period but the next one, which was a play period and sometimes the one beyond that…”
Roger Penrose, Cambridge Math Professor
INVENTORY
Complete the Executive Function Parent and Student Questionnaire
Score Each Section Higher scores indicate particular
strengths, low scores weaknesses Write down the three highest and three
lowest scores to get a “profile”
THOUGHT QUESTIONS
Were there any surprises, either for your profile or your child’s?
Were your profile and your child’s profile the same, or different?
How might the differences or similarities between your profiles effect how you work with your child?
THE FAMILY DYNAMIC
How do these profiles effect family functioning?
Let’s take a lesson from the Hecks
WHEN YOU HAVE DIFFERENT PROFILES
When your strengths are your child’s weaknesses
Collaborate with child to get buy-inBe creative in using your strengths to
enhance their skillsMake a point to identify where you are weak
and your child is strong to maintain moraleWhen needed, lend them your strengths
WHEN YOU HAVE SIMILAR PROFILES
When your weaknesses are similar to your child’s weaknesses
Collaborate with your childBrainstorm solutions togetherShare stories from your past as lessonsGet others to help
A FEW EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONSON WHICH TO FOCUS
Executive Functions:
mental processes that
control and regulate
behaviors and abilities
Self-MonitoringOrganization InitiationShiftingPlanning
SELF MONITORING
Involves self monitoring and metacognition related to: tasks and environment interpersonal awarenessown performance
Recognizing what is going on inside one’s own mind, body, environment, relationships.
SELF MONITORING INTERVENTIONS
What adults can do to helpAlign external demands with internal
desiresSet small, attainable goals for each activity,
task, or class Student based suggestions
Have your child learn to check in with him/herself by asking: What am I doing right now? What am I supposed to be doing right now?
ORGANIZATION The ability to create and maintain
systems to keep track of information or materials
ExamplesCleaning roomKeeping binders neat and organizedOrganizing thoughts onto paperKeeping track of assignmentsTaking effective notes
ORGANIZATION INTERVENTION
Strategies for Keeping Things TidyUse a bin system or folder systemTake a picture of what “clean” looks likeBreak down into manageable, small steps
Getting Thoughts on PaperCognitive MappingKeeping a daily and weekly planner
What Parents Can DoCollaborate with students when developing
a strategyBe flexible and ready to brainstormMake it fun, whenever possiblePrepare to choose your battles
ORGANIZATION
“Constantly late for school, losing his books, and papers and various other things into which I need not enter– he is so regular in his irregularity in every way that I don’t know what to do.”
Winston Churchill’s Principal
INITIATION
Getting going, getting started on tasksKnowing where to begin, what to do, who to
ask
This is NOT non-compliance or disinterest in the task, its not knowing where to start
The ability to begin a task or activity and to independently generate ideas, responses, or problem solving strategies
INITIATION INTERVENTIONS
What adults can do to helpAdditional verbal and visual promptsDemonstrate the first problem of a work
sheetBreak tasks down step-by-step to reduce
feelings of being overwhelmed Write them down on index cards or in a notebook
Student based suggestionsHave your child create “to do” lists or
create “cookbook” with lists of steps for each activity
Organizing thoughts before beginning an activity
SHIFTING
Making transitionsTolerating changeFlexible problem solvingSwitching or alternating
attentionChange focus from one topic to
another
The ability to move freely from one situation, activity, or aspect of a problem
to another, in reaction to internal or external cues
SHIFTING INTERVENTIONS What adults can do to help
Consistent routines, schedules, and activities Make minor changes and help your child
respond Use visual organizers and planners to represent
the sequence of events throughout the day Student based suggestions
Slightly alter the order of everyday activities Working with two or three familiar activities and
alternate them Practice solving problems in different ways
PLANNING
Anticipation of future eventsSetting goalsDeveloping appropriate sequential steps
ahead of timeDetermining the most effective method or
steps to reach a goalKeeping track of time and steps to complete
tasks and reach goals
The ability to manage future oriented tasks
PLANNING INTERVENTIONS
What adults can do to help Have binder with steps for activities, assignments,
tasks Ask questions like: how long do you think this will
take you to finish? Demonstrate ways to plan
Discuss plans for the day; think out loud and model planning with multiple steps
Student based suggestions Practice setting a goal and lay out steps to reach
the goal Involve your child in planning events, such as
birthday parties, cooking dinner, or scheduling activities
SO, NOW WHAT DO WE DO?
Teach deficient skills rather than assuming they’ll develop naturally
Consider developmental level in your plan
Use your child’s innate drive for mastery and control
Over-ride the desire to quit Celebrate successes! Take a deep breath: stress decreases
frontal lobe activity
TEACHING EXECUTIVE SKILLS
Identify a problem behavior Set an overall goal and several smaller
benchmark goals Outline steps needed to reach the goal Turn steps into a list, a checklist, or
short set of rules Supervise and Reward Fade Supervision and reward
A NOTE ABOUT REWARDS
Well thought out rewards have an energizing effect on behavior
Not a bribe, but a way to help a child gain motivation when it is not yet internal
Not meant to be permanent Should be collaborative with child, and
open to adjustment throughout Can be tangible, or intangible Needs to be consistent
VIGNETTES: Problem solving practice in groups
Re-watch the Hecks, choose one character, and take 5 minutes to use the problem solving model on the worksheet to define the problem
SUGGESTED RESOURCESBooks
Late, Lost, and Unprepared by Joyce Cooper-Kahn & Laurie Dietzel
Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson & Richard Guare
The Organized Student: Teaching Children the Skills for Success in School and Beyond by D. Goldberg
Assessment and Intervention for Executive Function Difficulties by G. McClosky, L. Perkins, & B. Van Divner
Websites
LDonline.org
http://www.ldinfo.com/executive_functioning.htm
InterventionCentral.com