Living within society’s expectations can be challenging for both children and adults. Children, however, face an additional layer of parental expectations. Learning to navigate these expectations is a key developmental task, as we grow and learn how people are “supposed” to function in the world. But what happens when other variables make learning and enacting these skills more difficult? Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or other learning or developmental disorders often find daily tasks to be more challenging than most of their peers. According to the CDC, 11.4% of children between the ages of 3 and 17 in the United States have been diagnosed with ADHD—approximately 7 million kids (Danielson et al., 2024).
It’s very common for children to be forgetful, resist doing their chores, lose focus, or fail to see the consequences of their actions—and this makes perfect sense. The prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for executive functioning, doesn’t fully mature until around age 25 (Arain et al., 2013). We expect kids to make mistakes or “bone-headed” decisions—that’s part of growing up and learning. In fact, executive functioning skills typically improve as children develop. However, when these misjudgments persist and begin to interfere with daily functioning, it may be necessary to implement strategies to identify and address specific deficits in executive functioning.
So, what exactly are these executive functioning skills? For simplicity, we can categorize them into two groups: "thinking skills" and "doing skills" (Dawson & Guare, 2008). Thinking-based executive function skills include:
Working Memory
Planning/Prioritization
Organization
Time Management
Metacognition (Perspective-taking)
Doing-based executive function skills include:
Response Inhibition
Emotional Control
Sustained Attention
Task Initiation
Persistence toward Goals
Flexibility
Many of these skills are essential for completing the tasks and chores we encounter daily. For example, imagine you’ve asked your child to clean their room. Depending on the state of the room, this may be a small or sizable task. Either way, you’re asking your child to complete a series of steps that require many of the skills listed above. The expectation might be that they will sort and organize their dirty and clean laundry, pick up trash and throw it away, bring dirty dishes to the kitchen, and put items back in their proper places. However, what might actually happen is an impromptu fashion show, a refusal to throw away a treasured piece of garbage, a diversion to snack time or drink breaks while carrying the dishes, or getting distracted by toys they were supposed to put away.
However, by using developmentally appropriate requests that match a child’s current level of executive functioning, we can achieve more successful outcomes. Instead of asking a child to clean the whole room, we can break the task into smaller, more manageable steps. For example, we might ask them, “Please place all the stuffed animals on your bed,” “Put the clothes in the laundry basket,” or “Put the crayon back in its container.” By scaffolding the task into bite-sized chunks, we are more likely to see productive results.
Many other examples highlight how executive function skills impact seemingly simple tasks. The benefit of executive function coaching is that it helps identify which of these skills are strengths and weaknesses, and then provides specific interventions and strategies to enhance daily functioning. These interventions are tailored to each individual’s abilities, developmental level, and needs.
Brentwood Counseling Associates can work with your family to create individualized executive function coaching to increase your child’s ability to perform at school or at home. For more information about our Executive Functioning Coaching, please click here or call 615-377-1153.
Arain, M., Haque, M., Johal, L., Mathur, P., Nel, W., Rais, A., Sandhu, R., & Sharma, S. (2013). Maturation of the adolescent brain. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 9, 449–461. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S39776
Danielson, M. L., Claussen, A. H., Bitsko, R. H., et al. (2024). ADHD prevalence among U.S. children and adolescents in 2022: Diagnosis, severity, co-occurring disorders, and treatment. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. Published online May 22, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2024.1783157
Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2008). Smart but scattered. Guilford Publications.
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