Is it a struggle to get your children ready for school every day? Do you feel like a broken record as you repeat the same instruction approximately 328 times each morning, only to eventually yell at your child just to get their attention, and then have them look at you in surprise that you are so annoyed? Does a change in the routine cause a lot of stress for your kids? Do you notice your child’s emotions going from “zero to sixty” after a change in plans or minor disagreement? As we get closer to the end of another semester and the holiday season is in full swing, all of us are probably struggling with task persistence and managing our time. We are here to provide you with more information about executive function for your child with ADHD, autism, language disorder, or learning challenges to help make the days run a little bit smoother! 

A few weeks ago, we talked about five important facts every parent needs to understand about executive function.Today, I’m diving deeper into one...

If I had a nickel for every time parents told me that they had already (without much lasting impact!) tried a reward system at home with their child—well, I would be a rich woman. Many of you who have a child with ADHD, an autism spectrum disorder, or executive functioning challenges have struggled with your child not listening or following directions at home, having frequent meltdowns, hitting peers or siblings, using disrespectful language, etc. So, you probably decided to try a rewards system to work on these skills. And--let me guess--your child’s behavior improved initially, but then a week later you were right back where you started.

Believe me, I know. I have been there, too, with my own kids. We start a cotton ball jar for following directions and showing kindness. A week into it, my kids are sharing well and following their morning and nighttime routines with ease. Another week later and I’m forgetting to give the cotton balls, my kids are taking 30 minutes to get dressed ...

How’s your week going? Let me guess...

You have everything running perfectly on schedule, right? You’ve gotten all the house projects done, laundry put away, finished everything at the office at least 48 hours before it was due, and baked three dozen sparkly cupcakes for the bake sale... AND your children got along without fighting, listened every time you asked them to do something, and sat quietly (without prompting) when you had to answer the phone. Whew, a truly perfect day. Or was it a little more complicated than that?

Regardless of what you accomplished today, let me reassure you that this parenting thing is a lot of work… for all of us! And when you really think about it, it’s amazing that as parents, we are able to balance so many different roles at one time. Seriously, how do we do it? Whether you realize it or not, you constantly use executive functions to help you get through your to-do list every day. This unique set of cognitive skills helps us every time we set a goal,...

We are getting into that time of the year when our office is flooded with calls from parents who are deeply concerned that their child’s transition to school has started off, frankly, not so hot!

On a personal note, my daughter just began kindergarten and we are in a similar boat. A month into the school year, I found out that she was far below expected levels in pre-literacy skills. Whoa… not what I expected to hear.

After receiving the letter, I had many thoughts. I felt like I had completely fallen short as a parent and a professional. How did I not know that? Being the testing psychologist that I am, I of course gave my daughter an informal comprehensive evaluation prior to kindergarten to ensure she was on track. She was going to be a young kindergartener, and we received mixed messages about sending her early. I have never been a parent who was overly concerned about my daughter’s learning. She seemed to learn letters easily, and my goal for preschool was more for social ...