1. Peg Dawson, EdD, and Richard Guare, PhD

2.  Brain-based skills that are required in order for
humans to execute, or perform tasks.
 These skills develop gradually and at different
points of life.
 By late adolescence, children must be able to
function with a reasonable degree of
independence.
 According to research, the source of many
cognitive and behavioral difficulties is due to
deficits in executive skills.

3.  This model has been designed to help come up
with ways that parents and teachers can
promote the development of executive skills in
kids who have demonstrated weaknesses.
 TWO premises:
1. Most individuals have an array of executive
skills strengths as well as executive skills
weaknesses.
2. The primary purpose of identifying areas of
weakness is to be able to design and
implement interventions to address those
weaknesses.

4. Skill Definition Example
Response Inhibition Capacity to think before A teenager can accept
you act. a referee’s call
without arguing.
Working Memory Ability to hold info in In MS, remembering
memory to perform diff. expectations of
complex tasks. teachers.
Emotional Control Ability to manage emotions Managing anxiety
to achieve goals. during a test.
Sustained Attention Capacity to maintain Cleaning their room.
attention in spite of
distractibility.
Task Initiation Ability to begin projects in A teen not waiting to
a timely fashion the last minute to get
a project done.
Planning/Prioritization Ability to create a Plan a project based
“roadmap” to reach a goal, on deadlines.
decide what is important to
focus on.

5. Skill Definition Example
Organization Ability to create a system A child be able to use an
of keeping track of accordion properly.
information or materials.
Time Management Capacity to estimate how A teenager be able to
much time one has and stay manage computer time.
within deadlines.
Goal-directed Capacity to have a goal, A first grades can complete
follow through on its an assignment in order to
Persistence completion. go to recess.
Flexibility Ability to revise plans and A child can learn to accept
change them accordingly or an alternative restaurant
adapt to changing when their favorite is not
conditions. an option.
Metacognition Ability to stand back, self- Self and peer editing an
monitor and self-evaluate. essay.

6.  The skills are organized:
Developmentally – the order in which they
develop.
Functionally – what they help the child to do.
 Potentialfor Executive skills is innate, but
there are a number of factors that can
influence whether or how these skills
develop. (ex: an accident that caused
trauma to the brain, genes, and
environment)

7.  Thereis a consensus that ADHD/ADD is
fundamentally a disorder of executive skills.
 Most essential one being self-regulation.
- affects response inhibition, sustained
attention, working memory, time
management, task initiation, and goal-
directed persistence.
* It is important to keep in mind that children do vary in the
development of Executive Skills and that a lack of these skills
don’t necessarily qualify them for a diagnosis f ADHD/ADD.

8.  Looking at what schools and teachers do in
the classroom can sometimes give you an
understanding of how executive skills are
developing over time (page 30).
Preschool – directions are generally given one or two at a time
Elementary – working memory tasks are more demanding
(homework, permission slips, etc.)
 How can we assess where a child’s executive
skills are?
- is the child meeting expectations at school?
- how is child doing compared to other kids? (keeping
in mind that children develop at different rates)

9.  Series
of Questionnaires to give you an idea
of executive skills strengths and weaknesses.
 Takethe time and fill out the last
questionnaire (pgs. 50-51)….BE TRUTHFUL!!
 Capitalizing on Strengths – take advantage of
these to help students function effectively in
daily activities, reinforcing these if they are
still not strong enough.

10.  When a child has an executive skills weakness, pay attention to
the child’s emotional and behavioral responses.
 Consider that if a child is avoiding a task, he/she might not be
able to do it.
 Think about the Executive Skills that the task requires and think
about whether the child possesses the skills.
 Is something in the environment making it difficult for the child
to complete the task? (distractions, lack of structure, etc.)
 If the child has previously been successful completing the task,
figure out what made the child succeed.

11. 1. Teach the skills rather than expecting the child to
acquire them through observation.
2. Consider the child’s developmental level.
3. Move from external to internal.
4. Remember that external includes changes in
environment, task, and interaction with child.
5. Use, rather than fight, a child’s innate drive to master a
task.
6. Modify tasks to match the child’s capacity to exert
effort.
7. Use incentives to augment instruction.
8. Provide just enough support for the child to be
successful.
9. Keep supports and supervision in place until child
achieves success.
10. Fade supervision and support gradually, never abruptly.

12.  The antecedent are the external factors of a
task.
 You already are using a lot of environmental
modification in other settings (classroom,
recess, etc.)
 Altering the environment instead of the
child, may be an easier task.
 Over time, you transfer the target so that
the child becomes the object of
intervention.

13. Ex: having a structured schedule for students with
a weakness in flexibility.
 Other ways you can modify the environment
- Physical distractions
- Nature of the task (making it shorter, frequent
breaks, have a choice, multi-step)
- Change way you interact with child – using verbal
prompts and reminders
 Make sure you: praise child for using good skills,
debrief, consult with others involved in the
situation/task

14. Teaching the executive skills:
 naturally and informally by how you respond
to a student’s behavior and encourage them.
- Verbal scaffolding – ask the “why’s” instead
of telling them
- Explaining rather than dictating
- Letting the child know you understand how
they feel and why

15.  take a more targeted approach and teach
child how to manage problematic tasks
1. Identify the problem behavior you want to
work on (ex: depicting specific behaviors)
2. Set a goal (what the child is expected to
do)
3. Outline steps child needs to follow to reach
goal
4. Turn steps into checklist, chart, or rules to
be followed (ex: Morning Routine pg. 134)
5. Supervise child following procedure
6. Fade supervision

16.  Focusing on the positive aspects, instead of
punishment
 Punishment tells child what NOT to do, can
damage adult/child relationship, and sometimes
children feel like they don’t have anything to
lose.
 Effective praise…
…is delivered immediately after behavior occurs
…specifies particulars of accomplishment
…provide info about value of accomplishment
…lets child know that he/she worked hard
…orients child to appreciate critical thinking
behavior

17.  Book has 20 ready-made plans to teach skills
that kids tend to struggle with.
 Examples:
Pg. 134 Morning Routine List
Pg. 161 Writing Template for a Five-Paragraph
Essay
Pg. 172 Learning to Control Temper

18.  is the capacity to think before you act
1. Always assume that the youngest children
have very little impulse control
2. Help children delay gratification by using
formal waiting periods for things they want
3. Require them to earn some of the things
they want
4. Prepare them for situations by reviewing
them in advance
5. Role-play

19.  capacity to hold information in the mind while performing
complex tasks
1. Make eye contact with child when telling them
something you want them to remember
2. Keep external distractions to a minimum if- you want
your child’s full attention
3. Use written reminders (checklists, charts, schedules –
depending on age of the child)
4. Rehearse with the child what you expect them to
remember
5. Help the child think about ways that can help them to
remember (ex: with older kids, the use of agendas,
phones, etc.)
6. Consider using a reward for remembering key
information

20.  The ability to manage emotions to achieve goals,
complete tasks, or control and direct your behavior
1. With younger children, regulate their environment
(ex: away from overstimulating environments)
2. Prepare child by talking about what they can
expect and what they can do if they feel
overwhelmed
3. Give them coping strategies
4. Read stories in which characters exhibit behaviors
you want them to learn
5. Work with a counselor or therapist if child does not
seem to respond well to any of these strategies

21.  the capacity to keep paying attention to a
situation or task in spite of distracting factors.
1. Provide supervision
2. Make increasing attention a gradual process
3. Use a device that provides a visual depiction of
elapsed time (clock, etc.)
4. Make the task interesting into a challenge,
game, or contest
5. Use incentive systems
6. Offer praise for staying on-task

22.  the ability to begin projects or activities without
procrastinating, in an efficient or timely manner
1. Reinforce prompt task initiation throughout the
day
2. Provide visual cues to remind child to begin the
task
3. Break overwhelming tasks into smaller, more
manageable pieces
4. Have child make a plan of how or when the
task will get done
5. Give child ownership over the process, for
example deciding how they want to be cued or
how they will carry out the plan

23.  the ability to create a roadmap to reach a
goal or complete a task, as well as the ability
to make decisions about what’s important to
focus on.
1. Create plans for your child when young
2. Involve your child as much as possible in
the planning process
3. Use things the child wants as a jumping-off
point for teaching planning
4. Prompt prioritizing by asking your child
what needs to get done first

24.  the ability to establish and maintain a system
for arranging or keeping track of important
items.
1. Put a system in place
2. Supervise child
3. Involve your child as much as possible
4. You may need to modify your expectations

25.  capacity to estimate how much time one has,
how to allocate it, and how to stay within
time limits and deadlines
1. Maintain a predictable daily routine in your
family
2. Talk to children about how long it takes to
do things
3. Plan an activity for a weekend vacation day
that involves several steps
4. Purchase a commercially available clock

26.  the ability to revise plans in the face of
obstacles, setback, new information, or
mistakes.
1. Walk children through anxiety-producing
situations
2. Use social stories to address situations where
the child is predictably inflexible
3. Help your child come up with a default
strategy for handling situations where
inflexibility causes the most problems
4. Give children choices, some inflexibility arises
when children feel they are being controlled

27.  refers to setting a goal and working toward it
without being sidetracked
1. Start very early, beginning with very brief tasks
where the goal is within sight
2. Begin with goals that child wants to work on or
have set for themselves (building a Lego
structure or a puzzle)
3. Give the child something to look forward to
4. Gradually build up time needed to reach goals
5. Remind child what he/she is working towards

28.  the ability to stand back and take a bird’s
eye view of oneself in a situation
1. Provide specific praise for key elements of
task performance
2. Teach child how to evaluate their own
performance
3. Have child identify what finished product
looks like
4. Teach a set of questions children can ask
themselves when confronted with problem
situations