An excellent presentation by Gladys Henry, Marilyn Reaves and Janelle Heathman on executive functioning challenges in people with ASDs

1. EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING IN
AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS
Gladys Henry, Ed.S CCC-SLP, MNPS Autism Team
Marilyn Reaves, OTR/L, Assistive Technology Department
Janelle Heathman, OTR/L; Assistive Technology Department

2. WHAT IS EXECUTIVE
FUNCTIONING?
• Executive Function is the "conductor" of all cognitive skills.
• Think of it as the "conductor's" role in the orchestra.

3. EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
COORDINATES:
• Inhibition - The ability to stop one's own behavior at the appropriate time.
• Shift - The ability to move freely from one situation to another.
• Emotional Control - The ability to modulate emotional responses.
• Initiation - The ability to begin a task or activity and to generate ideas.
• Working Memory - The ability to hold information in mind.
• Planning/Organization - The ability to manage current task demands.
• Organization of Materials - The ability to impose order on work, play, and storage spaces.
• Self-Monitoring - The ability to monitor one's own performance and to measure it against a standard of
what is needed.

4. ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
1. Working Memory
2. Planning/Organization
3. Organization of Materials
4. Self-Monitoring
Can most effectively augment a person’s Executive
Function in the last 4 areas . . . .

5. GROWTH WITH
EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
• The brain will continue to mature and develop connections
well into adulthood.
• A person's executive function abilities are shaped by brain
changes and life experiences.
• Early attention to these skills is crucial!!
• Direct instruction, frequent reassurance and feedback are
recommended.

6. SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER...
• We assume all these kids – especially those who are “bright” – have EF skills and we
act and react to our spectrum children or students as if they did.
• Nowhere does the EF skill deficit cause more turmoil than the area of homework,
producing monstrous levels of anxiety and dread in students, parents and teachers
alike.
• School teams are often faced with the question, “If tasks are so overwhelming to a
student’s EF system, should we just avoid having students deal with them?” The
answer is an unequivocal empathetic “NO!”
• Organizational skills are life skills, not just school skills, and even though they are
“mandatory prerequisites” for succeeding at school, like social skills they are rarely
directly taught.
•

7. SO WHERE
DO WE START?
• First, by understanding how complex organizational
systems become by the time students reach middle school.
• Secondly, by understanding organization as a skill set,
which involves static and dynamic systems.

8. “STATIC”
ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS
Systems and skills are structured: same thing, same time, same
place, same way.
Introduced in Kindergarten, first and second grade.
We break down tasks and ask students to explicitly complete very
defined units of information, at a certain time and place.
Examples include: write your name at the top of the page, read the
instructions, complete the work, when done turn the paper over and
sit quietly until time is up.

9. “DYNAMIC”
ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS
Systems and skills involve constant adjustments to priorities,
workloads, timeframes, tasks, and places.
Less teacher-directed and more student-directed.
By 4th grade, teachers are introducing dynamic assignments to
students.

10. HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS!HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS!
•Most of us understand that to tackle a dynamic task we have to break it down into its
static elements.
•The dynamic part of the task requires thinking; the static part of the task requires
doing.
•Dynamic assignment such as writing an essay requires a significant portion of the task
to be spent thinking about the topic before the static tasks of actually writing the paper
at a table.
•One of the great challenges for our students with ASD is learning to break down
dynamic tasks into more concrete, static chunks of work.

11. 10 STEPS TO FOSTER10 STEPS TO FOSTER
ORGANIZATIONALORGANIZATIONAL
SKILLSSKILLS

12. 1. CLEARLY DEFINE WHAT NEEDS TO
BE DONE
• Too often, we view organization goals too simply: “the student must write the
assignment in his planner.” This is clearly not enough detail for most tasks and
may not even be the best starting goal for a particular student.
• Adults must be organized with their own thinking if they are to effectively teach
students with EF deficits this skill.
• Go beyond giving out assignments; help the student understand how to also
approach the task from an organizational standpoint.

13. • Most students with weak organizational skills also struggle with motivation to accomplish homework tasks.
• Parents and teachers often don’t realize this lack of motivation can stem from feeling overwhelmed by the task
demands.
• Students with the greatest motivational challenges are often our most intelligent students!
• We assume “smart” means “organized” and say things like “come on, I know you can do this, I know you are smart.”
• Many students need to start at a concrete level of motivation, with very small work steps combined with reward early
in the task completion process.
• Self-motivation increases when students feel confident in understanding and accomplishing the task before them.
• If a student is not motivated, it doesn’t matter how well you help to teach the student how to approach the
assignment, they will not implement the ideas.
2. MOVE IT WITH MOTIVATION.

14. 3. PREPARE THE ENVIRONMENT.
• Establish a dedicated
workspace for homework
that includes the essential
tools: pen, pencil, paper,
etc.
• Color coding tasks, making
sure the student has an
organized binder, possibly
access to a time-timer
(www.timetimer.com)
creates structure that
promotes success during
homework time.

15. 4. CHUNK AND TIME IT.
• Make sure the student understands how to “chunk” an assignment (break it
down into smaller pieces) and how the individual parts create the larger whole.
∀ Once “chunked,” students also need to predict how long each chunk will take to
complete (tends to be an area of weakness).
∀ Students are more willing to tackle homework when they can reliably predict
how long they will have to work on the task.
∀ When the student does not –or cannot- consider time prediction as part of his
organizational set, he is likely to waste a lot of time rather than use time to his
advantage.

16. 5. USE VISUAL STRUCTURE
• Visual long-term mapping charts, such as a Gantt Chart, (www.ganttchart.com)
can help students plan and monitor multiple activities.
• Frequently used in business; however, they are easy to create and use at home
or in the classroom.
• Visual structures can represent entire projects and then also be used for
individual chunks, creating the visual organizational framework.
• Once assignments are understood as needing to be worked on across time, we
can encourage students to chunk tasks to be worked on during specific weeks, then
make related lists of things to do on specific days.

17. 6. PRIORITIZE AND PLAN DAILY
• Help students succeed with their daily schedule by
teaching them to take frequent small breaks at the
end of their baseline attention span.
∀ Make these breaks quick and refreshing, just to
refocus attention; sensory based activities, a small
snack, quick trip to the bathroom, or pencil
sharpener.

18. 7. HUNT AND GATHER
• Students need to plan time into their
schedule to locate different resources
to complete a task.
• For example, research at the library
might be a “chunk” they plan for on
their homework list.

19. 8. CONSIDER PERSPECTIVE
• Homework is more effectively completed when students star
by considering the teacher’s perspective before diving into the
assignment.
• Social behavior mapping (Winner, 2007) can help students
understand how expectations, actions, and reactions affect not
only how we are viewed by others, but how their responses
ultimately impact the way we view ourselves.

21. 9. COMMUNICATE AND THEN
COMMUNICATE SOME MORE!
∀ Αϖοιδ ασσυµινγ στυδεντσ − εσπεχιαλλψ βριγητ στυδεντσ“ ”
− σηουλδ ιντυιτιϖελψ κνοω ηοω το ασκ φορ ηελπ, χλαριφιχατ
ον ορ εϖεν ηοω το χολλαβορατε ωιτη οτηερσ ον ασσιγνµεντσ.
∀ These skills must be specifically taught.
∀ This helps to establish peer support networks desperately
needed for success in college.

22. 10. COMPLETION AND REWARD
Remember... having a clearly defined
“end” to a task is important.
Be sure the child knows what
“finished” means, both at home and at
school.

23. REMEMBER...
Planning takes time!
Teachers and parents need to work together in identifying
and teaching any or all of the 10 steps.
Doing this not only gives children the tools not just to handle
homework, but to be successful in all areas of life.
Teaching organizational skills takes time across a long
period of time.

24. ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGYASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
TOOLS AND STRATEGIESTOOLS AND STRATEGIES
• Working Memory
• Planning/Organization
• Organization of Materials
• Self-Monitoring

25. LOW TECH SOLUTIONS!
Managing Space and Materials

26. LOW TECH SOLUTIONS!
Assignment Checklist

27. Ηαϖε ψουρ µαστερ βινδερ ορ
φιλε φολδερσ χολορ µατχη
ωιτη τηε συβϕεχτσ.
Color Coded Subjects

28. LOW TECH SOLUTIONS!
• Timers
• Visual calendars such as an agenda
• Break large projects into manageable chunks
• Homework Checklist
Managing Time

30. MID TECH SOLUTIONS!
Time Timers - www.timetimers.com
Digital Recorders

31. • Graphic Organizer - Printed Templates

32. • User Friendly Software, apps and
websites that don’t require a lot of
training - such as www.bubbl.us

33. HIGH TECH SOLUTIONS!
Smartpen
Electronic Organizers
Android Smart Phone
iPod Touch
iPhone

34. Timelines - they provide visual indicators of tasks
and progress toward each goal

35. Software
Read/Write/Think Webbing Tool

36. Websites
www.commonsensemedia.org
www.discoveryeducation.com/parents/
www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/homework/index.html

37. Apps

38. Apps

39. SOURCES:
• www.wati.org (Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative)
• www.autismsupportnetwork.com/print/9245
• www.sc.edu/scatp

40. HOW TO CONTACT USHOW TO CONTACT US
Gladys Henry, Ed.S CCC-SLP
MNPS Autism Team
gladys.henry@mnps.org
Marilyn Reaves, OTR/L
Assistive Technology Department
marilyn.reaves@mnps.org
Janelle Heathman, OTR/L
Assistive Technology Department
janelle.heathman@mnps.org