Executive functioning skills help a child do everything from controlling their emotions to managing their time. They are essential for problem-solving, and they help children to stay focused.
So, when a child is dealing with executive functioning challenges, it can cause problems at school, at home, and in their social relationships.
It’s important to understand that executive functioning skills develop at different rates for different children. But, if your child is experiencing ADHD-like symptoms (often associated with executive functioning challenges) that are inappropriate for their age, taking a closer look can help you to get them back on the right track.
What Are the Common Signs of Executive Functioning Challenges?
These challenges manifest themselves in different types of behaviors. It depends on your child’s age and where they are in terms of development. For example, a preschooler won’t have the same issues as a highschooler.
With that in mind, let’s look at some of the signs to look for at various stages of your child’s life.
Preschool Age
A preschooler may have frequent tantrums for no reason. They may have a hard time adjusting to something new or unexpected or get frustrated easily and refuse to ask for help.
Elementary School Age
As a child gets older and more communicative, these signs change. A child in elementary school may display some of the following:
- Easily distracted
- Inflexible: trouble with changes to a specific plan or expectation
- Difficulty managing emotions
Middle and High School Age
Middle and highschoolers can also face executive functioning challenges. It’s often easy to overlook some of these symptoms or write them off as typical teenage behavior. But, if your high school-aged child is exhibiting these behaviors, it could be an indication of something more serious.
Some of the most common signs include:
- Trouble getting through tests
- Starts behaving impulsively
- Loses track of time easily
- Gets upset quickly over minor issues
If your child is showing these type of behaviors at any age, getting to the bottom of what they’re really feeling can make life easier for both of you.
The CPS Model
If you’re worried your child might have executive functioning issues, the next step to take is to get a full evaluation. Speak with their doctor and discuss different treatment options.
One thing you can do is to consider implementing Dr. Ross Greene’s evidence based model called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) model at home.
This model creates a partnership between you and your child. You’ll work together to get to the bottom of the issues they’re facing. They’ll need to use your executive functioning skills to build theirs.
Kids who have executive functioning challenges are often just trying to express how they feel when their expectations aren’t met. Unfortunately, many of these behaviors can be really challenging. So, the CPS model helps you both to better understand those expectations. Then, you can help your child learn how to solve the problems they’re dealing with.
That doesn’t mean you try to solve those problems for your child or offer a reward system of any kind.
Instead, this model is about teaching your child how to solve those problems so they can eventually manage these behaviors on their own. When they don’t learn effective ways to do that, the challenges can continue on as they get older and may become harder to handle.
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If you have a child who is struggling with effective functioning challenges or you’re not sure why they’re behaving a certain way, please contact us. We’re happy to offer you more information on these challenges as well as the CPS model. And if you’re looking for help, we can work together on collaboration methods you can use with your child to get to the core of their behavioral issues.