How do attention problems and executive functioning challenges affect your child?
Attention problems and executive skills challenges are the most common concerns from parents of children with developmental differences. These concerns can be confusing in children who also have exceptional strengths. And concerns change across different settings, at different ages, and in different kids, which can also be confusing.
Neurological correlates of attention involve connections that stretch from the anterior to posterior regions, from deep within the brain and out towards numerous areas of the cortex. Given these large networks that span the brain, it’s no surprise that they are so sensitive to changes in brain health!
Attention skills can vary based on how information is presented, the state of your child (e.g., tired, hungry), the expectations (e.g., math test vs. monopoly with family), and so much more. There are so many facets of attention, including:
- Alertness (level of arousal) – Yes, sleep quality affects attention!
- Selective Attention – Focusing while blocking out other information
- Divided Attention – Focusing on more than one thing
- Alternating, Flexible Attention – Shifting attention between activities
- Visual and Spatial Attention (simultaneous, spatial, where?) – Searching and finding
- Temporal and Auditory Attention (sequential, linear, temporal) – Auditory instructions
Intense and focused attention can be referred to as, hyperfocus. This can be a strength in some individuals with ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. But it can also be a challenge when the child struggles to shift away from a preferred task or interest, especially if they ignore signals from their body (e.g., hunger, fatigue, need for bathroom break) or information from the environment (e.g., parent calling them from another room, teacher asking them to follow instructions).
What do attention problems look like in everyday life?
- Daydreaming
- Getting bored with age typical activities
- Frequent mistakes or errors
- Not noticing what matters
- Difficulty following directions, needs repetition
- Forgetfulness
- Losing belongings
- Easily overwhelmed when bored or challenged
- Trouble sustaining effort until task or activity is complete
Executive functioning is not easy to define. I’ve listed to many professionals, educators, and scientists discuss (and even argue) about what executive functioning is and is not. One of the biggest criticisms about how we define executive functioning is that it includes nearly all abilities, with the broadest definitions encompasses subskills related to emotion regulation, cognitive regulation, and behavioral regulation. Some specific skill areas include working memory, inhibition, planning/organizing, initiation, problem solving, and more.
Researchers have become more clear in recent years that parsing out individual executive skill areas does not fit the statistical models. They explain that these skills are very interrelated and that before about the age of 12 years, we should be careful measuring executive skill areas separately.
How we measure executive function matters because we want to help children improve. If we struggle to define it, and we are not sure how to measure it, can we change or improve it? So far, we have not really found scientifically supported ways to change specific skill areas related to executive functioning in children, such as working memory (although medications for ADHD are very helpful in many children).
Many believe that the only way to improve executive functioning is to teach skills and strategies in the context of daily life, such as while doing school work, chores, and with social skills role play. This makes so much sense!
What do executive skills challenges look like? I’ll use 3 areas to describe common concerns but this is by no means exhaustive or the only way to categorize them:
Behavioral regulation
- Acting or speaking without thinking, “no filter”
- Interrupting
- High activity level
- Fidgety
- Unaware of how behavior affects others
- Misses social cues
- Trouble linking a choice with a consequence
- Weak delayed gratification
Emotional regulation
- Emotional outbursts
- Triggered easily
- Low frustration tolerance
- Moody
- Inflexible
- Get’s stuck
- Resists change
Cognitive regulation
- Needs help to get started; doesn’t take initiative
- Trouble with multi-step directions
- Easily distracted, short attention
- Forgetful
- Doesn’t plan ahead, overwhelmed with big tasks
- Careless errors
- Leaves a mess
- Loses belongings
- Weak perception of time
One thing we all need to be clear about is that we cannot really separate emotion from cognition. They are dynamic, with one affecting the other. And that means a child’s motivation will be closely related to how they implement and follow through with any cognitive strategies. In other words, a child may know how to use a calendar or agenda to plan ahead, but if they don’t appreciate the value and benefit, and it’s difficult to tolerate the frustration with using an agenda, they will have low motivation to use it. So the interventions need to address the emotions behind the motivation.
Some children show significant variability and inconsistencies. Some days are good, some days are not so good. It can be hard to know what a child is “capable” of doing. It can be helpful to think of all developmental skills on a continuum, from none to a lot, like a ruler. Ask yourself which areas of daily life are impacted by attention and executive challenges, and then ask yourself where your child falls on the ruler (from none to a lot):
- Family
- Peers and Friendships
- Teachers
- Academics
- Extracurricular Activities
- Self-Esteem
- Daily Living Skills (e.g., chores, routines)
If your child cannot consistent “show what they know” because their attention and executive challenges get in the way, it may be time to consider working with a professional. Talk with your school team and any coaches or outside teachers to learn as much as you can about your child.
Reach out for a free consult and we would be happy to help: [email protected]
