The Conscious Parent's Guide to Executive Functioning Disorder: A Mindful Approach for Helping Your child Focus and Learn

by Rebecca Branstetter

Overview

Help your child feel confident and capable!

If your child has been given a diagnosis of executive functioning disorder, you may be feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next. You want your child to be able to master certain basic skills, such as being organized, staying focused, and controlling impulses and emotions. But what if your child is having trouble with one or all of these skills? With The Conscious Parent's Guide to Executive Functioning Disorder, you'll learn how to take a relationship-centered approach to parenting as you help improve your child's executive functioning skills:

• Task initiation
• Response inhibition
• Focus
• Time management
• Working memory
• Flexibility
• Self-regulation
• Completing tasks
• Organization

Conscious parenting is about being present with your children and taking the time to understand how to help them flourish. With the strategies and advice in this guide, you and your child will build sustainable bonds, develop positive behaviors, and improve executive functioning skills for life. And you'll find that conscious parenting helps create a calm and mindful atmosphere for the whole family, while helping your child feel competent, successful, and healthy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440594328
Publisher:	Adams Media
Publication date:	02/01/2016
Series:	Conscious Parenting Relationship Series
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Dr. Rebecca Branstetter is a school psychologist, speaker, parent educator and author on a mission to help students thrive. from UC Berkeley in 2004, and has worked as a school psychologist and in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area since then.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

Chapter 1 Conscious Parenting 9

The Benefits of Conscious Parenting 11

Giving Your Child Full Attention 14

Understanding Behavior 15

Chapter 2 What is executive functioning? 19

Defining Executive Functioning 20

"Smooth Sailors" versus "Boat Rockers" 23

Typical Development 25

Assessment of Executive Functioning Difficulties 27

Executive Functioning: "The Big Umbrella" 30

Important Points to Consider 36

Chapter 3 The "Big Ten" Executive Functions 39

Task Initiation 40

Response Inhibition 41

Focus 42

Time Management 43

Working Memory 44

Flexibility 45

Self-Regulation 47

Emotional Self-Control 49

Task Completion 50

Organization 51

Prioritizing Interventions 53

Important Points to Consider 53

Chapter 4 Task Initiation: Taming Your Child's Procrastination Monster 55

What Is Task Initiation? 56

The Young Child (Ages 1-4) 56

The Elementary-Age Child (Ages 5-12) 61

The Adolescent (Ages 13-18+) 64

Social Media and Procrastination 69

Important Points to Consider 71

Chapter 5 Response Inhibition: Teaching Your Child to Control Impulses 73

The Importance of Controlling Impulses 74

Stanford Marshmallow Study 76

Strategies for Kids Who Act First and Think Later 77

Strategies for Kids Who Make Careless Errors 80

Important Points to Consider 83

Chapter 6 Focus: Everyday Mindfulness 85

What Do Focus Problems Look Like? 86

Sustained Focus 86

Divided Focus 89

TV or Not TV? There Is No Question! 91

Music and Focus 91

Mindfulness 92

Important Points to Consider 93

Chapter 7 Time Management: Strengthening Your Child's Internal Clock 95

Development of Time Management Skills 96

Getting Out the Door on Time 96

Getting Homework Done Efficiently 100

Teaching Activity Scheduling 103

Important Points to Consider 105

Chapter 8 Working Memory: Hold That Thought 107

The Importance of Working Memory 108

The "RAM" in Your Brain 109

Remembering and Following Directions 110

Remembering Appointments and Assignments 112

Can You Strengthen Working Memory? 113

Important Points to Consider 118

Chapter 9 Flexibility: Rolling with Changes 121

What Does Flexibility Entail? 122

Learning How to Reset 124

Changing Plans Midstream 126

Repairing 128

Important Points to Consider 129

Chapter 10 Self-Regulation: Thinking About Thinking 131

What Is Self-Regulation? 132

Self-Regulation in Reading 133

Self-Regulation in Writing 136

Self-Regulation in Math 139

Developing Self-Regulation 143

Important Points to Consider 145

Chapter 11 Emotional Self-Control: Learning Coping Skills 147

Why Emotional Self-Control Is Important 148

The Tale of Phineas Gage 148

Labeling Feelings 149

Providing Behavioral Choices 150

Tracking Emotions to Build Awareness 152

Dealing with Meltdowns 153

Important Points to Consider 156

Chapter 12 Task Completion: Reaching the Finish Line 159

What Is Task Completion? 160

Short-Term Tasks 160

Reading Assignments 167

Long-Term Projects 169

Important Points to Consider 170

Chapter 13 Organization: Keeping Track of It All 173

Organization Is in the Eye of the Beholder 174

Finding the Floor in Your Child's Bedroom 174

The Backpack Vortex 176

Binder Systems 177

Homework Systems 178

Planners 180

Helping Lost-and-Found "Frequent Flyers" Keep Track of Belongings 182

Important Points to Consider 183

Chapter 14 Setting Up a Supportive Home Environment 185

Making the Home Environment Positive for Teaching Executive Functioning 186

Routines Are Your Friends! 187

Stop the Homework Battles 189

Getting Your Child to Do Chores 191

Important Points to Consider 193

Chapter 15 Parenting Children with Executive Functioning Challenges 195

Your Changing Role 196

Parent As Orchestrator 196

Parent As Monitor 197

Parent As Facilitator/Supporter 199

Manager or Micromanager? 200

Helicopter Parenting 201

Lending Your Child Your Frontal Lobe 204

How to Pull Back Support without the Crash and Burn 204

After High School: College and Beyond 206

Important Points to Consider 207

Chapter 16 Building Resilience 209

Smoothing Out the Ocean versus Riding the Waves 210

Success Factors 210

The 1:5 Rule 214

Appendix A Developmental Tasks Requiring Executive Skills 217

Appendix B Checklists for Supporting the "Big Ten" Executive Functions 223

Index 235