Executive Function

A year ago I purchased the e-version of the book “Smart but Scattered” written by Dr. Peg Dawson and Dr. Richard Guare. Over the past few days I had the chance to sit down with this book again. If anyone gets the chance to read it this summer it has many practical ideas to help with students with executive function weaknesses. It is a great read if you get the chance. It also inspired me to look up more information about executive function and how it ties to language functioning. I thought I would share what I found. 

What is Executive Function and What happens when there are Weaknesses?

According to the National Center for By: National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD 2014), ”Executive Function is a term used to describe a set of mental processes that helps us connect past experience with present action. We use executive function when we perform such activities as planning, organizing, strategizing and paying attention to and remembering details.” Also according to the NCLD website, individuals with executive function problems have difficulty with planning, organizing and managing time/space. Because these skills play a large role in all aspects of life a deficit in executive function skills can restrict a child both socially and academically. For some students there is a difference in executive functioning noted from an early age and for many deficits in executive function does not become apparent until middle school when there is a shift to more independence in work completion and organizing oneself.

How does Language impact Executive Function?

After reading more I learned that language and executive function are often intertwined with individuals needing strong skills in both to complete tasks in every day life. Some examples of how individuals use language for executive function tasks are through recognition of symbols (such as in reading), storing and retrieving information (such as expressive retelling events) and with meta-cognition (self reflection and self-monitoring). Remine et al. in their 2004 study discussed, "That when using language in self-questioning, individuals are in fact communicating with themselves about how to approach and solve a problem and ultimately learning and monitoring one’s own behavior.”

I also learned that when Individuals struggle with language they can also struggle with executive functioning skills. Two studies I looked at that discussed Children with specific language impairment (SLI) and executive functioning noted that children with SLI may also struggle with attention, narrative language skills, and auditory working memory (Hoffman & Gillam, 2004; Marton & Schwartz, 2003).  According to Remine et al., “Given that increasingly sophisticated language is required for effective executive functioning as an individual matures, it is likely that students with poor language abilities will have difficulties performing complex problem-solving tasks.”  

If you would like more information about Executive Function and Language Skills please check out these helpful resources:

Executive Function and ADHD

The Source for Executive Function

Ways to Help Students with Executive Function Skills

Defining Executive Function Visual for Parents

Smart But Scattered Book Link

Cited Sources:

Dawson, Peg, and Richard Guare. Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential. New York: Guilford, 2009. Print.

"What Is Executive Function? | Executive Functioning." National Center for Learning Disabilities. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 June 2014.

Remine, M. D., E. Care, and P. M. Brown. "Language Ability and Verbal and Nonverbal Executive Functioning in Deaf Students Communicating in Spoken English." Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 13.4 (2008): 531-45. Web.

Hoffman, L. M., and R. Gilliam. "Verbal and Spatial Information Processing Constraints in Children With Specific Language Impairment." Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 47.1 (2004): 114-25. Web.

Marton, K., and R. G. Schwartz. "Working Memory Capacity and Language Processes in Children With Specific Language Impairment." Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 46.5 (2003): 1138-153. Web.