Understanding EF Skills
Just like an Executive Assistant in the business world, in the world of our brains our Executive Functions (EF) are responsible for keeping us organized and our lives running smoothly. EF skills are the interrelated functions that are responsible for purposeful, goal-directed, problem-solving behavior.
Executive Function skills help us:
· Plan
· Initiate
· Organize
· Set Goals
· Solve Problems
· Regulate Emotions
· Monitor our Behaviors and Progress
Our coaching philosophy
Our philosophy is closely tied to the evidence based research of Peg Dawson and Richard Guare. While there is no outright agreement among all researchers regarding how many different EF skills there are, Dawson and Guare identify twelve:
Working Memory
Working Memory is the ability to hold information in memory while performing complex tasks. It incorporates the ability to draw on past learning or experience to apply to the situation at hand or to project into the future.
Time Management
The capacity to estimate how much time one has, how to allocate it, and how to stay within time limits and deadlines. It also involves a sense that time is important.
Sustained Attention
Sustained Attention is the ability to maintain attention on a situation or task in spite of distractibility, fatigue or boredom.
Goal Directed Persistence
Goal Directed Persistence is the capacity to have a goal, follow through to the completion of the goal and not be put off or distracted by competing interests.
Task Initiation
The ability to begin projects without undue procrastination, in an efficient or timely fashion.
Response Inhibition
Response Inhibition is the capacity to think before you act. This ability to resist the urge to say or do something allows us the time to evaluate a situation and how our behavior might impact it.
Organization
Organization is the ability to create and maintain systems to keep track of information or materials.
Metacognition
Metacognition is the ability to stand back and take a birds-eye view of oneself in a situation. It is an ability to observe how you problem solve. It also includes self-monitoring and self-evaluative skills. (Asking oneself “How am I doing?” or “How did I do”?)
Planning/Prioritizing
Planning/Prioritizing is the ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal or complete a task. It also involves being able to make decisions about what’s the most important thing to focus on and what’s not.
Emotional Control
Emotional Control is the ability to manage emotions so you can achieve goals, complete tasks, or control and direct behavior.
Flexibility
Flexibility is the ability to revise plans in the face of obstacles, setbacks, new information or mistakes. It relates to an adaptability of changing conditions.
Stress Tolerance
Stress Tolerance is the ability to thrive in stressful situations and to cope with uncertainty, change and performance demands.
Not all children or adults develop EF skills at the same pace. But when their EF skills are slow to develop, it can cause frustration for everyone. While there is a ‘normal level of variability’ in the growth of EF skills, support and practice can help children and adults strengthen their skills. At Sound Academic Coaching our coaches understand how to identify EF weaknesses and work with our clients to implement appropriate interventions and scaffolds to support and address their EF challenges.