We've been re-reading a terrific resource for parents of children who struggle with executive function difficulties. As we noted in this blog on February 26, 2010, "executive function is a complex symphony of brain activities responsible for the “project management” parts of school and life." Understanding the origins of these difficulties, recognizing when they occur together with learning differences, attention problems, or other disorders, and figuring out how to handle the problems they create for students and their families are all discussed in the very readable book Late, Lost, and Unprepared: A Parents' Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning.
Written by two Maryland based clinical psychologists, Joyce Cooper-Hahn and Laurie Dietzel, the book offers specific strategies for situations that families will encounter in day-to-day life, including such difficulties getting started with homework, helping children who interrupt so they won't forget what they want to say, and what to do when your child arrives at sports practice late or unprepared.
We believe in the importance of strategies to address specific learning and behavioral difficulties and the focus on these strategies, broken down into manageable steps, is particularly helpful. Whether you read this cover to cover, or pick and choose among the issues discussed and strategies recommended, we believe this book can be a useful tool for parents dealing with their child's executive function difficulties.