Have you observed that student with a school bag that looks like it has been hit by a tornado?
And that student’s work desk which seems to have every stationary item ever manufactured but not a single item she is looking for?
A student who drops more things while picking up one?
And the one who never started working on that History project, and another one who is still looking up exam portions when he should be ideally studying the subject?
That student whose textbooks get lost in the first week of the school term. And the one who goes hungry in school because he cannot find where he kept his lunch bag?
Educators working with special needs children will identify such observations routinely. Why do we see some students struggling with issues that are not part of the clinical diagnosis indicators, but nevertheless pose significant challenges for the student?
At the surface level, these challenges may come across as minor in comparison to the core disability, but the negative impact of these issues aggravates the learning and socio-emotional lag in the student.
The above scenarios and similar ones are indicators of Executive Function impairment. These behaviours or scenarios are noticed in children with a wide range of neuro-developmental and learning difficulties. Most children with a clinical diagnosis are observed to have Executive Function skills deficits. As the student moves from primary to secondary and then to high school, these issues continue to impact every area of the student’s life. Be it homework completion or organising study materials, managing timelines, or managing interpersonal relationships or other similar issues, are found to be adding to the long list of reasons for the learning gap.
What are Executive Function skills?
Executive Function skills are a set of competencies which are based on the foundation of three core areas.
1) Self-regulation (skill to regulate responses)
2) Working memory (skill to hold and retrieve information)
3) Flexibility (skill to use alternative approaches in problem solving)
These competencies lead to daily life-skills like planning, sequencing, scheduling, time management, de-cluttering, prioritizing, communication, task initiation, and task completion, but are not limited to only these. Executive Function skills are relevant to everyone and are not restricted to ‘corporate executives’ only. Executive Function skills are assessed through standardised behaviour rating questionnaires and classroom observations and screening checklists also indicate the skill level.
Research on Executive Function skills
Several studies have been conducted on the connection between Executive Function skills and its role in Special Education. Two journal articles were reviewed for this discussion.
The first article concluded that studies focused on connection of Executive Functions and neurodevelopmental disorders also clearly indicate that Executive Function deficits are a common underlying factor in all types of neurodevelopmental disorders. The negative impact of these deficits is observed in students with specific learning difficulties as well. It can be convincingly concluded that Executive Function impairment will be present in students with most developmental and learning disorders.
The challenges posed due to impaired Executive Functions affect the quality of school life for children significantly. Children are unable to tackle the academic rigour, as well as the co-curricular activities. The challenges continue unabated into adulthood impacting the socio-emotional, professional, and psychological well-being of the individual. There is no area of a student’s life which goes untouched due to this impairment.
It can be concluded that Special education interventions need to focus on development of Executive Functions.
The thoughts mentioned above are from ‘Executive Functions and Special Educational Needs and Their Relationship with School-Age Learning Difficulties’
You can read the article here Executive Functions and Special Educational Needs and Their Relationship with School-Age Learning D ifficulties | MDPI
In the second study reviewed for the purpose of this article, researchers have presented the idea that Executive Function skills and academic performance in math, reading and socio-emotional intelligence are directly corresponding. Conversely, several other studies have presented that a deficit in Executive Functions will also indicate challenges in math and reading competencies as well as in socio-emotional intelligence. The most important take away from such studies is that special education interventions focusing on Executive Functions along with academic goals have shown positive outcomes. This approach supports the student in navigating the school years and develops critical life skills necessary to function as an independent contributor to society.
The above thoughts are from ‘Executive functions and key competencies in secondary education students. Can we improve the teaching-learning process?’
You can read the article here.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2025.100265
Educators can explore this area by reading published literature on this topic. It will be an interesting experience to relate classroom experiences with the conclusions of these studies.
What is the impact of Executive Function deficit on students with special learning needs?
Students with neuro-developmental issues and specific learning disorders struggle with the ever-expanding academic curriculums. When there are Executive Function deficits, the student struggles with every element of the school life. The same struggles are likely to continue into adulthood. Examples of challenges could be, but not restricted to the following:
Developing and supporting Executive Functions
Systems, processes, and structures in learning environments have been proven to support the learner in all areas of learning. These elements remove the unpredictability and ambiguity and keep the learner moving towards the desired outcomes. Sustained effort in working in an organised manner and developing working styles which eliminate the need to constantly take decisions and make choices frees the learner to focus on the new content and protects the learner from ‘decision-making fatigue.
In the classroom setting, students can be first made aware of the different competencies under Executive Function skills through vocabulary building. Identifying the skill in action in our daily life is the next step. They can be followed by conscious habit building in different competencies.
For example –
- Use of time management worksheets to plan for project works.
- Use of graphic organizers to detail out a revision plan before every exam cycle.
- simple to detailed to-do lists
- weekly, monthly, and yearly planners
- activities to classify tasks into ‘urgent-important-can wait’ categories.
Executive Function skill building strategies can be effortlessly transferred to home-settings or vice versa. These are easy to implement, are easily standardised and can be implemented in all environments the student operates. Collaboration between teachers and the student’s family is achievable through regular sharing of strategies and outcomes. Observation from both settings can support the intervention plans and necessary modifications can be executed with ease.
Once the working habits are formed, they are easily transferred to areas of life which are not non-academic. For example,
Positive outcomes of these habits give the learner the feeling of gratification. A timely completion of a project, homework submitted on time, an organised school bag, a planned revision for the exam, a declutter work desk- all give the learner small wins and boosts the self-esteem.
Executive Function skills can be developed through 1 on 1 guidance and coaching. Each learner has a unique profile, and coaching plans can be customised to address a specific challenge at a given point of time.
Executive Function skills go unnoticed till there is a deficit. Much on the lines of vitamin or other health deficiencies, their presence goes unnoticed until the deficits create unignorable learning lag.
Executive Function skills focus compliments other special education elements like remedials, counselling, and differentiated teaching methods. It becomes the common thread between all elements of a special education intervention program. It becomes the system on which the remediation can be driven, much like an operative system in the software universe. Interventions can be planned around this skills area.
Discussion
Behaviours in a school setting are important screening opportunities. These observations are important for planning specific interventions. Educators should take care to avoid the mistake of connecting all challenging behaviours to the clinical diagnosis (ADHD, SLD, low IQ etc) Some behaviours could also be stemming from the Executive Function deficit and need to be addressed differently. Addressing the deficits will result in improving overall organisation as well as help the educator to plan achievable micro-interventions.
Educators working with students with ADHD and Specific Learning Difficulties can observe the working pattern of students with the intention of separating learning disorder symptoms from Executive Function deficit symptoms. Interventions addressing these deficits independent of academic goals will make the intervention plan SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound).
Example:
Case: A’s school bag is disorganised. Most of the days, A does not have the required stationary & books.
As a result, the student is unable to initiate any task in the classroom and is distracted and disturbs other students. This observation could easily be connected to A’s ADHD diagnosis.
Goal: A should get the school supplies to school every day as per the timetable
Intervention:
1. Take the student through the daily requirements for smooth functioning of a school day.
2. Give sufficient time for any questions related to the timetable
3. Make a checklist of items – one for stationary supplies, another for day wise requirements.
4. Decide a fixed time at home where A will prepare for the next day. Involve the family in this activity.
5. Track this preparation with the use of a paper & pen tracker.
As A will experience success in sticking to the plan ( which A himself has made), having consistently organised his school supplies, A’s self-esteem will grow and will gradually transfer systems and processes to other activities of daily life.
Educators and parents begin with giving structural scaffolding, work on fine tuning, and then just monitoring. This approach gives complete control in the student’s hands and promotes self-assessment.
Now A is fully ready for the academic intervention and the educator and focus on the academic intervention.
Conclusion
Special Education is a difficult terrain. Special Educators need to work on themselves to be consistent, persistent, and goal driven. They should also be ready for exceptionally low positive outcomes from their students. Investing in our own Executive Function skills and developing the systems and processes is important. Educators themselves must work SMART. Their teaching plan should be specific, they should regularly measure their personal progress, they should set achievable goals, their efforts should be relevant to their goals and most importantly, they should stick to the allotted time for any activity.
Efforts to put in place systems to share study materials, use of technology to store study resources, to reduce the time and energy expense on repetitive tasks are just a few ways educators can move from ‘managing’ to ‘educating.’ Achieving efficiency in school tasks will also contribute to the educator’s job satisfaction.
Understanding how Executive Function skills deficits affect different competencies aids in understanding students and their behaviours. It also aids in building honest connections with the student. Overall, the impact of bringing Executive Function skills development to the centre stage of academic interventions in neuro-diverse students is very promising. Future research in understanding and implementing Executive Function skills development with focus on Indian schools’ system will further validate this hypothesis.
Disclaimer
The above discussion has been presented based on my working experience of 15 years with learners of diverse needs. It is an endeavour to equip the educators, parents, and students with impactful competencies which are acquirable. It is an attempt to present a perspective in Special education management.
There is a lot of interest in the field of Executive Functions, and several studies have shown promising results. As educators, it is incumbent on us to be cognizant of the developments happening in this field and to apply it appropriately.
About the Author
Nayana Kharosekar is a Special Educator with close to 15 years experience of working with students with diverse learning needs spanning alternate and mainstream learning environments. She holds an MA in Special Educational Needs and Inclusion from Northampton University. She also has a Diploma in Inclusive Education from Spastics Society of Karnataka, Bangalore. She is certified in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and is a trained career coach.
She has worked extensively with children with Specific Learning Difficulties, ADHD and Intellectual Disability. She focuses on delivering differentiated learning experiences along with supporting students navigate the socio-emotionally charged secondary school years. She believes that school and home learning environments need to collaborate and that teachers and parents are equal partners in the student’s learning journey. She is currently working in a renowned ICSE school in Bengaluru.