Can an Executive Function Coach Help Your Teen Achieve Academic Success ?
Does your teen have trouble completing her homework? My daughter is a bright kind hearted kid who struggles with executive function disorder. Therefore, she has difficulty self-regulating, planning, problem solving, and completing her work. This situation makes attaining her academic goals nearly impossible. As a parent, I wanted to help my child succeed. I recommended that she organize her assignments. We made plans for prioritization of assignments, breaking down projects into manageable parts, test prep strategies, deadlines , timers and more. What I thought was sage advice was construed to be badgering. My best intentions turned out to be kindling for a fire storm. Heated arguments and slamming doors ended in tears, heavy hearts, incomplete assignments and poor grades.
If this sounds like you, and you are thinking about getting your teen an executive function coach, let me save you some time and heartache. Although skeptical at first, to help my daughter succeed, I hired an executive function coach. Here are three ways an executive function coach can help your teen.
- Plan Development
Executive function skills are coachable skills. An executive function coach can teach a student how to plan, focus, remember instructions, initiate work and complete assignments.
My daughter and I spent fruitless hours trying to devise a study plan. I gave her a strategy and she let me know why it wouldn’t work. Executive function disorder is a problem in performance not a problem in knowledge. My daughter knew exactly what she needed to do and how to do it. However, she was not able to take the actions required to execute her plans. School work became a frustrating experience.
Her executive function coach identified her strengths and weaknesses, and taught her how to plan, organize, focus and sustain effort toward a goal. It wasn’t magic, but slowly my daughter learned how to complete her assignments. She developed confidence as her grades improved.
She trusted the process and was accepted into the college of her choice.
2. ACCOUNTABILITY
Executive function disorder creates deficits in self-motivation. Therefore, an executive function coach is essential in holding the student accountable for her actions. When I tried to hold my daughter accountable, reward systems were ineffective. As her missing assignments piled up, she felt overwhelmed and hopeless. Arguments would ensue because she felt we, her parents, were berating her about things that she already knew and felt bad about. She believed that our emotionally loaded discussions were constant reminders of her being a disappointment to us and herself. In contrast, her conversations with her executive function coach were uplifting. The coach recognized her effort and progress, showing her that there was still hope.
My daughter and her executive function coach reviewed the previous week’s commitments celebrating their victories and discussing opportunities for improvement. She did not need to defend herself. She was motivated to improve herself. The progress itself became the reward, and this she felt was the best reward she could ever earn.
3. ENCOURAGEMENT
An executive function coach is a source of encouragement. My daughter was in a safe, judgement-free environment. If she felt bad because she only completed three of her seven assignments, her coach would respond that she improved because 2 weeks ago she completed zero assignments. They could then move on to discuss plans for the upcoming week.
Developing executive function skills employs behavioral change. This process takes time because the student is learning about herself and what motivates her into action. Executive function skills are life skills. An executive function coach can facilitate a student’s acquisition of those skills that will serve her well in life.
From my experience, I believe an executive function coach is worth the investment in your teen.
