| Here is your full article text: | Executive Functioning -- What Is It and How Does It Affect Learning?
Contributed by: Terry Matlen, ACSW (Posted on 2003-12-15)
By Ruth Spodak, Ph.D.
Executive Functioning is a new term used by some professionals to describe problems associated with Learning Disabilities and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It often refers to problems with memory, organization and planning. However, it does not fit neatly into the aptitude/achievement discrepancy model used by many school systems to diagnose learning disabilities. Executive Functioning appears to be an important syndrome which can often explain the reasons for a child's difficulties in school and beyond. Yet it is only just beginning to be understood and assessed.
What is Executive Functioning?
Typically diagnosed by neurologists, psychologists and educators, Executive Functioning difficulties relate to planning, organizing and strategizing behaviors. Different definitions have emerged. Dr. Martha Denckla, Director of the Kennedy Institute, Baltimore, MD, presents the acronym ISIS to stand for "Initiate, Shift, Inhibit and Sustain: to plan, organize and develop strategies or rules." Therefore, children with Executive Functioning problems therefore have difficulty planning, organizing and managing time and space.
Researcher Dr. F. Xavier Castellanos describes Executive Functioning as, "the ability to delay responses and sustain or shift attention so that an individual can set priorities in responding to various environmental stimuli" and as "attention with regard to the future."
Dr. Russell Barkley, author of Taking Charge of ADHD, states that, "Executive functions (are) critical to playing, organizing and carrying out complex human behavior over long periods of time."
Full text here: http://www.washingtonparent.com/articles/9906/executive-functioning.htm
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