When kids struggle in school, parents and teachers look to find out why. However, when kids are simultaneously struggling with several subjects in school, along with various other areas of their lives, telling them they need to try harder would be counterproductive and could potentially cause more harm than good.
What your child may be struggling with is executive functioning difficulties. Executive functions are the basic skills of self-management that allow us to set goals and achieve them. Some areas of executive functioning are managing emotions, motivation, prioritizing and following through with tasks, adaptive thinking, self-control, time management and organization.
When you see that your child struggles in one or more of these areas, you may hear recommendations for an executive functioning coach or neurofeedback. But what is an executive functioning coach or neurofeedback and how can they help with your child’s executive functioning?
An executive functioning coach is like an educational therapist. EF coaches work to help improve mental processes that target executive functioning skills that each one of us use in our daily life. EF coaches work to modify daily patterns in order to improve sleep, stress the importance of daily exercise to improve cognitive functioning, highlight skills to better manage emotions, and use real-life situations in a person’s environment to build upon their executive function skills. Typical time frames for working with an executive coach are around six months to a year, however, ADHD individuals often require a year or more before they are able to internalize the habits needed to reach their goals.
Neurofeedback is a relaxing, non-invasive process that lasts around 30 min per session. Just like with EF coaching, neurofeedback is usually performed one to three times per week. Neurofeedback uses sensors placed in various locations on the scalp to capture the electrical activity of the brain and is measured and then ‘fed back’ to the person. Based on where the sensors are placed on the scalp the goal of neurofeedback is to measure the brain’s activity that involves the thoughts, sensations, actions, and emotions in the form of brain waves and provide feedback signals which helps teach the individual self-control of brain functions. Neurofeedback usually provides audio and/or video feedback. During a training session, positive or negative feedback are produced for the desirable or undesirable brain activity. Neurofeedback allows the brain to create new connections through ‘neuroplasticity’ which is defined as the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. Neuroplasticity is when your brain is rewired to function in some way that differs from how it previously functioned. Neurofeedback has shown to work with the brain to strengthen executive functions so that the individual can function with ease and efficiency. Where neurofeedback differs from an EF coach is that neurofeedback teaches the brain to remain calm when dealing with challenges and stressors at the brain wave level compared to teaching the individual from an external source. With neurofeedback, an individual can improve their executive functioning typically within 30-40 sessions including those with ADHD.