Lagging skills support children in helping them control their behavior, communicate their needs, regulate their emotions, and work with their peers socially. If children face a delay in developing these skills this may be the reason that they are having difficulty meeting expectations or responding to triggers. After identifying your child’s lagging skills, it is important to find the best practices for approaching the skill. Here is a short 3 step model for how to approach your child’s area of weakness.
Step 1: Identify your child’s triggers, expectations, challenges, and lagging skills.
The first step is to identify your child’s weakness, the skill they are lagging in could be; emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, social, language processing, or attention and memory.
If your child is lagging in emotional regulation skills than they may have difficulty managing anxiety, disappointment, or frustration. If your child has ADHD- make sure you read about Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria.
If they are lagging in cognitive flexibility skills they are likely to have a difficulty handling transitions or unpredictability.
If they are lagging in social skills, you may find your child seeking attention in inappropriate ways or having a difficulty paying attention to social cues.
If your child is lagging in language processing skills then they may experience a difficulty in following conversations or expressing their needs.
The final skill your child could be lagging in, attention and memory skills, your child may show that they have difficulty managing time and are unable to maintain focus during activities.
Step 2: Brainstorm a Plan
The next step is to brainstorm a plan that is realistic and attainable. It is crucial to remember your child’s diagnosis during this step, for example, ADHD. You want to make sure that your child is included in the development of this plan so that they are aware of what is expected.
If you haven’t already- read our blog on developing accommodations for homework. This will give you additional ideas when brainstorming.
Step 3: Implement the Plan
The final step is to implement to plan. Be sure that you remain patient during this step, because it may take some time before you see the planning being implemented effectively. And remember, most times that plan will take several adjustments. Take this process a day at a time and be sure to acknowledge your child’s improvement. Want ideas on how? Read here to learn more about effective motivation.
If you have any questions- reach out– we are happy to help
If your child has ADHD- make sure you read about Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria
If they are lagging in social skills, you may find your child seeking attention in inappropriate ways or having a difficulty paying attention to social cues.
The final skill your child could be lagging in, attention and memory skills, your child may show that they have difficulty managing time and are unable to maintain focus during activities.
If you haven’t already- read our blog on developing accommodations for homework.
Read here to learn more about effective motivation.