A Spotlight On Executive Function in the Early Childhood Classroom

By: Stephanny Freeman, PhD and Kristen Hayashida, MEd, BCBA

The new year brings opportunities for introducing new ideas and refining existing techniques for young learners. This week, we’re revisiting a blog from our archives that focuses on executive function.

When kindergarten teachers are asked what skills they would like their students to have the beginning of the year, their answers might be surprising!  Parents and caregivers are often concerned with making sure their children can say their ABC’s, count to 10, and know their colors. Some may believe that their children should be reading by the time they start kindergarten.  However, kindergarten teachers often have a different set of priorities, and instead are looking for skills such as:

  • The ability to listen to and follow directions
  • Follow classroom routines
  • Control impulses
  • Resolve a conflict or solve a problem calmly with another child

Kindergarten teachers value these skills because they are critical for school readiness, paving the way for children to be academically and socially successful.  Moreover, children who are behind in these skills can require disproportionate amounts of teachers’ attention, derail classroom activities and routines, and interfere with other children’s learning.

Underlying these school readiness skills are a set of higher order thinking skills collectively referred to as Executive Functions (EFs). EFs are the cognitive control functions that help us inhibit our initial impulses and think before acting.

But while most teachers agree that EF skills are very important, they are not explicitly taught in most early education settings (or at any point in most children’s educational experiences).

What skills are part of executive functioning?

Three key skills are generally agreed upon as the core of EF:

  1. Working memory: holding information in mind to manipulate, work with, or act on at a later time.
  2. Inhibitory control: the ability to regulate one’s attention, behavior, thinking, and emotion particularly in response to distractions or temptations.
  3. Cognitive flexibility: the capacity to shift one’s thinking, such as changing one’s approach to solving a problem if the previous approach is not working or recognizing and responding when the demands of that task have changed.

Seven additional skills are also considered to fall under the umbrella of EF, often relying and building on the three foundational EF skills:

  1. Initiation: the ability to begin a task or activity or to generate ideas independently in order to answer questions, solve problems, or respond to environmental demands.
  2. Fluency: how fluidly one can access and use relevant knowledge or skills.
  3. Planning: the ability to identify and sequence all the different steps needed to achieve a specific goal.
  4. Organization: the capacity to prioritize and make decisions about which tasks to undertake, and the needed resources to complete those tasks.
  5. Problem solving: carrying out the steps to achieve a desired goal, while monitoring progress making necessary adjustments.
  6. Time awareness: part of the broader skill of Time Management, which includes to the ability to anticipate how long tasks might take, to be aware of time constraints, track one’s progress, and adjust one’s behavior in order to complete tasks efficiently.
  7. Emotion regulation: skills including identifying one’s own emotion states and responding appropriately to emotional experiences.

Why do executive function skills matter?

Executive function skills predict a host of short-term and long-term outcomes!

  • They are a stronger predictor of school readiness than IQ.
  • They are also associated with higher achievement in both reading and math throughout children’s schooling.
  • EF skills, when tested in early childhood predict outcomes later in childhood and adolescence, including psychological and physical health.

Because EF skills are so predictive of later outcomes, they are being increasingly recognized as a critically important focus of intervention. 

Early EF training is … an excellent candidate for leveling the playing field and reducing the achievement gap between more- and less-advantaged children.

Diamond and Lee (2011, p. 6)

Can executive function skills improve?

Yes! All young children (typically developing and those with difficulties) can benefit greatly from instruction in EF!  Frequent practice of these skills and gradually raising the difficulty benefits children most in generalization and increasing gains. Practitioners and parents should consider:

  • Providing focused instruction in EF skills.
  • Combining explicit targeted instruction in EF skills with other activities in which they can then apply and practice those skills.
  • Building targeted EF skills into daily routines.
  • Providing multiple opportunities every day, particularly for children with disabilities, to test out and practice EF skills.

Most experts consider the development of self-regulation skills, of which executive functions are the crown jewel, to be the most important objective of high quality preschool—to help children focus attention, be emotionally expressive, not be impulsive, and to engage in purposeful and meaningful interactions with caregivers and other children.

Blair (2017, p.4)

About The Authors

Dr. Stephanny Freeman is a clinical professor at UCLA, a licensed clinical psychologist, and Co-Directs the Early Childhood Partial Hospitalization Program (ECPHP).  For 20 years, she has educated children with ASD and other exceptionalities as a teacher, studied interventions for social emotional development, and designed curriculum and behavior plans in school and clinic settings.

Kristen Hayashida is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst at the UCLA Early Childhood Partial Hospitalization Program (ECPHP).  For the last 10 years she has served as a therapist, researcher and educator of children and families living with autism spectrum disorder through the treatment of problem behavior.

Special Needs Registries to Inform First Responders

By: Cassie Hauschildt

When a child is diagnosed with autism, there are a number of resources, therapies, and programs recommended  to parents. They are told all about ABA, ST, OT, PT, and FT, among others, receiving an alphabet soup of therapies. We explain the importance of early intervention. For parents of older children or teens, they learn how to navigate the school system with BIPs, IEPs, ARDs, and more. They begin to understand the behaviors of their children in a new light, and may even gain a few new fears from behaviors of other children. They learn the proper term for eloping and steps to take to help prevent sensory overload. And while many behaviors are explained, it also becomes obvious that there is not an immediate fix for many of them.

One service that professionals may not tell parents  about at the time of diagnosis is their local police department’s registry program for individuals on the Autism Spectrum (along with other disorders or special needs). However, if this is a service is available to them, it could help alleviate many of the concerns that come along with an autism diagnosis. This free and essential service is often not openly advertised to the public, but rather, lives on a corner of their local webpage. Some don’t even have an obvious link on the homepage, requiring citizens to use the search function in order to get their child included on the list. This service can have a variety of names, including but not limited to: “Safe Return Program,” “[Autism and] Special Needs Registry,” “C.A.R.E.S,” and “Voluntary Registry Program for Vulnerable Populations.”

Registering your ASD Child for this program will create a note associated with your home address in the local police’s internal system. This can help participants in multiple ways. First, if there is ever an officer dispatched to your home, they will be alerted that an ASD individual lives in the home and be prepared to accommodate that person’s needs. Additionally, if a child was to elope, many programs have the option to upload a recent photo. This will make it easier for law enforcement to distribute the child’s picture quickly. For some cities, , this information could also be shared with the any firefighters or paramedics sent to the home by the dispatch team.

The method for finding if your local police department offers this program will differ depending on your city. The best start is to try searching “[CITY NAME] Special Needs Registry” on a search engine such as Google. If this doesn’t work, you may have to do some detective work on the local police website. When trying to find this program locally, I had to find the “Community Programs” tab on the menu bar of the police website.

Each program will require different information to register. At a base, caregivers should expect to provide name, address, diagnosis, and physical description of the registrant as well as the contact information for all caregivers. If the registrant is able to drive, information about their primary vehicle will also be required. Any additional required information will vary depending on the local program. Some require a doctor’s letter proving diagnosis, others ask for a recent picture, and other ask for communication methods and support items.

If you find that your local police department doesn’t have a program, consider approaching them about implementing one. With the updated CDC estimate of 1 in 44 children getting diagnosed with autism, it is almost guaranteed that this program will be useful to more than just you. Additionally, these programs can be utilized for individuals with Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Down Syndrome, and many other special needs. BCBAs and Educators are the perfect individuals to partner with  police on  program parameters. Additionally, it’s a great opportunity to broach your local police department  about training for interacting with ASD individuals.

Cassie Hauschildt received her autism diagnosis at 32 years of age and is the mother of an ASD son, who was diagnosed at 20 months old. Since his diagnosis, she has become an advocate for ASD children. She dedicates her time to mentoring parents of ASD kids through the tough first few months post-diagnosis. She also is trying to get rid of the negativity surrounding ABA therapy. She does this through humor, while using real talk, on her TikTok @AnotherAutismMom. She also runs the “Dino and Nuggets Corner” Facebook Group.

Ask A BCBA: I’m a Brand-New BCBA! What Should I Expect??

Ask A BCBA is a new series where we take your questions to our favorite ABA professionals. Do you have a question for a BCBA? Email us at info@difflearn.com and you could be featured in a future post!

Congratulations on passing your BACB exam!  Not only did you pass this notoriously difficult test, but you completed hundreds of hours of graduate coursework and supervised experience to get to this point.  You had to have been dedicated and hard-working.  You have demonstrated your knowledge to your supervisor(s) and on a written exam.  You should feel proud!

You are now entrusted with the tools to change behavior, shape new skills, and make lives better.  Make no mistake, this is a big responsibility.  As a BCBA, you are expected to be proficient in all of the skills of a behavior analyst (as per the BACB task list) and to abide by the BACB Code of Ethics.  Part of the ethical code is that there is no excuse for not knowing the ethical code.

Some new BCBAs feel overwhelmed by their new responsibilities.  This is completely normal, and not a bad thing if it leads you to approach your new position with respect and caution.  Here are some suggestions for easing this transition and building your confidence.

  • Maintain contact with your supervisor or another mentorMost supervisors are happy to continue to have some continued less-structured contact to provide guidance.  Other seasoned BCBAs in your community might also be open to providing some informal mentoring.
  • Join a community of other BCBAs.  There are so many options for how to do this.  Joining your state ABA association is an excellent idea if you haven’t done so already.  If you are a social media person, there are many Facebook groups for BCBAs.  Other BCBAs at your job may want to connect, too.
  • Keep your resources handy.  Yes, I realize that you probably never want to see “The White Book” again – at least for a while – but don’t be afraid to look something up if you’re not sure.  Although you passed the exam, you may still need a refresher on less-familiar concepts when they come up in your work.
  • Start collecting CEUs!  Yes, now!  You need to document at least 32 CEUs every 2 years, so don’t fall behind.
  • Subscribe to journalsJABA is not expensive, even when you are no longer a student, and you may not have access to your university library anymore.

Some new BCBAs feel overwhelmed by their new responsibilities.  This is completely normal, and not a bad thing if it leads you to approach your new position with respect and caution.  Here are some suggestions for easing this transition and building your confidence.

Remember that learning is a lifelong journey.  Even though you have made an amazing accomplishment, you aren’t expected to know everything.  Take the energy and enthusiasm that got you to this point, and use them to continue to develop your skills and your network.  As B.F. Skinner wrote in Walden Two, “It is not a question of starting.  The start has been made.  It’s a question of what’s to be done from now on.”  The hard part is over, so go ahead and make the most of your accomplishment!


About The Author

Dana Reinecke, Ph.D., BCBA-D is a doctoral level Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and a New York State Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA).   Dana is a Core Faculty member in the Applied Behavior Analysis department at Capella University.  She is also co-owner of SupervisorABA, an online platform for BACB supervision curriculum, forms, and hours tracking.  Dana provides training and consultation to school districts, private schools, agencies, and families for individuals with disabilities.  She has presented original research and workshops on the treatment of autism and applications of ABA at regional, national, and international conferences.  She has published her research in peer-reviewed journals, written chapters in published books, and co-edited books on ABA and autism.  Current areas of research include use of technology to support students with and without disabilities, self-management training of college students with disabilities, and online teaching strategies for effective college and graduate education.  Dana is actively involved in the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis (NYSABA).

Seaver Autism & YAI Family Peer Advocate Study

The Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine is conducting a research study that uses Family Peer Advocates to help improve the health and well-being of children with autism. YAI and Premier HealthCare have also partnered up with the research center to provide participants in the study a comprehensive diagnostic assessment. YAI provides one of the nation’s most comprehensive networks of programs and services to assist people with disabilities in maximizing their potential.

 

Family Peer Advocates of this initiative will provide peer support and education related to autism, act as liaisons between families and health care providers, as well as assist families in navigating a complex system of services. Eligible participants include parents of children who have been diagnosed with autism, individuals of African-American or Latino descent, and those who reside in the Bronx or Manhattan. Participation is entirely voluntary and free. Eligible participants will be asked to completed a series of questionnaires over the course of six months, and also reimbursed for travel expenses.

The Seaver Autism Center leads progressive research studies while providing comprehensive, personalized care to children and adults with autism spectrum conditions. For more information about the YAI Family Peer Advocate Study, visit the Seaver Autism Center’s Current Studies or call (212) 241-0961.

Special Needs Summer Camps

Summer time can be full of excitement for children. Time away from school, vacationing, family events, and of course, summer camp!

For parents of children with special needs it can be a challenge finding a local camp that is able to support yours child’s specific needs. There are a variety of options available for campers with special needs ranging from day camps to overnight camps.  Some programs are need specific while others camps are able to offer a more inclusive setting.

Summer camps can be beneficial for children in various ways. Camps offer environments where children can learn social skills, verbal skills, work on everyday independent tasks, learn new hobbies such as biking, swimming, art, musical instruments and more. While at camp children make important bonds and connections with camp staff as well as other campers. All of these activities and new bonds help campers gain independence, build confidence and raise self-esteem.

Summers camps aren’t only beneficial to the children participating in them. Camps are also a great opportunity for parents to meet, greet and network with each other to share resource information.

To help find a summer camp that meets your child’s special needs try this site:

Special Needs Summer Camps

Interested in reading about some unique summer camps? Check out these additional sites

Social Skills Camp

Bicycle Camp for Speical Needs

Goulds Camp

Know of a great summer camp?  Let us and other parents know!

Pick of the Week: Photographic Language Cards!

POW8

These colorful cards help stimulate conversation and discussion while building language and literacy skills!
*Promotion is valid until August 14th 2017 at 11:59pm ET. Offer cannot be applied to previous purchases, combined with any other offers, transferred, refunded, or redeemed and/or exchanged for cash or credit. Different Roads to Learning reserves the right to change or cancel this promotion at any time. To redeem offer at differentroads.com, enter promo code
CARDS2017 at checkout.

Preventing Bullying of Students with ASD

Did you know that October is National Bullying Prevention Month? In an effort to raise awareness around issues of bullying for students with autism, we’re honored to feature this article on preventing bullying of students with ASD by Lori Ernsperger, PhD, BCBA-D, Executive Director of Behavioral Training Resource Center, on some tips and information for parents on protecting their children from disability-based harassment in school. To learn more about ASAT, please visit their website at www.asatonline.org. You can also sign up for ASAT’s free newsletter, Science in Autism Treatment, and like them on Facebook!


We have a nine-year old daughter with ASD who started 3rd grade in a new school. She is coming home every day very upset due to other students calling her names and isolating her from social activities. We wanted her to attend the neighborhood school but how can we protect her from bullying?

Answered by Lori Ernsperger, PhD, BCBA-D

Unfortunately, bullying and disability-based harassment is a common issue for individuals with ASD. As parents, you have a right to insure that the school provides a multitiered framework of protections for your daughter to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment and free from disability-based harassment. Start with educating yourself on the current legal requirements and best practices for preventing bullying in schools.

 

Recognize
Recognizing the startling prevalence rates of bullying for students with ASD is the first step in developing a comprehensive bullying and disability-based harassment program for your daughter. According to the Interactive Autism Network (IAN, 2012), 63% of students with ASD were bullied in schools. An additional report from the Massachusetts Advocates for Children (Ability Path, 2011) surveyed 400 parents of children with ASD and found that nearly 88% reported their child had been bullied in school. According to Dr. Kowalski, a professor at Clemson University, “because of difficulty with social interactions and the inability to read social cues, children with ASD have higher rates of peer rejection and higher frequencies of verbal and physical attacks” (Ability Path, 2011).

In addition to recognizing the prevalence of bullying of students with ASD in schools, parents must also recognize the complexities and various forms of bullying. Bullying of students with ASD not only includes direct contact or physical assault but as with your daughter’s experience, it can take milder, more indirect forms such as repeated mild teasing, subtle insults, social exclusion, and the spreading of rumors about other students. All adults must recognize that laughter at another person’s expense is a form of bullying and should be immediately addressed.

Finally, recognizing the legal safeguards that protect your daughter is critical in preventing bullying. Bullying and/or disability-based harassment may result in the violation of federal laws including:

  1. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (PL 93-112)
  2. Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 2008 (PL 110-325)
  3. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 (PL 108-446)

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR), along with the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), have written guidance letters to all schools to clarify that educational institutions are held legally accountable to provide an educational environment that ensures equal educational opportunities for all students, free of a hostile environment. Any parent can access and print these Dear Colleague Letters and distribute them to school personnel working with their child.

  • US Department of Education/Office of Civil Rights (October 2014)
  • US Department of Education/Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (August 2013)
  • US Department of Education/Office of Civil Rights (October 2010)
  • US Department of Education (July 2000)

Continue reading

How To Prepare To Reinforce Appropriate Behavior

Often when we’re working with children with autism there are two areas we focus on: communication and play. However, due to the nature of your day or a specific activity, you may unintentionally punish spontaneous communication or play. So before we learn how to prepare to reinforce appropriate behavior, let’s consider a couple of examples:

 

Julie is a teacher in a first grade classroom with six children with autism. One of her students is Marcos, who rarely uses spontaneous language. While Julie is running the morning meeting, Marcos suddenly interrupts and says “I like elephants.” Julie says, “It’s quiet time, right now, Marcos.”

David is a teacher in a fourth grade inclusion classroom. Jaylene is a student with autism who rarely initiates interactions. He is speaking with another teacher when Jaylene approaches with a puppet, hands it to David, and says “puppet.” David tells her, “In just a minute, Jaylene.”

 In both of these instances, the teacher has not done anything wrong. In fact, we have all done this from time to time in the midst of busy days in which we’re managing multiple tasks. But there’s an argument to be made here that both Marcos and Jaylene missed opportunities for reinforcement of the behaviors we most want them to exhibit.

One thing that can help is to prioritize your goals. If the primary goal for Marcos is to use spontaneous language, then when we start out we want to provide a continuous rate of reinforcement. This means that it will sometimes interrupt other tasks, but if it is the biggest priority, that’s okay! The long term gains of reinforcing Marcos’s spontaneous language likely outweigh the frustration of an interrupted lesson.

The second thing that can help is communicating the priorities to other adults and staff. If David lets other teachers and administrators know that Jaylene’s foremost goal is to initiate interactions related to play, then a brief interruption in a conversation should not be an issue. Again, the long term gains of reinforcing Jaylene’s initiation of play likely outweigh any issues around an interrupted conversation.

Finally, try to plan ahead. Think about instances in which the child is most likely to engage in the targeted behaviors and talk with staff about how to ensure reinforcement takes place. The last thing we want to do is to unintentionally punish the desired behaviors.

WRITTEN BY SAM BLANCO, MSED, BCBA

Sam is an ABA provider for students ages 3-15 in NYC. Working in education for twelve years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam utilizes strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals. Sam is currently a PhD candidate in Applied Behavior Analysis at Endicott College. She is also a lecturer in the ABA program at The Sage Colleges.

Pick of the Week: Self Management Planners – 20% OFF!

Find a better way to manage your time and check more things off your to-do list this school year!  Created with ABA principles by Dan Sundberg, PhD, the Self Management Planner is perfect for those who have busy and frequently changing schedules and want something that will do more than schedule time in the day. This week, you can save 20%* on the Self Management Planners and get a head start on organizing your schedule for the school year! (Use promo code MANAGE at check-out!)

Self Management Planners

Not only is this planner perfect for effective time management and organizing your activities, but it also allows to set and track your goals (it even includes graph paper so you can watch your progress!).

The Self Management Planner includes:

  • Full 18.5-hour days and 7-day weeks
  • Tutorial on using the planner, appointment book, and measuring your success
  • Guide to setting long term goals and figuring out ways to accomplish those goals
  • System of selecting and tracking daily activities. (People have used this section to track a huge variety of important things like spending, hours billed, driving mileage, activity goals, and more.)
  • Graphs for visualizing and tracking progress on goal
  • Lined note paper
  • Blank date periods
  • Weekly and daily to-do lists
  • Space to make note of all day events

Available in two sizes: Full (11.5″ x 8.5″) and Compact (8.5″ x 5.5″).

*Promotion is valid for one-time use through September 6, 2016. Offer cannot be applied to previous purchases, combined with any other offers, transferred, refunded, or redeemed and/or exchanged for cash or credit. Different Roads to Learning reserves the right to change or cancel this promotion at any time. To redeem offer at differentroads.com, enter promo code MANAGE at checkout.

Pick of the Week: The NEW ABA Program Companion — Take 20% Off!

New ABA Program Companion Cover.inddJ. Tyler Fovel, MA, BCBA’s essential manual for creating professional and effective ABA programs blends clear explanations of scientifically-based concepts and methodology, clinical examples and advice, and suggested implementation strategies. This revised edition presents information on:

  • qualities of an effective ABA program
  • transdisciplinary teamwork
  • curriculum selection and development
  • program writing and revision
  • strategies for attention and engagement
  • prompts
  • error- correction
  • reinforcement
  • progress evaluation
  • data-based decision-making

TAKE 20% OFF The NEW ABA Program Companion this week with our promo code NEWABA at check-out, and get a head start on designing an efficient ABA program for your students this year.

The NEW ABA Program Companion also comes with training packages for implementers, forms, and a 6-month subscription to the online program development and management software, ABA Program Companion 3.0.