Executive dysfunction can feel like an overwhelming condition for both students and parents when it occurs during the middle school years. Fortunately, there are proven strategies for parents to utilize to support their student as they deal with the challenges of executive dysfunction.
Executive functions are the skills we utilize to make decisions, plan ahead, and follow through on tasks and goals—very important skills to have in middle school. When middle school students have executive dysfunction, they fail to develop these skills, which can put immense strain on their academic success during a critical period of their lives.
In this article, we’ll break down strategies to help you support your middle school student overcome executive dysfunction.
Why Middle School Students Develop Executive Dysfunction
Cleveland Clinic defines executive dysfunction as, “a behavioral symptom that disrupts a person’s ability to manage their own thoughts, emotions and actions.” Executive function develops fully between the ages of 13 and 25, making the middle school years particularly important for establishing executive functioning.
Executive dysfunction can occur on its own or as a part of ADD, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, or other conditions. Executive dysfunction can manifest itself in a variety of behaviors and symptoms for middle schoolers, such as:
- Struggling to be on time
- Forgetting to bring the right school supplies, books, and resources home or to school
- Putting off starting a project or homework assignment
- Inability to multitask or manage multiple tasks at the same time
- Failing to process new information
- Challenges controlling emotions
As academic workload increases during the middle school years, the importance of strong executive function skills increases. Executive dysfunction can directly impact the study skills of your middle school student in addition to many of the basic functions they need to be successful in all aspects of their life.
Execution function skills are life skills, and thus they provide ample opportunities for parents to utilize real-world experiences to practice those skills. By teaching executive function skills at home, parents can engage in the learning process alongside their students and see in detail areas of weakness.
7 Strategies to Help Middle School Students Improve Executive Functioning
It can be hard to know where to start when it comes to supporting a middle school student with executive dysfunction. Let’s go through seven key strategies to help your student build stronger executive function skills.
1. Develop a routine.
A typical middle school student will be unlikely to start their homework on their own initiative, so it’s important to get them used to a regular routine. This routine can be the cornerstone of overcoming the symptoms of executive dysfunction, as it provides a dedicated time to work on assignments, projects, and studying. Give them the opportunity to participate in developing the routine. This is the time for them to engage and problem solve with you.
The consistency of the routine can help your student build better habits when it comes to how they approach their academic workload. They’ll also have a time and place where they can be comfortable working on their schoolwork, even if it feels difficult or overwhelming for them.
2. Make a plan together.
For many middle school students with executive dysfunction, getting started is the hardest part. One strategy to combat this obstacle is to work alongside your middle school student at the beginning of any dedicated homework time to make a plan together.
Review all of the student’s responsibilities together, and encourage them to take the lead when it comes to prioritizing their work by asking questions, rather than making recommendations. Help them put together a clear list of responsibilities that isn’t too overwhelming for them to begin.
By acting as their partner, you can offer support for this challenging aspect of getting their work done. Some students may benefit from structured documents to use for these steps, like a to-do list, time management worksheet, or executive function planner. The Effective Students Executive Function Planner is specifically designed with executive dysfunction in mind, so it may be a great fit for helping your student plan ahead.
No matter how you approach it, you’ll establish that you are there with your student while they tackle planning ahead and prioritizing their tasks.
3. Provide time management tools.
Time management is a crucial executive function and study skill, but it can be one of the hardest to learn. We often see students learning this important lesson only by experience, rather than direct instruction or lecturing. As a parent, you can support your student in a variety of ways to help them deal with the time management challenges of executive dysfunction.
One essential aspect of time management is the understanding and awareness of how time passes. You can add a dedicated, prominent clock to wherever your student studies or works on homework to help them become more familiar with the time passing, as well as a timer to allow themselves to take breaks or use the Pomodoro method.
Students can also take advantage of the Effective Students time management worksheet, which is free to download. This worksheet is especially helpful when a student doesn’t know where to start when it comes to breaking up their time, as it provides clear visualization and supports intentional plans.
4. Create a dedicated workstation.
Everyday is full of distractions, especially for the growing mind of a middle school student. To ease the challenge of these distractions, parents should provide a dedicated workstation for students that has all of the supplies they need—and none of the distractions. This may mean putting phones and other non-essential electronics in a separate area.
The space should be comfortable for the student, and their use of the space should be reinforced positively so they do not come to dread going there. Workspace should be free of clutter and distractions, making it a clean slate for them to get themselves started without distractions.
This dedicated workstation does not need to be permanently or take up a lot of space. This workstation can be as simple as collecting all supplies into a bin or folder, which can be set up on the kitchen table, desk, or elsewhere. Students can also make a good habit of keeping all of the supplies together at their workstation, whether that’s a mobile workstation or a set area.
5. Introduce different study strategies.
Students with executive dysfunction may learn in different ways from other students, and thus they may benefit from leveraging different study strategies. Explore different study strategies based on your student’s unique strengths and weaknesses, and introduce them to your student.
It can be helpful to bring in real-life examples and interests, because, if a student is struggling to connect with a certain subject or material, it’s going to be even more difficult for them if they do not see the value in it or find it boring.
Be systematic about your approach to introducing these study strategies. Rather than throwing all of the possible study strategies at the student at once, consider which strategies will be the most effective for the individual subject and assignments.
6. Welcome emotions and encourage self-care.
Executive dysfunction affects the important socio-emotional learning skills that middle school students rely heavily on in academic and social settings. Those skills include self-management, self-awareness, responsible decision-making skills, relationship skills, and social awareness.
Often, students who deal with learning differences, executive dysfunction, or other academic challenges will suffer from anxiety. If left unaddressed, this anxiety can compound with and make the executive dysfunction worse.
By providing a supportive environment, you can encourage your middle school student to process and understand their emotions rather than suppressing them or developing negative coping habits. When emotions or academic stress begin to overwhelm them, help them identify that feeling and realize when they should take time for self-care.
If you teach your student how to practice self-care in middle school, they can go on to use those emotional management tactics through high school and postsecondary education. Students can know how to avoid burnout and identify when they need to take time for themselves and their mental well-being.
7. Connect with an academic coach.
Middle school is an ideal time to overcome executive dysfunction and implement strong academic practices. During that time, parents may realize their own limitations in supporting their students, so they may find it worthwhile to consider whether one-on-one academic coaching is right for them. Additionally, middle school can be a stressful time in the parent-student relationship, so an outside academic coach can address the executive dysfunction without worsening any tension.
Academic coaches help students manage their academic workload by teaching them a process and helping them practice it. The academic coaches at Effective Students work with many students who have executive dysfunction, and they aim to work alongside the student in order to help them build long-term skills and processes.
Academic coaching is not tutoring. Tutors focus on teaching students the information related to a specific subject. Academic coaches serve as a partner for the students, bridging the communication gap and guiding students toward academic independence and success.
Overcome Middle School Executive Dysfunction with Effective Students
At Effective Students, we know how much stress parents of middle school students can be under. That’s why we have plentiful resources directed toward the parents of students with executive dysfunction, allowing you to explore all of the strategies available to help your student build strong executive function skills and succeed academically.
In addition to one-on-one academic coaching, we offer the Effective Student™ course, which teaches some of the essential skills our academic coaches teach in an accessible format. We also host the Effective Students Workshop, which helps students improve skills like time management, organization, and learning how to study.
If you’re not sure what’s right for your student, contact our team to learn more.
