Summary
In clear, step-by-step detail, this highly practical manual provides a research-based framework for strengthening executive functioning in children and adolescents. The book explains how executive skills develop in children and are used in everyday life--from the self-regulation required for responsible behavior to the planning and initiation abilities needed to complete homework on time. Guidelines are presented for conducting multimodal assessments and using the results to plan environmental modifications, individualized instruction, coaching, and whole-class interventions. Attention is also given to working with children with ADHD and other clinical problems in which executive skills are impaired. Many of the techniques described can be implemented by teachers and parents in collaboration with school-based clinicians. Designed in a large-size format with convenient, lay-flat binding, the manual includes over a dozen reproducible assessment tools, checklists, and planning sheets, ready to photocopy and use.
Reviews
"Dawson and Guare go far beyond the description of executive skill deficits found in currently available texts to provide school psychologists, special and general education teachers, graduate students, and researchers with empirically based, practical guidelines for assessment and treatment...By far the most noteworthy aspect of this book is the detailed coverage and multiple examples of interventions....These interventions are not only based on solid research support but also have the added advantage of being practical and feasible for teachers and parents to use on a regular basis....An appropriate text for graduate-level courses in psychological/behavioral assessment and school/child interventions."
-George J. DuPaul, PhD, Lehigh University
"This volume is filled with promising practices for evaluating and improving children's executive functioning....Initially developed to target the processing problems of children with ADHD and traumatic brain injury, this approach shows potential for assisting all children in the classroom. The book's interview protocols and checklists provide readers with specific guidance for informed professional practice."
-Jonathan Sandoval, PhD, University of California, Davis
"Difficulties with self-regulation of behavior and of thinking are among the most stressful and difficult-to-deal-with issues faced by parents and teachers of children with disabilities. Dawson and Guare deserve high praise for presenting a practical, integrated, and easy-to-digest approach to disorders of executive self-regulation in children. Their emphasis on intervention within the routines of everyday life, with adults acting as the children's coaches, is most welcome, as are their many user-friendly forms and helpful case illustrations."
-Mark Ylvisaker, PhD, College of Saint Rose
Contents
- Overview of Executive Skills.
- Assessing Executive Skills.
- Linking Assessment to Intervention.
- Interventions to Promote Executive Skills.
- Coaching Students with Executive Skill Deficits.
- Classroom-Wide Interventions.
- Applications to Specific Populations.
- Appendix: Reproducible Forms.
