Helpful Parent Teacher language

[Adapted From: Executive Dysfunction at Home and at School, Smart but Scattered (Dec. 2020), by Peg Dawson, Ed.D., NCSP, PESI Inc. Workshop]

A more helpful way…

Instead of believing/thinking/ saying:

• Lazy, procrastinator

• Unmotivated

• Not working to potential

• Disruptive

• Oppositional

• Messy

• Late to things/turns in things late

• Forgetful, can’t remember directives

• Absent‐minded

• Lacking a work ethic, doesn’t care

• Can’t get to the point, just keeps talking too long

• Takes too long to do things, spends unnecessary time on things

• Just blurts stuff out, is mean

• Wants to do it his/her way, his/her way is the only way, lives in own world of doing it his/her way, can’t move on, can’t move forward

Think of, or describe as, having challenges/difficulties in:

• Task initiation (hard to get started)

• Sustained attention

• Response inhibition (impulse control)

• Emotional control

• Flexibility

• Organization

• Time management

• Working memory

• Goal‐directed Persistence (able to stick with a goal and finish it)

• Prioritizing Information, Time Management, Planning, Metacognition

• Response Inhibition, Metacognition

• Problem Solving, Planning, Flexibility, and Metacognition