Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention (The Guilford Practical Intervention in Schools Series) [Paperback]

Peg Dawson EdD (Author), Richard Guare Phd (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1572309288 | ISBN-13: 978-1572309289 | Publication Date: September 26, 2003 | Edition: First Edition, (Lay-Flat Paperback)

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Teachers, neuropsychologists, and health professionals are frequently asked to work with children and adolescents experiencing difficulties in 'high-level' skills--such as organization, attention, and problem solving--which impede learning and skill acquisition. Despite the prevalence of these problems, there is little practical information available to guide practitioners. This text provides a unique contribution, incorporating simple but comprehensive descriptions of such problems and how to identify them. Its greatest strength, however, lies in its inclusion of a range of helpful and practical intervention strategies that facilitate an integrated approach across home, school, and child."--Vicki Anderson, PhD, Department of Psychology, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

"This volume is filled with promising practices for evaluating and improving children's executive functioning. The concept of executive functioning, informed by research in neuropsychology, provides new ways of viewing children's strengths and weaknesses. 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, School of Education, University of California, Davis

"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. A particular strength of their approach is a multi-component assessment model that includes formal standardized measures typically used in evaluating executive functioning difficulties as well as measures designed to assess executive skills in ¿real-world' situations. Thus, assessment data are linked directly to the design and evaluation of interventions based on children's individual strengths and weaknesses. By far the most noteworthy aspect of this book, however, is the detailed coverage and multiple examples of interventions, including environmental modifications, interventions addressing specific executive skills, coaching, and class-wide strategies. 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. Multiple, diverse case examples are provided to aid readers in understanding the nuances of assessment and treatment, and many helpful handouts facilitate implementation. This book would be an appropriate text for graduate-level courses in psychological/behavioral assessment and school/child interventions."--George J. DuPaul, PhD, School Psychology Program, Lehigh University

"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. This book will serve as a valuable resource for teachers, special educators, and parents."--Mark Ylvisaker, PhD, School of Education, College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY

About the Author

Peg Dawson, EdD, is a licensed clinical school psychologist with an undergraduate degree from Oberlin College and a doctorate from the University of Virginia. She is currently a staff psychologist at the Center for Learning and Attention Disorders, an agency within Seacoast Mental Health Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Dr. Dawson has over 25 years of experience working in the fields of education and psychology, with a specialization in assessment of children and adults with learning and attention disorders. In addition to working in schools and mental health centers in New Hampshire and Maine, she has also taught in the Education Department at the University of New Hampshire at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Active in professional associations, Dr. Dawson has been president of the New Hampshire Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the International School Psychology Association. She has also served as the newsletter editor for the National Association of School Psychologists, and has published many journal articles and book chapters on topics related to educational policy and practices and learning and attention disorders. In addition to Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, Dr. Dawson and her colleague Richard Guare have written a manual on coaching students with attention disorders.

Richard Guare, PhD, a neuropsychologist, is Director of the Center for Learning and Attention Disorders in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Dr. Guare received his doctorate in school/child psychology from the University of Virginia and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He has served as a consultant to a number of brain injury programs in New England, and has presented and published research and clinical work on acquired brain injury and attention disorders. In addition, Dr. Guare has been Adjunct Professor of Communication Disorders at the University of New Hampshire and teaches courses in child neuropsychology at the University of Southern Maine.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 129 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; First Edition, (Lay-Flat Paperback) edition (September 26, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572309288
• ISBN-13: 978-1572309289
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Information for teaching Organizational Skills, September 17, 2005

By 

Deborah Loewenberg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention (The Guilford Practical Intervention in Schools Series) (Paperback)

This book gives detailed information that could help students develop "self-talk" cues to remain focused with homework assignments, daily organizational task and long term projects. The term Executive Function works. The forms at the end of the book are helpfull and can be rearranged for individual student use. A good overview of what can help students who have "ADD" or "ADHD".

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Had to have it, August 18, 2006

By 

Cr8tive1 (Elsewhere, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention (The Guilford Practical Intervention in Schools Series) (Paperback)

I perused this book through interlibrary loan and had to have my own copy. Executive skills are reviewed and handy, handy procedures are given along with various forms intended to help the student, teacher, and parent stay organized and in tune with the student's performance. My copy is currently in my classroom and I intend to use it. This book is appropriate for any student, not just those with attention or organization difficulties.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Source for Parents and Teachers of ADHD, October 19, 2007

By 

Trish (United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention (The Guilford Practical Intervention in Schools Series) (Paperback)

this guide was recommended by my child's psychologist as a tool to deal with ADHD and executive function deficit. It has been tremendously helpful. As a matter of fact I got his school's psychologist and Special Ed Coordinator to purchase copies for all teachers.