No Mind Left Behind: Understanding and Fostering Executive Control--The Eight Essential Brain SkillsEvery Child Needs to Thrive [Hardcover]

Adam J. Cox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2007

A top child psychologist explains the eight essential cognitive skills every child needs to thrive.

In this revolutionary new book, Dr. Adam J. Cox describes how to enhance learning by revealing the latest research on Executive Control Skills:

- Initiation-Organizing thoughts well enough to get started on a task
- Flexibility-Learning to adapt as situations unfold
- Attention-Focusing long enough to retain important information
- Organization-Managing space to promote forward momentum
- Planning-Managing time
- Working memory-Memorizing information long enough for it to be learned
- Self-awareness-Having both sufficient self-knowledge and an understanding of how one is seen by others
- Regulating emotions-Expressing feelings in proportion to the events that elicited them

Discussing each skill in detail, Dr. Cox offers tools and techniques to enhance every child's capability, including children diagnosed with special needs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clinical psychologist Cox's new work is a helpful, if incomplete, guide for anyone who work with children and teenagers, based on what he terms "Factor Ex," "shorthand for the eight pillars of executive control." These eight "thinking skills" are inherently worthy qualities: initiation (the ability to get started on a task), flexibility, attention, organization, planning, working memory (aka short-term memory), self-awareness and emotional regulation (maintaining a sense of "proportion" in one's feelings). Cox devotes a chapter to each skill, explaining clearly what it is, how adults can recognize their child's ability in each and helpful strategies for eliciting improvement. Situation-specific examples are extremely effective, giving readers a concrete sense of each skill's import, and what specifically one can say or do to help develop it. However, Cox's expectations for his charges are extremely high, suggesting that his methods will produce children capable "in multiple environments-on the football field and practicing piano; in the SAT prep course and socializing at the prom"; such a broad spectrum of confidence is a lot to promise, and for many people-let alone children-nearly impossible to achieve. Though he makes occasional nods to the idea of childhood as something other than a prep-for-success regimen, Cox's calls for "wiggle room" could be more insistent and involved; as it is, he leaves the kids little room for self-discovery and simple play.
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About the Author

Adam J. Cox, Ph.D., is a licensed and board-certified clinical psychologist who has devoted his career to the study of Executive Control Skills. He speaks widely at national and international conferences, and has been quoted in the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Time, Family Circle, and other publications.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 271 pages
• Publisher: Perigee Trade (September 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399533591
• ISBN-13: 978-0399533594
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a licensed and board certified clinical psychologist although that is not what I had initially planned. While working as a fine artist near New York City in the 1980's, I opened a studio and welcomed children who wanted to learn how to draw and paint. This experience introduced me to the joy and creativity of mentoring children, which developed into my career as a family psychologist. Currently, as an advocate for children's mental health, I am a frequent lecturer at national and international conferences, where I have had the privilege of meeting many parents and teachers committed to the emotional wellbeing of children. I cannot imagine a more satisfying career.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally Some Optimistic News about ADHD, October 3, 2007

By 

2am reader mom (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Mind Left Behind: Understanding and Fostering Executive Control--The Eight Essential Brain SkillsEvery Child Needs to Thrive (Hardcover)

I was a big fan of Cox's other book, Boys of Few Words. Despite the technical subtitle, I picked this up and was so happy I did. Cox's strategies for helping kids is right on target, and should be required reading for every teacher and classroom volunteer (like me) on the planet.

Drawing on recent brain research, Cox makes a powerful argument that much of what we label "ADHD" (and other behavior or learning problems) stems from under-developed "executive control" skills. These are skills that develop at different rates in different children, sometimes up to the early twenties. The bottom line is that we may be unnecessarily medicating and reprimanding children who just need some extra time and attention to catch up. According to Cox, more holistic interventions can "rewire" a growing brain and help all kids, no matter where they start, be more successful.

Cox is a child advocate who shows that what might look like "character faults" (bad attitudes, disorganization, laziness, etc.) are often (although not always) simply brain processing problems. He clarifies "which is which" with sound reasoning. His suggestions are research-based and practical, and his cheerful and witty prose (including some hilarious vignettes that every parent will identify with) make this a fast and fun read. Highly recommended.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help At Last, April 10, 2008

By 

Greatful Mommy "Caren" (south Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Mind Left Behind: Understanding and Fostering Executive Control--The Eight Essential Brain SkillsEvery Child Needs to Thrive (Hardcover)

I give thanks daily for Dr. Cox. I am a single working mother with a troubled son. We live in rural south New Jersey and it was very dificult emotionally and travel wise to take my son to doctor after doctor only to get the same old wrong answers about ADHD and pills that did not help him. I was so desperate so I began to search for myself and found Dr. Cox's book No Mind Left Behind. He expalined about some boys needing a slower timeline and lots of verbal support to make things better and suddenly I got up, threw away all the pills and wrong information, and was able to get my child the help he really needed. It was like a searchlight had suddenly turned on in the dark. If you have ever listened to a record played at the wrong speed and then listened to it at the right speed you will know that my son is now doing so well compared to before. I spoke with his teachers and showed them the book and you know what? They listened. My son no longer hates school and the kids in his class have even stopped picking on him because now he has more confidence and has goals that he can attain and build on thanks to Dr. Cox. Other experts make you doubt your child and yourself and I urge you if what you are doing is not working to get off the fence and get this book and really take a hard look at what YOU as a parent know about your child. Dr. Cox's book will tell you how and truly no mind will be left behind. Bless you!!!

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Better Lens For Seeing Kids, October 8, 2007

By 

Arts Educator "Lisa" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Mind Left Behind: Understanding and Fostering Executive Control--The Eight Essential Brain SkillsEvery Child Needs to Thrive (Hardcover)

I see my own children and countless others in the pages of this book. It provides all parents and teachers with a much better way to evaluate how our kids learn and what we can specifically do to help them improve their learning power, especially in this visual, fast-paced, techno-saavy age. The clear explanation of "executive skills" provides us a better lens through which to see and understand our children's abilities. Finally, a smart and caring soul who understands neuroscience research gives us new, clear measuring tools (rather than flawed standardized tests!). We all want our kids to reach their full potential for living happy, satisfying lives, and that means nourishing their brains in ways that lead to self-aware, flexible, motivated individuals. This book should be required reading for all teachers and parents! A great read.