Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention (Practical Interventions in the Schools) (Paperback)

by Peg Dawson (Author), Richard Guare (Author) "Human beings have a built-in capacity to meet challenges and accomplish goals through the use of high-level cognitive functions called executive skills..." (more)
Key Phrases: weak executive skills, executive skill deficits, own executive skills, Establish Goal Behavior-select, Long-Term Project Planning Sheet, Specific Behavioral Objective (more...)

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, New York

"The perfect introductory book to understanding executive skills....The appendix includes planning worksheets accessible to families and professionals that help them to identify and understand executive skill deficits and to address them in the family and school environment. We have used this book in our own practice and have given it to clients for their use as well. We love this book, and it has earned the EP Symbol of Excellence. This book is a must have!"--Exceptional Parent

 

"...a valuable resource for practitioners and a good introduction to the topic."--Canadian Journal of Education

"Great manual, well worth referring to regularly."--The Canadian Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Review

"The intervention chapters for individual children (rather than classroom-wide interventions) are particularly well written and may be extremely helpful to educators as well as parents....This is a short book with a strong message especially for those parents and educators who deal with children who have difficulties in achieving executive skills. It is clear, concise, and easy to understand. I am not aware of any comparable book that can be used as a practical guide for parents and educators and that approaches this entire problem without a reliance on pharmacology....3 Stars."--Doody's Review Service

Review
"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, 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 assessm