What Does Executive Functioning Have To Do With Speech and Language?

Written by Montana Gregory, M.A., CF-SLP

So… What is Executive Functioning (EF)?

EF refers to a set of cognitive skills that are responsible for a bunch of different tasks that our brains help us with every day. They are super important, but also very easy to take for granted! These tasks include:

Child learning how to read a clock. Photo by Markus Spiske.

• Planning

• Time Management

• Task Initiation

• Organization

• Problem Solving

• Flexibility

• Working Memory

• Emotional Control

• Impulse Control

• Attentional Control

• Self Monitoring

Believe it or not, these kinds of skills start to develop quite early in life.

But don’t expect your three-year-old to start planning their own play dates by tomorrow morning! If you’re wondering whether your kiddo is developing EF skills as expected for their age, check out these general milestones for some guidance:

Executive Function Development

• 0-5 years old:

  • Planning: Follow simple commands and Independently complete routine tasks

  • Problem Solving: Cause and effect play and turn taking

  • Attentional Control: Attention span increases and can be redirected given an adult cue.

• 5-12 years old:

  • Planning: Follow out a set of steps to meet end goal and Plays games involving strategy

  • Problem Solving: Identifies and defines simple problems and Emergence of brainstorming

  • Attentional Control: Developing strategies to help sustain attention 

Why do pediatric professionals, like speech therapists, care about executive functioning?

• Research shows that Children 3-11 years old who demonstrated increased inhibitory control and other EF abilities were more likely to remain in school, less likely to participate in risky behaviors, and less likely to engage with illegal substances as teenagers.

• Executive functioning impacts all areas of learning. If children are using all of their brain power and energy to self-regulate they cannot engage in learning new skills--including LANGUAGE!

• Undesirable behaviors are often the result of a child’s lack of emotional control and inability to control impulses.

• Challenges with EF can look a lot like and be combined with challenges in other areas of communication, such as language comprehension or social skills.

How can we help our kids develop strong executive functioning?

We Can Do Hard Things. Photo by Jess Zoerb.

• Instead of asking your child “why did you do that?”, talk about ways they can act differently. Use reflective questions such as “I noticed you did __ when __ happened, can you think of a different/more appropriate way to handle that in the future?”. A behavior is often the result of a child’s difficulties with self-monitoring, controlling impulses, and/or controlling emotions.

  For example:

  Q: “Why did you push Jimmy”

  Child answers: “because I was mad”

  Real answer: The child had a lack of impulse control. Adults get mad at others all day long, yet we do not go around pushing people. We can help children realize this by asking thought provoking questions. For example: “I know you were really mad, but what else could you have done to get your feelings across?” 

• Help a child self-regulate through visual schedules, establishing expectations, and setting boundaries.

• If your child has difficulty with transitions try making a visual schedule that they can see and reference. Discuss, talk about, and give insights into the schedule each day.

  For example:

  9AM: wake up

  9:15 AM: eat breakfast

  9:45 AM: brush teeth and get dressed

  10 AM: get in car

  10:15 AM: arrive at speech

• Give frequent reminders of minutes until the next activity. Even if your little one can’t tell time, they can understand that 1 minute left means the activity will be ending soon. This helps them prepare for the transition.

• Set boundaries and stick to them! Each time your child chooses to recognize and obey a boundary they are practicing and strengthening their executive function skills, specifically self-regulation. Create consequences for breaking boundaries that are meaningful to the child. This will encourage them to acknowledge and respect the boundary in the future.

  For example:

  If you have established a rule that your child is not allowed to throw food on the floor during mealtime, yet they cross this boundary and throw their speghetting on the floor, further establish the boundary by giving meaningful consequences such as no TV time after dinner. In the future, when they think about throwing food again, they will remember the consequence and be less likely to cross the boundary, thereby engaging in self-regulation and learning more executive functioning skills.

• Model Executive Functioning Skills

  For example:

  Using self talk, describe how you are feeling really hungry (or sad or any other emotion) but you know lunch isn’t for 30 more minutes. So right now you are going to work really hard to finish the task you are completing instead of getting upset or “hangry”. Children learn from modeling. If your child hears and sees you demonstrating executive functioning skills, they will be more likely to demonstrate the same skills in the future. So model, model, and model!

Curious to learn more?