Whenever children experience any difficulties and struggles in school, the first instinct of teachers and parents is to find out exactly why. Usually, people initially at two specific factors, namely the motivation of the student and the subject matter. Of course, every person has their own weakness and strength, like when you excel at sports but require a bit of help in math, students reach the point of completely giving up; what many don’t realize is that the issue is far more complex.
There’s a high chance that the child is struggling with what we call executive function difficulties. Essentially, executive functions are the basic skills of a person’s self-management that aids them in setting goals as well as doing their best to achieve the goals. Numerous areas and factors are involved like being organized, taking the initiative, figuring out how you’ll recover, managing one’s emotions, staying focused, prioritizing, and planning. One of the best way in determining if a child struggles with executive function weakness is to seek an assessment of professional neuropsychologists. The start of the point is the information or feedback from teachers backed up by your personal observation. If you plan on hiring executive functioning coaching, below are the tips in hiring an executive functioning coach;
1. Focus on relevant credentials, don’t be distracted. Certifications, of sorts, earned from online classes are considered by many experts who are poor substitutes for actual professional training and experience. Only a small handful are exempted from this, executive functioning coaches will only hire those with a doctorate or even master’s degrees; of course, they also require years of experience working with students. The perspective developed by working in schools adds to the training that coaches provide.
2. Get a trusted referral from close family and friends or official organizations. School counselors and neuropsychologists will only refer individuals and companies that have earned their trusts; their names are also at stake when recommending. Friends, family, and sources that found themselves in your situation before are a lot more reliable compared to online reviews that can be manipulated.
3. Go for companies that boast amazing track records with a commitment to education in case you can’t get direct referrals. Evaluate the company if they have been open for several years and can give references and authentic referrals that you can talk t. Ensure that you can verify their claims.
4. As for samples on how they process works. Effective executive functioning coaching can provide systematic approaches that enable their coaches to be as effective as possible; take note that effective companies are well aware that approaches have to be tailored for each and every student. Coaching will likely select certain tools that perfectly fit the learning profile of a student. Be sure that the coaches you’re considering can effectively explain their process and can give examples.
5. Instead of guaranteed, look for realistic approaches. Ask the executive functioning coaches to do their work and if they can a couple of actual examples on how they helped students. This should be a breeze for them to answer.