Children who have challenges with their executive functioning may:

• Have trouble beginning or completing tasks, like homework or a chore.

• Frequently lose things or be very disorganized.

• Act impulsively, interrupt others, say the things that most people filter.

• Appear lazy or unmotivated to do things in general or avoid tasks that require sustained attention.

• Have difficulty regulating their emotions.

• Lose track of time, be late or don’t plan for time commitments.

In behavioral terms, your child may protest daily about doing homework causing tears and frustration, or perhaps take hours to do homework that possibly could have been completed in 30 minutes by another child of the same age and grade level.

Maybe your child is frequently distracted, getting lost if there are more than a few steps in a task. You may also need to constantly prompt your child to remember things (for example, their lunch and homework) or feel that you need to repeat directions multiple times for them to do what you ask of them.