5 Key Autism Executive Functioning Skills

A child psychologist provides practical advice on how technology and gaming can improve five executive functions.

“Your child has problems with their executive functions” is a common phrase heard by the parents of kids with autism spectrum disorders. Educators, psychologists, and occupational therapists seem to connect executive functioning skills to virtually every activity that kids do in school and at home. But what do they actually mean when they say “executive functions?”

As a child psychologist and expert on executive functions who has written two books on this subject, I will share my perspective. But be warned- ask 100 “experts” to define executive functions, and you’ll get at least 99 different answers and opinions.

There does seem to be a consensus that executive functions are brain-based cognitive skills. Current views describe executive functions as focused in the prefrontal cortex of our brains and as part of a large neural network that connects many other parts of the brain.

Historical views of executive functions described executive functions as fixed capabilities, with little room for improvement. However, advances in neuroscience and our understanding of the plasticity and changeability of the brain indicate that executive functions are best seen as skills that can be enhanced and developed with time, effort, and technology.

Executive functions are the high-level skills that help humans get things done. They impact decision-making and self-control and help with figuring out what to do, how to do it, and when to do it.

They reflect our capacities for managing our behavior, emotions, and future thinking. Skills such as:

• working memory
• emotional control
• flexibility
• inhibition
• planning
• organization
• time management
• social awareness
• metacognition
• attention
• persistence

These are all considered to be executive functioning skills.

Specific executive functioning weaknesses often describe the struggles of neurodivergent children. For example, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) most often display difficulties with executive functions such as attention, time management, inhibition, working memory, and organization.

For children with autism, the most common executive functioning struggles are seen in the skills of flexibility, social thinking, metacognition, attention, and emotional control. However, each child affected by autism has different executive strengths and weaknesses. Even neurotypical adults and kids can easily identify some of these skills that they would like to improve.

Identifying the most common executive functioning struggles in children with autism can lead directly to improvements in school and social and emotional functioning. It is critical that parents assess their children affected by autism to determine which skills to target.

The skill-based model of executive functioning helps to set clear goals that will help a child in the real world and also guide school interventions. It is also valuable for parents to select activities and challenges that they believe will engage their kids so they are most effective.

Using technology and games to improve five key executive functions

In my endeavors at LW4K.com and LearningWorks for Kids, we often leverage interest in popular video games to teach executive function skills to children with autism. We are able to engage children with autism by using their favorite games as tools to teach executive functions.

Games such as Minecraft, Roblox, Pokémon, and Animal Crossing offer many opportunities to practice executive function skills and to encourage children to identify these skills in gameplay, think about how these skills help them, and later practice these skills in the real world. A skilled educator can help to transfer this game-based learning to real-world skills, but informed parents can do much of the same with the following recommendations.

1. Flexibility

Flexibility is a very common executive functioning struggle for kids with autism. We can define flexibility as the ability to be adaptable, to improvise, and to shift approaches to demands. Flexibility involves developing novel strategies, and shifting attention from one task to another is often necessary.

Recognition of the need to utilize different problem-solving strategies, including reflective, careful approaches or a trial-and-error approach, is seen in flexibility skills. Flexibility is often utilized in social situations and in dealing with peers.

It is an important part of a child’s ability to transition between activities and helps individuals to deal with disappointments and shifting expectations. It also helps children deal with unexpected events and changes in routines.

Playing video games, where adapting to changes and trial-and-error approaches can lead to the best results, is a chance to practice flexibility. Kids affected by autism may benefit from a guided game experience where they engage in projects to improve flexible thinking. They might find this in the ever-changing world of Minecraft.

Metacognition is an executive functioning weakness often seen in children with autism. This executive skill uses the ability to assess one’s own actions, to self-monitor, and observe. Metacognition is an opportunity for children to check on their efforts and assess their successes and failures.

It is a particularly important function for helping children to gain some perspective on their decision-making and skill development. Metacognition facilitates taking a bird’s-eye view of the impact of one’s actions on others, assessing how one has done.

Metacognition implies a degree of thoughtfulness about one’s activities and responsiveness to others in one’s environment. It involves asking oneself questions that facilitate defining problems, developing solutions, and assessing successes.

Use your child’s video gameplay as an opportunity to help them reflect on their strategic thinking. A good opportunity would be when your child talks about having “beaten a level.” When this occurs, ask your child to think about how they figured out what to do. Ask your child to also identify the mistakes they previously made and to then reflect upon how they learned from them.

The concept of metacognition revolves around an individual being able to step back and think about their thinking. Help your child to understand that this same type of stepping back and trying to find a new way to “beat a level” is something they can try in many situations at home and at school.

3. Social thinking

Social thinking weaknesses are commonly observed in children with autism. Social thinking involves the ability to label and describe one’s feelings and to realize the causes of one’s emotional experiences.

This executive function helps individuals to understand the needs of others, is important in perspective taking, and is the key to cooperation in social settings. Social thinking requires the ability to read/understand nonverbal cues, understand social conventions, and express care and concern towards others.

Having a family game night is a great way to work on this executive function. This can be done using either traditional board games or interactive games such as games for the Nintendo Switch. Board games such as “Monopoly” and “Boggle” are available electronically, as well as interactive family video games such as “Overcooked! 2”.

These games also offer great opportunities for your child to praise others on their team, demonstrate how to use the electronics so others can understand them, or learn how to give advice or suggestions in a helpful way.

4. Emotional control

Emotional control requires the ability to manage one’s feelings effectively for decision-making and task completion. For children with autism, it is often difficult to sustain a composed mood and effort in the face of frustrations and difficulties.

Individuals who can effectively regulate their feelings display the capacity for emotional control. They can label and describe their feelings and generally recognize the cause of what they feel. Effective emotional control involves an ability to recognize the connection between one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Use your child’s video gameplay as an opportunity to talk about frustration. Many children become visibly angry at their video games when they are sent back to the beginning of the game or cannot solve a problem, but rarely do they give up. They might take a break, but then go back and try to figure out what to do.

However, they are often less willing to do the same with their homework. Use this as an opportunity to have a discussion with your child about their successful strategies for overcoming frustration with their gaming and how they might employ these strategies to overcome obstacles to homework and other academic tasks.

5. Sustained attention

Sustained attention to tasks is an executive function skill often impaired in children with autism. Sustained attention involves the ability to maintain one’s focus and attention in the presence of distractions and other activities. 

It involves the ability to return to an activity when interrupted and persist in attending to a tedious or boring task. It may also involve the process of attending to multiple sources of information and being able to selectively choose what is most important to attend to.

Try out a range of technologies to determine which are best to sustain your child’s attention to learning. These can include technologies such as the following: listening to audiobooks, watching a YouTube video to learn about a school topic, or trying on a smartphone app to learn language skills. Help your child to articulate why the technology helps them to pay attention for extended periods of time.

Summing-up

This view on executive functions facilitates a set of clear strategies that parents and teachers can use to help children affected by autism. Often, it is best to target one or two skills at a time to help the child.

From the perspective of skill development, parents and teachers can use a combination of teaching, modeling, activities, and technology approaches to improve executive functions. As with many neurodivergent children, strategic teaching that considers communication skills and the generalization of skills to the real world is crucial.