By Cristina Evans, M.Ed. and David Murphy, M.Ed., Ed.D. 

     Deciding on how to get started on a big project and coming up with a plan for completing it can be challenging for anyone.  For those with executive functioning deficits (EFDs), it can be downright daunting.  It can feel overwhelming because long term projects and assignments force students, with EFDs, to use multiple executive functions at once. They must plan, prioritize, organize, evaluate, and initiate simultaneously. It’s a process that can feel like being asked to swim in the deep end, without any experience. Thankfully there are some evidence-based skill development techniques that have been proven to systemize the planning process, reduce stress and increase the quality of the resulting project.  Sarah Ward, a speech pathologist and founder of Cognitive Connections in Concord, Massachusetts has created a practical approach to project planning. She calls this approach the Get Ready-Do-Done method.

     This strategy begins by asking your student/child to picture or imagine what the completed project should look like. This step helps kids to ‘see’ the finished product, and mentally initiate the planning process. By picturing the final product, a student is directed to plan the project backwards by using three separate planning spaces; Get Ready, Do, Done.  ​When initially teaching this strategy, the teacher or parent presents a picture or drawing of what is expected.  It is helpful to teach this using simple projects first, such as an easy-to-assemble a meal (pizza), a household chore (setting a table) or a simple art project. 

​     A picture or drawing of what the finished product will look like when done is what drives the content of the other two planning spaces, Do and Get Ready.  Once the student knows what they are working towards they can then begin to list the steps they need to “Do” in order to get it Done.  As the student progresses in this method, you can start to encourage your student/child to draw a ‘Done’ picture of what the final project will looks like.

     The “Do” planning area is used to create a list of materials needed for the project.  Students/children can use their ‘Done’ image as a reference. Afterwards, the student will make a list of the materials in the “Get Ready” planning space. Once this step is done, the student has completed the planning backwards process and is now ready to start the project by moving forward.

​     It is important to teach this strategy using simple tasks before moving onto the more complicated, such as a school project.  However, by using careful scaffolding, eventually students can use this tool to plan and complete complex, multi-step assignments at any grade level.  

By Cristina Evans, M.Ed. and David Murphy, M.Ed., Ed.D.

When a problem occurs, most of us are able to quickly figure out the size of the problem and then regulate our emotional reaction to stay calm and deal with it.  But that’s not always the case, especially in those with ADHD or other executive functioning disorders.  

People diagnosed with executive functioning disorders often struggle managing their emotions.  They can also struggle with reflection and problem solving. These deficits can manifest into meaningful life challenges as students struggle to appropriately manage their emotions.  This can appear in a multitude of ways.  Some might be unable to put the brakes on their feelings when stressed or angry. Natural consequences may be temper tantrums, outbursts, or incidents of anxiety.  Others might struggle to get motivated, or emotionally ready, to initiate boring tasks like studying or writing a paper.  Often times children with ADHD struggle to effectively evaluate the significance of a problem and self-regulate their emotional reaction to an undesirable situation. They can over-react to a minor problem or under-react to a major problem. They can see a project as too overwhelming to begin or as having all the time in the world to do the impossible.  Because of this, it is often necessary to teach children with ADHD how to manage their emotions when evaluating problems and to develop an understanding of what effect our emotional reactions have on those around us. 
 
One helpful method to teach the correlation between problems and reactions was created by the Creative Counselor from Richmond, VA.  Through game play, students are taught to discuss a variety of problems and gauge their level of severity against each other.  A therapist/teacher can write a number of problems on index cards and play the game of “War” with the cards.  Whomever has the bigger problem, wins each round and all cards in it.  Discussion amongst students must occur to defend why the winner feels his problem is the ‘biggest’.  The player with the most cards at the end of the game, wins.
 
To reinforce these concepts after the War game, it is helpful to gauge problems versus reactions using a grid similar to the one below:

The teacher presents a problem to students and asks them to place a marker on the grid ranking the severity of the issue.  The teacher then creates a possible reaction to the problem from a hypothetical student…usually a drastic over or under reaction.  The student then puts a marker on the reaction and a discussion ensues about how the problem and reaction do not line up.  A few scenarios are practiced before students can then create their own more appropriate reactions to problems and issues. 
 
Matching the size of reactions to the size of problems takes time, practice and repetition to master.  But with clear instruction we can help our students better understand the importance of doing it and help them to feel calmer and happier.

Spatial awareness is the ability to be aware of oneself in space.  It is an organized knowledge of objects in relation to oneself in that space. Symptoms of spatial awareness difficulties often include bumping into things, poor sense of where a body begins and ends, difficulty keeping track of time, poor attention span, and trouble planning and organizing thoughts.  About half of the diagnosed ADHD population struggles with spatial awareness.  (http://www.answers.com/article/669233/bumps-and-bruises-and-adhd)

Often spatial awareness difficulties are treated through occupational therapy.  Sarah Ward, a renowned occupational therapist from Concord, Massachusetts has developed a method of building those essential skills at home and school.  The S.T.O.P. dots process is taught to students using systematic, direct instruction.  It is meant to prepare students for transitions from room to room or activity to activity.  Using visuals, the acronym is presented, along with questions a student asks themselves before a transition. 

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​S - Space (What space am I going to next?)
T -  Time (What will this be time for when I get there?)
O - Objects (What objects will I use?)
P – People (What will my role be when there?)
 
Once a student is familiar with these questions, small red dots (preferably in the shape of stop signs) are placed in transition areas.  At home these include; doors, thresholds, bottom/top of stair cases, edge of tables, and inside of car doors.   At school; edge of desk, classroom door, bathroom sign out books, cubbies/lockers, or agendas.  Each time a student sees a S.T.O.P. dot, they are trained to stop and ask themselves the four questions to be more spatially prepared for their new surroundings.  

​The coaches at Effective Effort Consulting have been trained in this method and have seen tremendously positive results in our students.  Those receiving this type of instruction have become more aware of their surroundings and thus more productive in their daily lives.