Book Review: Late, Lost, and Unprepared
Ways to understand and help children with executive functioning problems.
by Joyce Cooper-Kahn, Ph.D., and Laurie Dietzel, Ph.D. Woodbine House, $19.95 Purchase this title
Children with executive functioning (EF) weaknesses may have trouble with tasks like working memory, organization, self-monitoring, and transitioning.
EF has long been a subject of confusion-is executive dysfunction a diagnosis in and of itself, or is it tied to other problems?
In Late, Lost, and Unprepared, Cooper-Kahn and Dietzel note that “All children with ADHD have executive weaknesses, although the specific profiles vary,” and outline a whole-child approach to the assessment and treatment of EF problems.
Readers will come away with a clear understanding of EF in the context of normal developmental stages, as well as its impact on the children and their families.
Part Two is packed with practical interventions for parents and professionals. I’ve been coaching children with attention deficit disorder and EF problems for more than 12 years, and I found many new tips.
For instance, I think I’ll advise ADHD students who are struggling to get started on a big project to try “separating the process of brainstorming ideas from the mechanics of completing the project.”
“The goal of interventions is to help our children extend their abilities…working right at the edge of what they can do now and helping them to move on to the next step,” write the authors.
Late, Lost, and Unprepared will help you do just that.
