Page 87 - SEPAN Conference Slides & added material for flipbook

Part 5 Keeping a Strength-Based Approach to Executive Function differences

KEY MESSAGES:

▪ To rid children of blame and shame, it is also important that we help

children realise that although Executive Function skills make life SO

much easier, they are not always the BEST skills.

▪ We should help children to understand that when someone undergoes

too much stress, their brain does not focus on building Executive

Function; instead, it focuses on building survival skills like alertness,

rigidity and impulsivity – we call these ‘safety strengths’.

▪ That is why people who have experienced tough times may have

GREAT safety strengths but weaker Executive Function. It is not their

fault.

▪ We can help children find HELPFUL ways to use these safety strengths.