Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention

Key differences between 2nd and 1st editions

• Period between previous and current publications: 7 years (2003 vs 2010).
• The first edition of Dawson and Guare's Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents was published in 2003.
• The Second Edition consists of 10 chapters whereas the First Edition consisted of 7 chapters, and the Second Ed. is twice as thick.
• Chapter 4 introduces new concept of "scripts" (adaptive self-talk)
• New Chapter 5 "Specific Teaching Routines to Promote Executive Skills Development" provides step-by-step instructions for teachers to help children with weak executive skills in different situations:
• Getting ready to start the day
• Ending the day routines
• Homework collection procedures
• Making plans and schedules for homework
• How to pay attention and focus
• Desk cleaning - the thing to do whole class
• Writing a paper assignment
• Completing long-term projects
• How to study for tests successfully
• Organizing the notebooks
• Open-ended tasks
• Effortful and difficult tasks
• How to control one's temper, impulsive behavior, and anxiety
• Dealing with schedule changes
• Learning not to cry over little things
• Problem solving skills
• New Chapter 8 "Executive Skills Interventions within a Response-to-Intervention Framework" describes the application of a three tier model of intervention and includes:
• Checklist of classroom supports in tier 1 (universal level) classrooms
• Table that features environmental modifications, instructional supports, and motivational strategies at three tiers.
• Table that features the most common assignment modifications that are helpful for students with executive skill weaknesses.
• The case study of how the RTI works