Adel Najdowski - Flexible and Focused: Teaching Executive Function Skills to Individuals with Autism and Attention Disorders

1. Tables in Chapter 6
2. Tables in Chapter 8

1. Figures in Chapter 2
2. Figures in Chapter 3
3. Figures in Chapter 4
4. Figures in Chapter 5
5. Figures in Chapter 6
6. Figures in Chapter 7
7. Figures in Chapter 8

Adel C. Najdowski

Psychology Department, Pepperdine University, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Critical Specialties in Treating Autism and Other Behavioral Challenges

Series Editor

Jonathan Tarbox

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Series Editor
Jonathan Tarbox, PhD, BCBA-D, FirstSteps for Kids, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

The purpose of this series is to provide treatment manuals that address topics of high importance to practitioners working with individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and other behavioral challenges. This series offers targeted books that focus on particular clinical problems that have not been sufficiently covered in recent books and manuals. This series includes books that directly address clinical specialties that are simultaneously high prevalence (i.e., every practitioner faces these problems at some point) and yet are also commonly known to be a major challenge, for which most clinicians do not possess sufficient specialized training. The authors of individual books in this series are top-tier experts in their respective specialties. The books in this series will help solve the problems practitioners face by taking the very best in practical knowledge from the leading experts in each specialty and making it readily available in a consumable, practical format. The overall goal of this series is to provide useful information that clinicians can immediately put into practice.

The primary audience for this series is professionals who work in treatment and education for individuals with ASD and other behavioral challenges. These professionals include board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs), speech and language pathologists (SLPs), licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs), school psychologists, and special education teachers. Although not the primary audience for this series, parents and family members of individuals with ASD will find the practical information contained in this series highly useful.

Dr. Jonathan Tarbox is the Program Director of the Masters of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) program at the University of Southern California, as well as Director of Research and a Regional Clinic Director at FirstSteps for Kids. He is Associate Editor of the journal Behavior Analysis in Practice and serves on the editorial boards of five major scientific journals related to autism and behavior analysis. He has published 2 books on autism treatment and well over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in scientific texts. His research focuses on behavioral interventions for teaching complex skills to individuals with autism. He is a frequent presenter at autism and ABA conferences worldwide, and a regular guest on television and radio.

Adel Najdowski, PhD, BCBA-D is an Associate Professor and Program Director of MS in Behavioral Psychology at Pepperdine University. Dr. Najdowski has provided ABA-based services to children with autism for 20 years. Between 2005 and 2010, she led the development of Skills, an online curriculum for children with autism. In 2014, Dr. Najdowski co-authored, Evidence-Based Treatment for Children with Autism: The CARD Model. She has over 40 publications in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters in scientific texts, and articles in popular media. Dr. Najdowski has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Behavior Analysis in Practice and as a Guest Editor for a special issue in Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Her current research interests include teaching higher-order skills to children with autism and assessment and curriculum design for children with autism.

The term executive function is traditionally used to refer to the chief operating system located in the prefrontal region of the brain, which is used to engage in cognitive processes required for goal-directed behavior. Some common executive function processes used for goal-directed behavior include self-awareness, inhibition, self-management, attention, organization, problem solving, time management, planning, working memory, emotional self-regulation, and flexibility. This chapter defines executive function from both traditional and practical standpoints. Subsequently, it explains how this manual will help practitioners, educators, and parents teach executive function skills to individuals, from school-age to adults, with executive function deficits. All populations with executive dysfunction are included, such as autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, traumatic brain injury, and learning disabilities.