Pediatric Executive Function Program in New York

WHO

Children needing help with attention, recall, interpreting, and organizing information across communication modalities (listening, attending, processing, organizing, formulating, speaking, reading, and writing).

ASSESSMENT

A comprehensive evaluation of language and cognitive-communication skills.

TREATMENT

Exercises and strategies to improve listening, retention, recall, and organization of language for speaking, reading, and writing.

Pediatric Executive Function Program

The Cogsmonauts

Children with cognitive-communication difficulties may have a difficult time efficiently and effectively expressing their ideas without losing their train of thought. Children with these difficulties may also tend to interrupt conversational partners or have emotional outbursts due to difficulty managing frustration and communication breakdowns. Challenges demonstrating the depth of one’s knowledge or difficulty communicating with peers and adults can then lead to compounding social-emotional and academic difficulties.

Cognition and Language in Children

Cognition and language are groups of skills that are inextricably intertwined. Cognitive skills include the ability to pay and sustain attention, retain and recall information, and manipulate information. These skills help a child organize, plan, interpret, reason through, and make decisions about the messages they hear and read.

Executive function skills make it possible for children to effectively listen to and comprehend speech, interpret written texts, and organize, link, and sequence their ideas to communicate their messages in a cohesive and coherent manner. Cognitive skills also support a child’s ability to initiate tasks, self-monitor, plan and organize, reason, make decisions, regulate emotions, and control impulses.

Pediatric Cognitive-Communication Assessment

At Open Lines®, we meet cognitive-communication challenges with compassion, recognizing every child possesses a unique set of strengths and learning needs. Our program begins with a one-on-one comprehensive evaluation with one of our expertly trained speech-language pathologists (SLP) who will assess your child’s language and cognitive-communication skills to determine their strengths and which aspects of cognitive-communication need support.

We use this information to develop a personal plan of action using a combination of tailored drill-based exercises, environmental modifications, and functional activities. We work collaboratively with parents and caregivers to design personally relevant treatment activities. We also provide caregiver education and training to optimize carryover of skills into day-to-day activities.

Working collaboratively with parents and caregivers to design personally relevant treatment activities, we also provide caregiver education and training to optimize effective carryover of skills into day-to-day activities.

The goal of this program is to strengthen aspects of cognition that underpin strong language skills. This results in an improved ability to comprehend and interpret information, communicate with greater ease and confidence, and use strategies that support speaking, reading, and writing. Direct and indirect strategies also reduce communication-related stress and anxiety and the ability to manage it when it arises.

Improve Your Child’s Executive Function Skills at Open Lines®

Contact Open Lines® today by phone at 212-430-6800, by email at [email protected], or through our contact form. If you are ready to take the next steps in helping your child succeed, request an appointment to discuss your goals and review our service options.