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The Executive Functioning Skill of Task Initiation
Do you find yourself consulting with teachers frequently about students who struggle to start tasks independently? Or what about students who are unable to plan and decipher when a task will be completed? How can school psychologists best help students who struggle with task initiation? How can school psychs set students up for success? Let’s talk more about the executive functioning skill of task initiation!
Task Initiation in the Classroom
When school psychs observe a student in the classroom who struggles with task initiation, they will see a child who has difficulty stopping a preferred activity to complete a nonpreferred task or they notice the teacher giving the child several verbal prompts to begin the task at hand. Have you assessed a student who struggles to generate his or her ideas? Or what about students who have difficulty answering open-ended questions? What strategies would you suggest the teacher use to help the student strengthen his or her task initiation skills?
How the School Psych Can Help
Now that you have established a weakness in the student’s task initiation skills, how can the school psychologist help? Psychologists can suggest the teacher model the skill, how to star an assigned project, and even provide external support for the student such as coaching through the first few problems on an assignment. Are there other strategies school psychologists can share with teachers during a consultation? What suggestions can the school psych offer during an IEP meeting when accommodations are agreed upon? What are some sample IEP goals that are geared toward task initiation?
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