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I attended the International Neuropsychological Society mid-year meeting in Prague, Czech Republic last July. I not only learned a lot (that will help me improve my skills in assessment), I also met nice and interesting colleagues.

Attending the conference gave me a bigger view of the field of neuropsych and neuroscience and how people from different areas of psychology are able to use them in their work (e.g. forensics, education, counseling).

In my case, I met Dr. Blanco who spoke about the Boston Approach in the analysis of a screening tool (the MoCa) which I will start applying in my work at the hospital. Listening to him and reading the books I have purchased reminded me and emphasized to me the need to analyze not only the scores my clients obtained during testing but, more importantly, how they arrived at their answers, especially their errors. How they arrived at their answers will give us a window into their minds – how they are working well and how they are not.

This then helps us to understand what is going on, answer the referral question and, more importantly, come up with appropriate and timely recommendations for intervention needed to help our clients function well at school/work/home. That is, after all, the purpose of testing.

When reprimanding, scolding your child (or giving feedback to a colleague or subordinate), it is best to remember the following:

• Always focus on the behavior that is being reprimanded (or discussed in the feedback); Not on the child or adult.

• Please do not make statements like “bad boy/bad girl!”, “tanga ka!”, “stupido ka!”. These are personal attacks that only serve to hurt and diminish your child’s or subordinate’s self-worth and self-confidence.

• These hurtful words often stick in the minds and self-concept of your child and are carried on to adulthood.

• They become the root of many of the cases of depression and anxiety in adolescents and adults that I see in my counseling practice.

• Instead, focus on the behavior in question and explain why it was unacceptable. Then suggest more positive and effective ways of behaving.

• That way your child will develop a healthy and positive self-concept that sees himself/ herself as a capable individual and an effective problem solver!

Whether planning for education, career or retirement, it’s always good to have a plan B. We are not in control of many things in our life and, sometimes, things do not go as we had planned. So it is always good to have a plan B (or even plan C!). Contrary to what some people may think, shifting to plan B is not failure. It is being proactive, innovative and flexible. It is also an effective antidote to anxiety and depression. And who knows, doing plan B first might just lead you to plan A!

Is your son or daughter exhibiting the following behaviors?

• • Difficulty planning and prioritizing tasks/activities and managing time.
• • Difficulty keeping things organized and is always losing things
• • Difficulty starting any task (e.g. homework) on his/her own and finishing assignments/projects by the deadline
• • Easily forgeting lessons, multi-step instructions
• • Makes careless mistakes and does not notice them
• • Is talkative and/or impulsive
• • Difficulty controlling emotions

If so, your child may have an EXECUTIVE SKILLS DYSFUNCTION.
EXECUTIVE SKILLS are skills a person needs to be able to get things done. In children we call these study skills, in adults we call these work skills.
Examples in children are:

• * accomplishing assignments and submitting these on time;
• * losing ballpens, erasers and water jugs in school;
• * adding numbers when the equation called for subtraction.

Children showing difficulties or dysfunction in executive skills need help.

Neuropsychological/psychoeducational assessments will help identify these problems and point the way toward intervention.

Work with a teacher or an occupational therapist familiar with these problems is often the next step.

For the sake of your relationship with your child, seek professional help. The sooner the better.