Attention, memory, and executive functions are important cognitive skills needed to process and formulate verbal information. These three skills are highly integrated and must be intact for learning to occur.

In simple terms, executive functions involve planning, initiating, accessing / generating strategies, deploying effort, reviewing outcome, and modifying approaches. This also includes cognitive skills such as analysis and thinking. This is the primary role of the frontal cortex, most commonly injured in traumatic brain injuries caused by motor vehicle accidents. Executive functions are required when an individual must explain to a friend that they could not accept their invitation and make alternate plans.

We sometimes identify children who appear to have had this problem since early childhood, but most often, we see difficulties with clients who have sustained frontal head injury in motor vehicle accidents. Depending on the severity of the injury, the brain is quite capable of reorganize itself, particularly in cortical areas that are redundant in both hemispheres. Therapy is highly specific to the individual and is designed to address specific difficulties that handicap an individuals ability to function in social and academic/work settings. Examples of skills that need to be rehabilitated include; learning how to study notes effectively, learning how to research to complete written assignments…