Autism is a neurological disorder that affects social interaction, communication, and behavior. It is estimated that about 80% of people with autism experience problems with executive skills. As a result of these problems, many people with autism have difficulty with school performance, social interaction and ultimately employment.
Research has shown that people with autism have particular difficulty with the following executive functions:
- Working memory: people with autism may experience problems with tasks that demand a lot from the wake-up memory, such as remembering and organizing information. Especially when this information is complex or consists of several steps. This then affects the ability to follow instructions, troubleshoot, or keep track of multiple tasks at the same time.
- Sustained attention: People with autism often have difficulty maintaining attention on a specific task. Voraal if the task does not match their interests. People with autism also have difficulty dealing with distractions.
- Flexibility: People with autism often benefit from routine and predictability. Switching activities or adapting to unexpected changes often causes tension in people with autism.
- Reaction inhibition and emotion regulation: People with autism often have difficulty with self-regulation. They often exhibit repetitive behaviors and have difficulty controlling their emotional responses. This often goes hand in hand with problems that people with autism experience with unexpected circumstances.
- Planning and organization: people with autism and need to set goals, complete large tasks and time management. This makes it difficult to initiate and organize tasks or projects.
The development of executive functions can be compared to the development of language. At birth, there is already a neurological basis in the brain, but various factors in the course of a life influence the way these skills actually develop. In the event of physical damage to the brain, the development of executive skills is negatively affected. Especially biological or physical damage during a child's early childhood can be detrimental to the development of exeuctive functions. In addition, genes also play a role in the development of executive functions. The development of these executive functions takes about 25 years and we need to meet challenges and achieve goals. A growing child regularly encounters cognitive challenges; especially when going to school (Dawson and Guare, 2019).
To better understand why encouraging the development of executive functions is so important for the students at Aventurine College, the influence of autism, ADHD, and trauma on the development of executive functions is discussed. It is important to mention that problems with executive functions are not exclusive to people with autism, ADHD or trauma. In addition, it is also important to mention that the extent to which autism, ADHD or trauma affects executive functions varies greatly per individual.
Our brains contain several highly developed cognitive functions that we need to deal with challenges and achieve goals. We call these functions the executive functions. The executive functions consist of skills that help us to choose which activities or tasks we focus our attention on and they help us to carry out these activities and tasks as well. It is difficult to define the executive functions. Over the years, there have been several scientists who have designed models for describing the executive functions. The model of Dawson and Guare was chosen for this research. This model was chosen because this model is used by Stichting Leerplan ontwikkeling, the national exepertisecentrum for the curriculum that conducts research and gives advice in the field of school curricula on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands.
According to Dawson and Guare (2019), the executive functions work globally in two ways. The first is about thinking skills with which we choose and realize goals and our problem-solving skills. These viciousness also ensure that we keep the goal in view even when other events demand our attention and take up working memory. The following cognitive skills help us with this:
- Planning: The ability to come up with a plan to achieve a goal or complete a task.
- Organization: the ability to organize things according to a certain system.
- Timemanegament: the ability to estimate how much time we have, how we can organize it and how we can adhere to time limits and deadlines. It's also about realizing that time matters.
- Working memory: the ability to keep information in memory when performing complex tasks. This involves applying previously learned skills, experiences or problem-solving strategies in a current or future situation.
- Megacognition: the ability to take a step back to oversee yourself and the situation, to see how you approach a problem. This involves self-monitoring and self-evaluation.
ADHD (Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder) is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which people mainly suffer from inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. People with ADHD often have problems with various executive functions:
- Sustained attention: Being easily distracted is one of the most common symptoms of ADHD. People with ADHD are easily distracted and have difficulty focusing on tasks that require sustained attention and effort. These issues can affect task execution, following instructions, and organizing tasks.
- Reaction inhibition and emotion regulation: People with ADHD are often impulsive and act without thinking or considering consequences. People with ADHD regularly exhibit impulsive behaviors such as interrupting others or participating in risky activities. Because of this, people with ADHD have problems with self-regulation.
- Working memory: People with ADHD often have difficulty remembering and organizing information. As a result, people with ADHD often experience problems with learning and can appear disinterested.
- Flexibility: Although people with ADHD often exhibit impulsive behavior and can switch quickly on their own initiative, they may have problems dealing with unexpected situations due to external factors or switching activities.
- Planning and organization: people with ADHD are often also described as chaotic. People with ADHD have trouble planning and organizing things, which can lead to frustration and reduced productivity.
Music education has been shown to positively influence the development and performance of executive functions in children and adults (Jaschke, 2018; Villamizar, 2021). The executive functions include many different cognitive abilities.
To better understand the relationship with music, it is interesting to look at various studies in which the influence of music on specific executive functions has been investigated.
Playing a musical instrument requires a lot of working memory. For example, reading notation, coordinating the hands and following a rhythmic pattern. An article published in 2007 in Pscyhology of Music (Bugos et al., 2007) suggested that music lessons can have a positive impact on working memory. Older adults who received piano instruction showed significant improvements in working memory compared to the control group.
In addition, various aspects of music, such as making music and listening to music, require focused and sustained attention. A study by Strait & Kraus (2011) showed that musicians are better at maintaining focused and sustained attention compared to non-musicians. In addition, music education can improve reaction inhibition and emotion regulation. A study in 2009 (Moreno et al., 2009) showed that inhibitory control is better developed in musicians than in non-musicians.
Flexibility and the ability to switch between different tasks are also influenced by music education. Bialystok &; DePape (2009) showed that musicians show better developed cognitive flexibility compared to non-musicians.
In 2010, Hallam conducted research into the intelectual, social and personnel impact on the development of children and women. This study concluded that by actively participating in music, children and young people develop self-regulation skills and the ability to manage time effectively. Learning music requires goal setting and perseverance. As a result, it stimulates goal-oriented behavior, perseverance and self-discipline.
In summary, it can be said that music practice affects many different cognitive processes that are also summarized as the executive functions. However, it is indicated that little research has been done into the influence of music practice on executive functions in general. This will require more research.
In order to achieve a goal, we also need skills that control our behavior or with which we can adjust our behavior. The following cognitive skills help us with this:
- Reaction inhibition: the ability to think before we do something, giving us time to assess a situation and consider how our behavior affects it.
- Emotion regulation: the ability to regulate emotions to achieve goals, complete tasks, or control and direct behavior.
- Sustained attention: the ability to continue paying attention to a situation or task, despite distraction, harshness, or boredom.
- Task initiation: the ability to start a task without delay, on time and efficiently.
- Flexibility: the ability to review planning when obstacles or setbacks arise, new information presents itself, or mistakes are made. This involves adapting to changed circumstances.
- Purposeful perseverance: the ability to formulate a goal that can be achieved and not be distracted or scarred by other needs of opposing interests.
Several studies have already described the influence of trauma on the development of executive functions. Traumatic events can interfere with normal brain development. People who have experienced a traumatic event may experience problems with various executive functions:
- Sustained attention and concentration: people who have experienced trauma can be hyper alert. As a result, they are constantly alert, easily distracted and have difficulty concentrating on a specific task.
- Working memory: trauma can affect working memory. Through trauma, information can be kept in mind or manipulated itself. As a result, people who have experienced a traumatic event may have difficulty following directions and integrating new information.
- Flexibility: People with trauma often try to regain control of their lives. Because of this rigidity, it can be difficult for people to adapt to new situations or switch between different activities or perspectives.
- Reaction inhibition and emotion regulation: People who have experienced a traumatic experience can have great difficulty regulating their own emotions and behaviors. Especially when someone is triggered, someone can unexpectedly react very violently and someone no longer has control over his or her own emotions and behavior.