What are executive function skills, and can they be practised?

Executive function is the set of mental skills used to start a task, hold steps in order, notice a mistake and switch plans. Many autistic children and adults find these harder than their vocabulary or knowledge would suggest.

It shows up as a bright student who cannot begin an assignment, or a teenager who knows the morning routine and still misses the bus. Teachers and occupational therapists work on it by making the steps external — visible, sequenced and repeatable — until they run without effort.

This range covers sudoku sets, tangrams and puzzle cubes, STEM logic and visual-spatial toys, shape sorters and sorting boards, phonetic reading blocks, marble runs and wooden jigsaws. Tutors use the pattern sets for order and rules. Parents often tell us a puzzle at the kitchen table is the easiest place to practise trying again after getting something wrong.

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