Sometimes the most challenging thing as a parent or teacher is to watch an individual with unique learning needs repeatedly struggle with a problem. We have to balance offering our help and allowing our students and children the opportunity to ‘figure things out’ and ‘be independent.’ As the learners we work with develop and grow, so do the challenges and problems they face. That’s why it’s valuable to establish a long-term plan for diverse learners to continue developing and improving problem-solving skills.
What are problem-solving skills?
Problem-solving is the capacity to identify and describe a problem and generate solutions to fix it.
Children develop problem-solving skills early on in life and slowly expand them to more complex challenges. When we consider developing long-term strategies and supports for diverse learners, they should focus on providing skills and tools to help students:
- Engages in cause and effect play.
- Tries to ‘figure out how things work’ using simple body movements and play skills.
- Completes simple puzzles and games with an end goal.
- Turn-taking and decision-making with a peer to accomplish a task.
- Identifies a social or academic situation as a problem.
- Brainstorms or breaks apart a complex concept into smaller parts.
- Sort out a conflict or problem between two or more people.
- Seeks guidance when a problem is too complicated to solve independently.
- Seeks assistance or support when resources are not sufficient to address a problem.
- Persists in developing new and creative strategies for ongoing problems.
- Reviews previous problem-solving attempts to avoid making similar mistakes in the future.
Why It’s Important to Continue Working on Problem-Solving
Not all learners will acquire the above problem-solving skills simultaneously or on the same developmental trajectory. Yet all individuals—regardless of communication and social skill needs—can benefit from additional teaching and support to better solve problems. We know that improvements in problem-solving behaviors can improve challenging behaviors like aggression, prompt dependency, and academic difficulties.
Match Expectations to Current Skills
When we’re considering long-term strategies and supports for teaching problem-solving skills, parents, and teachers, it’s easy to get carried away with the future. Some parents jump into expecting their child to solve complex challenges and then get frustrated when progress is slow. Others might get stuck on the idea that their child might not ever fully develop independent problem-solving skills, so they never push for improvements.
As we’ve mentioned in our other executive functioning articles, independence will mean something different for every child. It can sometimes mean gradual progress. Other times you might see significant gains and then some setbacks. It’s best to match your expectations to your child’s current level of responding and build problem-solving skills from there.
Long-Term Strategies and Supports to Help with Problem Solving
Develop other Executive Functioning Skills
Some executive functioning skills researchers don’t tease apart problem-solving as a separate set of behaviors because it often involves so many other closely related skills. Supporting your child to solve problems better means supporting the development of other executive functioning skills as well.
For example, your teen or young adult will need to pay attention to the environment to notice a problem (attentional control). They’ll need to outline and evaluate different strategies (planning) and then take action (task initiation). Depending on the problem, they might also need to use time management, emotional control, or organization skills. We may need to support behaviors like working memory and self-monitoring to help our learners evaluate and learn from mistakes.
Use Your Child’s Interests
We know that motivation plays a critical role in teaching new executive functioning skills like problem-solving. One strategy to increase your child’s motivation to practice problem-solving is to incorporate their favorite leisure and recreational activities into learning. Including what they already know and enjoy can be a way to connect the abstract concepts related to executive functioning in more concrete ways.
Does your child have a favorite sports figure, movie character, or celebrity they closely follow? Watch clips and videos online of how these figures solve problems successfully. Have conversations with your child about problems these characters face and what happens when they do and do not use good problem-solving. Create some catchphrases to use as cues for your child to connect what they already know to their current problem.
Recognize Teaching Moments
Along with identifying a learner’s motivation, parents and teachers also need to recognize that problem-solving happens easier during ‘teaching moments.’ Expecting a child to describe and brainstorm solutions to a complex problem when they’re too tired, overwhelmed, or engaging in challenging behavior will only lead to more frustration. Establish a routine to help your child calm down and return to focused attention before you ask them to pay attention to a problem.
Teach When to Ask for Help
It’s also beneficial if your child learns when to ask for help in problem-solving situations. Sometimes we need a trusted friend to help us through difficult problems. Knowing who you can rely on to brainstorm ideas or evaluate the solutions to a problem can help ease the burden off the problem-solver and lead to a better outcome. One long-term strategy to help your child or student is to teach how and when to ask for help. Spend time outside of difficult problem situations to identify and evaluate who to call when you need a problem-solving partner.
Download our “Phone-A-Friend” worksheet and develop a list of trusted friends and family members your learner can use when they need help solving a problem.
Learn to Recognize Your Child’s Decision Fatigue
Did you know the average adult makes around 35,000 decisions every day? Did you also know that the more decisions we make and problems we are asked to solve each day, the worse we make good choices? Psychologists continue to explore decision fatigue, a phenomenon that happens after we repeatedly have to make good choices. The more decisions we make, the less capable we are of continuing to make beneficial decisions.
We have a limited number of well-judged decisions before we’re bound to make a bad one. While our teens and young adults with unique learning needs may have routines and supports that reduce decision-making and problem-solving, there are some days where your child may be experiencing decision fatigue. Knowing the signs and working to practice problem-solving skills on days where other demands on your child are lower may help avoid extra fatigue.
Further Reading
- Every Parent’s Guide to Decision Fatigue – Life Skills Advocate Blog
- Helping Your Child Overcome Decision Fatigue – Life Skills Advocate Blog
- How Teaching Executive Functioning Skills Can Reduce Challenging Behaviors – Life Skills Advocate Blog
- Teaching the IDEAL Problem-Solving Method to Diverse Learners – Life Skills Advocate Blog