Response Inhibition (RI) is considered the granddaddy of all Executive Function skills. When this skill is weak, it can impact the development of other skills. Typically RI begins developing in infancy and continues to grow and strengthen throughout your life. This skill is more difficult to manage when your emotions are high. We use response inhibition every day to resist temptations, help us keep good habits, and block out distractions.
When Response Inhibition is weak it can impact many aspects of a student’s day. Students may rush through work, give up when independent work gets difficult, find things to do that are more “fun”, and blurt out inappropriate responses. See my blog on how to create a “fading plan for blurting” if you would like more information on that topic specifically.
To teach Response Inhibition there needs to be planned waiting periods, or the ability to earn something a child wants. Token boards and other visual supports to show what needs to happen are useful to give a visual representation of the expectation. Some children may need cueing before entering a situation or visual stories to let them know what are the expected behaviors.
Be specific when you are asking a child to wait. Without the “how long” it is easy to get frustrated. If you say “in just a minute” this can mean “now” to some children, and telling them “in a little while” could mean never. Give specific times and if possible a visual support such as a timer or calendar is helpful especially when they are having to wait for something they are very excited about. When I was in college my roommates and I would count how many “sleeps” we had until our breaks. We had a sign on the wall starting at 10 and would change the number each day to show we were getting closer to having time off school.
I have created some videos which are posted on the BESTskills4life YouTube channel, that can be used to help adults better understand Response Inhibition and how to support its development, and two videos for use with children. One is for younger children and the other is more appropriate for late elementary to teens, however, check them both out to see which would best serve your child/student.
I love getting feedback on these resources so feel free to email me and let me know what you think. pbuckingham.kansas@gmail.com
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