Executive Functioning Skills are basic building block skills which begin to develop in infancy.  Many times, we jump in and try to support our client where they should be and not where they are.  We cannot support a skill that has not been taught.  So take it slow, go back to basics, and focus on teaching those basic skills first!

It takes longer for people with executive functioning weaknesses to get a skill to automaticity.  Therefore, you need to focus on that skill and keep the external supports in place longer than you would with a client that does not have executive functioning weaknesses.  Make sure that the skill becomes truly automatic before moving onto the next skill.

Children (and Adults) with executive functioning weaknesses get used to failure and frustration.  Ask yourself - what would it take for this person to succeed?  Is your client not turning in homework and in order to do that it would take someone standing in the classroom telling them to turn in the homework at the start of every class?  Then start there!  Start in a place where your client feels success and work towards Independance. 

People with weak executive functioning skills do not have the ability to create internal cues and motivation that most others can do.  Therefore, they need external cues to help with time management, organization, etc.  Your job is to help supply these external cues and make sure everyone who is helping and working the child knows the cues - consistency is key!  (Hint:  Use visuals!)

People with executive functioning weakness have trouble linking past and future with the here and now.  So help them pause and think about what they did.  Did it go well?  Did it go badly?  What could they do next time to improve it (or to achieve the same result).  This doesn't have to take a bunch of time, but it is SUPER important to do!