Improve Cognitive Flexibility with This Strategy
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Children who struggle with cognitive flexibility difficulties may find it hard to cope when plans change or things don’t go as expected. This strategy can help!
Teaching the concept of "Plan B" to prepare for unexpected changes.
I had a client who struggled with this and we worked on this together with different scenarios that were particularly challenging for him.
For example, he had a really hard time at an evening school event that had games and fair food. He wanted a Coke. However, his parents didn’t want him to have that in the evening because of the caffeine. Instead, they said he could have a soda without caffeine and he could have a Coke the next day.
They had Plan B options.
Had he already been aware of Plan B as a concept and prepped ahead of time that may have worked. However, he didn't and had a meltdown. This was one of the things they sought support for in therapy.
This is how we approached Plan B when discussing some of the things that were especially difficult for him. Using a variety of scenarios we talked about his goal, or what he wanted and how that “want” could be met with something else if Plan A didn’t work out. It worked really well for him!
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You want to play soccer at recess but the field is too muddy.
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Goal: have fun at recess
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Plan B: do something else you enjoy
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You really wanted a Coke, but you weren’t allowed to.
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Goal: have a Coke which wasn’t usually allowed
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Plan B: have one the next day with lunch
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Helping clarify his goals helped me and his parents understand what he wanted out of the experience, but this was also helpful for him. For example, when a friend was coming to play a video game was it the game that was more important or spending time with the friend? It was helpful for him to think about this so he could more easily adjust his expectations and compromise if needed.
Once he had a solid understanding of “Plan B” we moved into discussions of Plan C, D, E, etc. because Plan B doesn’t always work out either.
This strategy comes from one of my favorite resources, Unstuck and On Target by Lynn Cannon M.Ed., Dr. Lauren Kenworthy Ph.D., Katie Alexander M.S. OTR, Monica Werner M.A., and Dr. Laura Gutermuth Anthony Ph.D.