After learning about skills, routines, and supports, many parents ask one final question:

“When will this get better?”

In Smart but Scattered, Peg Dawson offers an important and realistic answer. Executive skill growth happens gradually, unevenly, and with support. Understanding what progress actually looks like helps parents set expectations that are both hopeful and realistic.

Skill Growth Is Not Linear

One of the most reassuring ideas in Dawson’s work is that executive skills do not improve in a straight line.

Children may:

Show improvement in one setting but not another
Handle familiar routines well but struggle with new demands
Make progress and then appear to regress during stressful periods

This does not mean support is not working. It means the skill is still developing and not yet reliable under all conditions. Stress, fatigue, illness, emotional load, and increased expectations can temporarily overwhelm developing skills.

Progress Often Looks Subtle at First

Parents often expect progress to look like full independence. In reality, early signs of growth are much quieter.

Progress may look like:

Needing fewer reminders than before
Recovering more quickly from frustration
Completing part of a task independently
Using a support tool with less resistance
These changes matter. They signal that a skill is strengthening even if it is not fully internalized yet.

Independence Comes After Repeated Supported Success

A central message in Smart but Scattered is that children become independent after they experience success with support. When adults provide scaffolding that matches a child’s current skill level, children are able to practice skills repeatedly without becoming overwhelmed. Over time, supports can be reduced as skills become more reliable. Expecting independence too early often leads to failure and frustration. Supporting first builds the foundation for independence later.

When New Demands Create New Struggles

Even when skills improve, new developmental stages bring new demands.

Transitions such as:

Moving to a higher grade
Increased homework expectations
More complex social demands
Greater independence requirements
may reveal new skill gaps. This does not mean earlier growth has disappeared. It means expectations have changed. Dawson encourages parents to view these moments as signals to adjust supports rather than signs of failure.

When Additional Support May Be Helpful

Sometimes, despite consistent support at home, children continue to struggle in ways that interfere with daily functioning.

Additional support may be helpful when:

Routines consistently break down despite structure
Emotional distress increases
Academic demands exceed coping capacity
Parents feel stuck or unsure how to adjust supports

School psychologists and other trained professionals can help identify which skills are lagging and recommend targeted strategies that fit a child’s developmental profile.

The Big Picture for Parents

Executive skill development is a long term process. Progress is measured in increased capacity, not perfection. In Dawson’s framework, success is not defined by whether a child can do everything independently today. It is defined by whether the child is gradually gaining the skills they need to manage themselves more effectively over time.

Final Takeaways

Skill growth is slow, uneven, and deeply influenced by support.
When adults respond with understanding, structure, and patience, children are more likely to build the skills they need to succeed not just in school, but in daily life.
This is not about fixing a child. It is about supporting development.

Source

Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2016). Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary “Executive Skills” Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential (Revised and Updated ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Skill Growth Over Time: Executive Function Series Part 7