Improving the Executive Functions of Third to Fifth Graders With Learning Disabilities Through an Expressive Writing Program: The Case of Working Memory, Planning/Organizing, and Cognitive Flexibility

Abstract

Abstract Students with learning disabilities face more educational and even adult life difficulties than their counterparts without such disabilities, because of their poorer executive functioning. This study explored the effects of a disclosure program for expressive writing about emotions on the 3 executive functions of working memory, planning/organizing, and cognitive flexibility in an Iranian context. In so doing, 40 third to fifth graders with learning disabilities were recruited and assigned to either experimental or control groups through certain recognition tests and interviews. The effects of the treatment on executive functions were stable after 2 months. It was concluded that such disclosure programs can reduce executive functioning impairments of students with learning disabilities.