**4. Evaluation of executive functions**

that cerebellum has a modulating effect on emotional, cognitive, and regulatory capacities. However, cerebellar lesions do not appear to explain the impairment executive functions alone. It is thought that when executive dysfunctions are accompanied by cerebellar dysfunc-

Evidence supports that executive functions are accompanied by learning difficulties (commonly known as learning disorder [LD]). In general, the first indicator of learning difficulty is

Students with learning disabilities who have difficulty in planning, initiating activity, organizing thoughts and materials, self-monitoring and progression, impulse control, or attention shifting cannot learn as effectively as those who master these executive function skills [49]. While executive dysfunctions and learning disabilities often coexist, the relationship between executive dysfunctions and learning disability is still not fully established. A fundamental question is whether the specific characteristics of a particular academic field challenge are executive function difficulties or not. Even if there are no academic weaknesses, it is a bigger question to consider the difficulties of executive functioning as a learning disadvantage.

Phonological difficulties are seen as the greatest cause of reading difficulty, but the difficulty of executive functioning presents an additional difficulty in reading. A recent study has shown that children with dyslexia produce fewer words and complete fewer categorical tasks than typical readers in the semantic fluency task. In addition, in learning disorders, the metaanalyses of executive functions show that children with learning disabilities typically cannot achieve their peers' performance in executive function tests [51]. For example, a meta-analysis involving 48 studies, typically comparing the difficulties of executive functions on developing children with learning disability, attributed moderate (0.56) effect dimension on executive functions [52]. Wechsler intelligence scale for children- fourth edition (WISC-IV) Coding has

the low rate of academic achievement in reading, mathematics, or writing [47–50].

tion, executive functions are impacted [46].

38 Occupational Therapy - Therapeutic and Creative Use of Activity

**Figure 6.** Prefrontal cortex and cerebellum.

**3. Dyslexia and executive functions**

During the individual assessment, a child's approach to a mission can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of executive functions. While some tests are designed to evaluate executive functions, each component of the evaluation process may provide different information about executive functions and disorders.
