What IS Executive Function?
How do you recognize executive function challenges and how does that tie in with attentional issues (ADHD)? A newer working definition of ADHD from Thomas E Brown’s book, A New Understanding of ADHD in Children and Adults, says that “ADHD is a complex syndrome of developmental impairments of executive functions, the self-management system of the brain, a system of mostly unconscious operations. These impairments are situationally-specific, chronic, and significantly interfere with functioning in many aspects of the person’s daily life.”
In his book Smart But Stuck: Emotions in Teens with ADHD, Brown categorizes executive functioning this way:
Activation
Organizing tasks and materials, estimating time, prioritizing tasks, and getting started on tasks. People with ADHD often have difficulty with procrastination. This can be true even if they understand the high importance of a particular task.
Focus
Focusing, sustaining focus, and shifting focus to tasks.
Effort
Regulating alertness, sustaining effort, and working with adequate processing speed.
Emotion
Managing frustration and modulating emotions. People describe chronic difficulties managing frustration, anger, worry, disappointment, and other emotions.
Memory
Utilizing working memory and accessing recall.
Action
Monitoring and regulating self-action. Folks struggling with this aspect of executive function can have difficulty understanding the context of their interactions. They may have to work to recognize the reactions of others by “reading the room.” This also includes difficulty regulating the pace of actions, slowing or speeding up, as needed.
The website Understood.org organizes the categories this way:
Impulse Control
The ability to stop and think before acting.
Organization
The ability to create and maintain systems.
Planning/prioritizing
Hard time with steps needed to organize, time management.
Working Memory
The ability to hold information in mind and use it to complete a task.
Task Initiation
The ability to recognize when it is time to start a task.
Emotional control
Managing frustration and modulating emotions when thinking about goals.
Recognizing when someone is challenged by executive functions, and how this affects them, is the first step. In Parts 2 and 3 of our Executive Function series, learn how to help people struggling with executive functions.
Content courtesy of Betsy Alper, LICSW, and founder of A.D.D. Strategies and Solutions
Looking for more help with executive function?
Visit A.D.D. Strategies and Solutions for personalized plans.
Consider RITES’ summer Study Smarter, Not Harder classes for middle school or high school students.
Contact Us for individual executive function tutoring to improve grades!
Learn more about 8 Key Executive Functions
Read more from a previously published Executive Function series (What Is EF)
Leave a Reply