What is Executive Functioning? An Overview for Neurodivergent Students
Do you ever feel like you just can’t keep up? Or like you’re trying really hard and still not getting it?
If you’re neurodivergent (Autistic, an ADHD-er, etc…), this feeling might be because of your executive functioning skills. It’s possible that you’ve heard these words and not quite known what they mean. So, let’s talk about it!
Do you ever feel like you just can’t keep up? Or like you’re trying really hard and still not getting it? If you’re neurodivergent (Autistic, an ADHD’er, etc…), executive dysfunction just might be the cause of these feelings.
Executive dysfunction means that your executive functioning skills don’t work quite the same as someone who is neurotypical. And since society is designed with neurotypical people in mind, struggling with executive function can make it really difficult for neurodivergent people to keep up. And that makes it really easy for neurodivergent people to feel bad about themselves.
Let’s get a few things out of the way. Executive function is not your personality. It’s not about how much you care, how hard you try, or how serious you are about a thing. You might have heard things like this before.
If you cared about it, you’d do it.
If you just tried harder, you’d do better.
You can’t not do something just because you don’t like it/want to.
You can’t possibly be trying. If you were, this wouldn’t be a problem.
You know this is important, I don’t understand why you can’t remember.
If you cared about me, you’d change what you’re doing.
These kinds of statements usually come from frustrated and confused people—your parents, your teachers, your partners, your friends, your boss. They might not understand the way your brain works. And some people might not believe it’s real! It’s not your fault. But you can help yourself and the people around you by understanding and knowing how to talk about executive dysfunction.
So let’s learn!
Executive functioning skills begin in our brains. Specifically, they happen in the temporal and frontal lobes. The temporal and frontal lobes are in charge of the most complex tasks that our brains manage—things like memory and attention and problem solving. You can think of your brain as a coach and executive functioning skills as the different players on a team. The coach directs players to do their own unique jobs to achieve different goals, but ultimately, they’re all working together. (This is just the metaphor that helps me. There are many!)
One of the big differences between a neurotypical and neurodivergent person’s executive functioning is their coach. Neurodivergent brains have different pathways in their brains. Look at this picture.
This picture is from this site. I haven’t confirmed that everything on this page is correct, but I think the picture is a good representation of how our brains work.
Even before I saw these images, I would often describe my brain to my husband as being that second picture! His brain seemed to follow a nice, orderly process to doing things while mine jumps through about a million hoops before it can do anything… including answering where I want to go for dinner! Those million hoops are the different neural pathways that my brain uses compared to my husbands. Not nearly as nice and orderly!
And then there’s the specific executive functioning skills that our brains are trying to direct us toward. There are a lot of different lists of executive functioning skills. Here’s a list of some of the most common:
Impulse and emotional control and cognitive flexibilty
Working memory
Focus and attention
Task initiation
Goal setting
Planning, prioritizing, and organization
Time management
Okay, great. But what does that mean? Instead of jargon and confusing explanations, let’s just look at the things you might have a hard time with.
You’re listening in class, but you can’t figure out what to write down.
You know it’s important to listen, but you keep thinking about other things.
You don’t know what to do first to start something.
You know the right thing to do (or not do), but that’s not what you end up doing.
You can’t remember what people said long enough to respond.
You get told you’re overreacting because you get upset easily.
You have a hard time switching gears if something doesn’t go the way you planned.
You can’t help but go buy something new when you feel stressed.
You forget the things that people tell you or ask you to do, even when you really care or try not to.
You take a long time to start tasks, doing either nothing or doing something you think is easy instead.
You have a hard time breaking tasks down into steps.
You’re always at least a few minutes late.
Don’t forget: if you have some sort of neurodivergence and have trouble with these kinds of things it’s not because you’re not trying hard enough. It’s not something in your personality that you can just “do better.” There are actual differences in the way your brain works—the way that your nerves fire—that make these types of skills genuinely difficult.
Now, notice that I said difficult not impossible. There are things you can do to improve your ability to do these kinds of things, but it won’t work the way it does for someone who is neurotypical. You’ll need more supports and changes to your environment to make it happen. There are things you can do for yourself and things that others can help you with, which is why you need to be able to talk about it with other people.
We’ll keep talking about this in other articles, so stay tuned. We’ll talk about things you can do for yourself, things you can ask for from others, and how to do it.
What You Can Do
If any of this sounded like you, you might have executive functioning weaknesses. Here are some things you can do.
If you’re in speech therapy, talk to your therapist about your struggles! You might be working on language skills when what you really need are cognitive strategies.
If you work with a talk therapist/counselor or special education teacher, tell them what you’re having a hard time with. You might need cognitive strategies or accommodations.
If you’re not in talk therapy or special education, find out if you should start.
If you’re in school, talk to an adult you trust. They can point you in the right direction. Also, talk to your parents. They’ll need to fill out paperwork first.
If you’re not in high school, search for options where you live. You can search for therapy services at a clinic or online. Online services are called teletherapy or telehealth. Talking to your family doctor can be a great place to start! If you’re in college, look for help there. It’s usually called Student Support Services.
If you’re not in therapy or special education and it’s not an option for you, bookmark this website! I share things that can help you help yourself. You can also follow speech therapists, talk therapists, and executive function coaches on social media. Many of us share tips and ideas that could help you!
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