Ahhh, executive functions. We love them, and when they are lacking we long for them. Children with AD/HD struggle to develop vital executive functions such as organization and planning. Students with learning disabilities and struggling learners (officially identified or not) often have some degree of executive dysfunction. Any experienced teacher can look at a student’s [...]
I like to give my children a lot of different ways to learn. My two kids with AD/HD are strong visual learners, and their sensory processing challenges lead them to seek out hands-on experiences. So, besides offering them fidget items when the lesson doesn’t have manipulatives, I try to find ways that they can see [...]
My daughter, Beckie, has AD/HD. Now that she’s a teenager, her primary challenges are with the executive functions (EF) like planning, organization, and working memory. She also continues to need more prompts and external rewards than her peers without EF challenges. Beckie and her sister have been sharing a hair dryer for years. It is [...]
Interview with Clark Lawrence, PhD, Director of the Executive Function Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Clark deals with the problems many people face when they have poor Executive Function. This manifests itself in inability to organize, plan or manage time and efforts in daily life. Oftentimes, people who have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD struggle in this area.
I’ve noticed something interesting about the way my AD/HD guys (husband and son) answer questions. Their approach to conversation is sometimes a challenge for me, the mere “neurotypical” that I am. When I was first getting to know Scott, I would ask him questions to see how he thought and to learn more about him. [...]
I don’t know if this happens in other families, but it is not uncommon at my house to look for something in the refrigerator only to find that the container is empty. I have rolled my eyes at the empty milk jugs that have been carefully replaced sans content. I write that off to habit [...]
No, not THAT miracle! I’m talking about Beckie’s fish, a pet Beta she keeps in a wall-mounted bowl in her room. It’s not that she doesn’t like the fish or care what happens to it. It’s just part of how her AD/HD manifests, that she can remember the daily task of feeding the fish but [...]
Sometimes there are so many things to do that it’s hard to figure out where to start. This is true whether you are organizationally challenged or not. It’s easy to become overwhelmed when faced with a long to-do list. I’ve noticed that the naturally disorganized members of my family have a hard time with the [...]
For most of his life, it seems my son Josh and I have been working together to find some organizational system that he will actually use. I personally love organizational tools, planners, and post-it notes. I am also naturally organized, and these materials fit in nicely with the way my brain works. Josh’s brain operates [...]
Executive functions like planning, initiative, problem solving, and more are so important to the success of every day endeavors. Those who have them appreciate the benefits but probably don’t stop to think about them very often since they occur almost automatically and without a great deal of effort. But what about those who lack executive [...]
