ADHD and Executive Functioning…What a Mess!

Hyperactivity and impulsivity?  The inability to stay on task?  They form a pattern of chronic difficulties in executing daily dask.

Executive functioning is a cognitive management system of the human brain.  They are very specific, divided into more distinct skills that typically develop during childhood and adolescence.

Executive function can be divided into two groups.  Organizational issues involve gathering information and structuring it for evaluation.  Regulation takes stock of surrounding and changing behavior in response to it.

There’s no single test to identify problems with it.  Instead, experts rely on different tests that measure specific skills.

Problems are typically established during the transition to sixth and ninth grades.  It is critical for teachers and parents pay attention for specific changes.  Children will not simply grow out-of-it.

The model shows 6 separate clusters, which continually work together.  Resulting from rapid stresses done unconsciously, it helps to manage both individual and complex tasks of daily life.

• Activation;  Organizing, prioritizing, implementing.

• Focus:  Sustaining, shifting, distracting.

• Effort:  Attempting, processing speed, alertness.

• Emotion:  Managing frustration, modulating perspective, controlling anger.

• Memory:  Working memory, accessing recall, holding onto multiple tasks.

• Action:  Monitoring, regulating, interacting.

There are multiple signs of executive-function deficit.  One of the most visible is the inability to handle frustration and complete tasks.  Facing challenges in starting and organizing can often be a hidden symptom of deficits.

These challenges become obstacles in completing tasks both in and outside of school settings.  Additionally they make it difficult to start and continue tasks.

• Use visual cues, compared to verbal ones.
• Be willing to negotiate, rather than dictate.
• Make them full partners of routines.
• Forced actions/coerced participation unlikely to succeed.
• Identify potential obstacles to overcome goals.

Executive functioning is a general term, not a diagnostic label.  As a result, it is a symptom of many diagnostic conditions.  These cognitive functions activate, integrate and control other functions of the mind.  Teachers and parents of children and adolescents with ADHD should be mindful.