Executive Functioning
Attention
Some challenges:
Selective attention: Choosing to focus on one task, object, or person and focus on it despite distractions.
Sustained attention: Continuously focusing on one task, object, or person despite distractions.
What does this look like?
Struggling to start focusing on an assignment, project, or task (like cleaning) or what someone is saying.
Struggling to stay focused on that assignment, project, task, or person.
Trouble following directions
Struggling to stay still at school, work, or other times when it’s expected.
Possible Diagnoses:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Dyslexia
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Planning, Prioritizing, and Time Management
What are some challenges?
Organizing: Putting resources in an order that makes it easy to complete a task or understand information.
Prioritizing: Ranking tasks, thoughts, events, concepts, or people in order of importance.
Planning and decision making.
Time management: Planning how to best divide your time between activities and sticking to that plan.
Switching tasks
What does this look like?
Struggling to balance work, school, social, and home life.
Struggling to break down long-term projects and goals into smaller steps.
Struggling to prioritize short-term and long-term projects and goals and use that to make a daily schedule.
Struggling to make both small (what to eat or breakfast) and big decisions (where to go to college).
Struggling to stick to a schedule.
Becoming so intently focused that it’s hard to transition to new activities.
Often late to class, work, appointments, and social events.
Often misplacing objects.
Possible diagnoses:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD/NLD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Memory
What are some challenges?
Poor working memory: The ability to remember information and use it to complete a task.
Poor visual memory: Helps recall information such as situations, objects, places, animals, or people.
Delayed verbal recall: The ability to remember specific information after a period of rest or distraction.
What does this look like?
Challenges multi-tasking.
Challenges temporarily holding information in the mind like what someone just said.
Challenges remembering people’s faces.
Getting lost because you don’t remember your surroundings or copying the necessary information takes more time.
Possible diagnoses:
ADHD
Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD/NVLD)
Dyslexia (only #2)
Dyscalculia (only #4)
OCD
Possible Interventions
Work and school accommodations
ADHD/Executive Functioning Coaching
Medication for ADHD and/or anxiety when appropriate
Practicing mindfulness
Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy
Click on these links for references on interventions and conditions.