Executive Dysfunction Challenges in Autism and ADHD
One of the overlapping symptoms between Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and also a common cause of work and school dysfunction, is executive dysfunction. The primary mechanisms for dysfunction come from the 8 facets of executive dysfunction: flexible thinking, working memory, self-monitoring, planning/ time management, task initiation, organization, organization, impulse control, and emotional control.
These can show up in a myriad of ways. Let’s look at each of these 8 facets of executive dysfunction:
Difficulties with flexible thinking can cause people to think in more black and white terms, without consideration of the grey or middle areas. This can lead to frequent arguments due to inflexibility, rigid behaviors and thought processes, struggles with switching tasks/ multitasking, and a tendency towards repetitive tasks rather than innovation.
A slow or misfunctioning working memory can lead to difficulty holding onto information that they need immediately, such as what they went into a room looking for or struggling to keep appointments. They may struggle to remember names or forget small details and seem more aloof. Working memory is helpful to multitasking as well and can cause issues switching tasks quickly and without time to process, possibly explaining one reason that many neurodivergent and specifically autistic individuals have trouble adapting to change.
Self-monitoring is another area leading to struggles with proprioceptive awareness (the ability to feel your body in space), interoceptive feedback (recognition of bodily and emotional cues), and a general lack of understanding of how one is doing or feeling. This may lead to increased clumsiness, greater risk of self-injury or injuring other people, poor hand-eye coordination, sitting on hands or feet for proprioceptive feedback, and alexithymia (a lack of understanding of your emotions).
Another facet of executive dysfunction challenges can be poor planning and time management skills. This means difficulty prioritizing and organizing the steps necessary to complete a task, get to places on time, completing to-do lists efficiently, and difficulty maintaining relationships with others.
Similarly, task initiation can be difficult for those on the spectrum and/or with ADHD. This simply means the person has trouble beginning a task. This can be the most challenging part of getting things done. It can cause trouble with completing tasks, reduced productivity and efficiency, difficulty with self-care, or engaging in even pleasurable activities, basic hygiene tasks or chores, and tons of guilt over not being able to engage in these tasks effectively.
Organizational challenges can be another aspect of executive dysfunction for neurodivergent individuals, meaning they have difficulty enacting a meaningful system to organize things like important information, important documents, mail, groceries, having a clean living space, clearing out junk or trash, or reaching goals in general. Taken together, these struggles may lead to general struggles with school and/or work endeavors and taking care of oneself.
Additionally, impulse control can wreak havoc on an individual’s life by making it harder to think through options before engaging in a possibly destructive or not well thought out behavior, such as impulsive purchases. These individuals may have trouble delaying gratification, or putting off an immediate gain in favor of greater and later reward. They may get in more arguments and have trouble maintaining effective relationships and boundaries due to impulsive communication patterns. They may react more strongly to intense emotions because of a mixture of a reduced ability to think through “appropriate” emotional reactions and a reduced ability to read into how they are feeling in the moment due to poor emotional control.
Poor emotional control can, likewise, lead to struggle to regulate emotions or have emotional reactions that match the intensity of the situation. They may have emotional reactions that are stronger than what is called for or struggle with processing their emotions or those of their communication partner in order to effectively work through these.
Therapy can help individuals with ADHD or autism live happier and more productive lives through addressing these executive dysfunction challenges. Our clinicians specialize in helping to manage and overcome executive functioning challenges. Contact us today to find out more about therapy options.