Is It ADHD? Or Executive Functions? This is a question many people are now asking with EFD becoming a more popular topic under consideration. We feel this excerpt from a ADDitude article explains it best:
A child or an adult with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might be hyperactive, inattentive, and/or impulsive. Clinicians have always understood hyperactivity and impulsivity. The understanding of inattention, though, has shifted from primarily “the inability to stay on task” to a broader concept called executive function disorder (EFD), which involves a pattern of chronic difficulties in executing daily tasks.
What Is Executive Function?
Think of executive function as what the chief executive officer of a company must do — analyze, organize, decide, and execute. Around the time of puberty, the frontal part of the cortex of the brain matures, allowing individuals to perform higher-level tasks like these:
- Analyze a task
- Plan how to address the task
- Organize the steps needed to carry out the task
- Develop timelines for completing the task
- Adjust or shift the steps, if needed, to complete the task
- Complete the task in a timely way
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