(Music) I want a renaissance to shine a light
(Music) Be the change we want to set things right
(Music) We've been waiting in the dark for so long
Hi everyone, I'm Amythest
And welcome to Ask an Autistic
In today's episode I'm going to be talking about Executive Functioning
and Executive Dysfunction
I find it kind of funny that in order to make this video,
I had to battle my own executive dysfunction along the way.
But I got it now and we're here, so let's get started.
Executive functioning is a very complex topic.
And it's a function of the mind and brain that
actually isn't very well understood yet.
So it can be hard to explain.
I'm going to give you two definitions that I've heard.
The first is that executive functioning is a
set of cognitive processes that allow us to
manage, control, and regulate our thoughts and actions.
The second definition I've heard is that
executive functioning is a set of mental processes
that allow a person to connect
past experience and working memory
with present situation and their actions in the moment.
But neither of those definitions give us very much to work with.
They don't actually tell us very much.
So I'm going to give you some examples
of the processes or things that executive functioning
affects in everyday life.
So some of those are: planning, working memory,
attention, problem solving, verbal reasoning
inhibition, cognitive flexibility, initiation of actions.
So what this all means is that executive functioning
affects a person's ability to
identify a task, or problems,
to organise and prioritise,
to break apart a task into smaller steps,
to stay on task and focus through the steps,
to complete a task.
And also effects the ability to call on working memory
and possibly the most frustrating part of all,
is that executive functioning
actually affects the person's ability to self-monitor
so it can be hard for a person with executive dysfunction
to even figure out what is going wrong.
People with executive dysfunction
that is, that their executive functioning is
impaired or atypical in some way,
will also have trouble with
open-ended questions, and open-ended tasks
and being told to do something
where they're not sure how to do it
or they haven't been given enough instruction or enough
thorough instruction.
So you're likely to get the best results when
communicating, or asking something of a person with executive dysfunction
if you are very specific in what you want
you give lots of detail
and, if possible, you provide step-by-step instructions.
Telling us to just clean the kitchen, for example
may result in a person with executive dysfunction
wandering into the kitchen and being overwhelmed
by all the steps that they're unable to break down on their own
or that it's very difficult for them to.
And so you get stuck in the executive dysfunction spiral.
A kind of feeling of frustration and sometimes even panic
because you know what you want to do
but you're unable to get your brain to co-operate
and organise itself. Pull itself together long enough
to actually do the thing.
From the outside, or to people who don't know about executive dysfunction
executive functioning issues can,
and are often interpreted as laziness, or
being defiant, or having a poor work ethic
when really it's not the case at all.
Procrastination and executive dysfunction are two totally different things.
A person who's procrastinating is able to do what they need to do
They remember they need to do it, and if they sat down
they would be able to break it down into steps
complete the steps, transition between the tasks
but a person with executive dysfunction
if we even remember what we have to do in the first place
then it's a matter of
maybe we can't even transition from what we're doing now
maybe the task needs to be broken down
and we're incapable of doing that
and we can actually have a lot of anxiety and stress
because there's something that we know we need to do
or something that we even want to do
like, just something fun
but we're unable to get there.
It's like running up against a wall in your brain.
It's like being stuck in place.
When it comes to autistic people
and executive functioning issues
it can be tricky to pinpoint exactly what is what.
Sometimes it's just impossible to figure out exactly what
brainweird thing is going on.
With executive dysfunction, there are some similarities
to sensory processing disorder.
When a person with atypical senses becomes overwhelmed
they may experience some of the same frustration
the same kind of 'stuck in place' feeling
inability to task switch, to identify problems
or to transition and leave the situation that's causing them to be overloaded.
And there are many autistic people
who have comorbid intellectual or cognitive disabilities
which can also look like executive dysfunction
or can cause executive dysfunction.
But it's a safe bet that probably every autistic person
will have trouble with executive functioning in their life at some time.
So when it comes to explaining what
living with executive dysfunction is like
it's tricky because it's something that effects almost every part of your life
and when you have executive dysfunction
you're probably dealing with it almost daily.
Although, like most things that are neurological
and go on with autistic people
the amount of stress in your life, how much sleep you got,
if you're sick, if you're tired
all of those things can affect your executive functioning.
So it can be worse or better on different days, different weeks.
When I hear from people with executive dysfunction
it seems like the trouble they have most often in their life
is with their school work or their job
which makes sense (laughs)
because our school system is built around
the neurotypical majority, and even then
it doesn't do a very good job accommodating those children
so it does a terrible job with autistic children
who have executive dysfunction issues
and of course I think that most autistic people
by the time that they're adults
have experienced issues between having executive dysfunction issues
and needing accommodation in certain areas
to be able to do a good job
and implores unwillingness to accommodate disabilities.
I'm going to link to some resources below
because again, very big topic
and I can only scratch the surface here.
So if you want to learn more about
what I'm talking about now, check the video description.
But to give you an example,
a child with executive dysfunction is probably going to seem disorganised,
they may have a messy desk and backpack,
they may be losing assignments,
or forgetting that they have assignments,
forgetting to turn them in,
and it's not unusual for there to be kind of patchy performance in school
a child may do very well one day
and then not so well with organisation the next
and that's because of the nature of our brains
how stress and a thousand different factors can affect our functioning.
Every child is different
and so it can be tricky to find the accommodation
and methods of teaching that can get through
to a child with executive dysfunction
For example, if you provide an agenda
to write your daily homework in
then it's not unlikely for a child with executive dysfunction
to forget the agenda entirely,
to forget to write in it,
to lose it
and then if they do write their assignment in their agenda
there's a chance that when they get home
and open it and read what they're supposed to do
they'll know what they have to do, but
they'll be unable to start.
I find that the best thing that you can do
to help children learn better
and to have a better school experience
is to ask them what they think would help.
Children are more aware of their abilities
and their limitations than adults know
and they can have some really good ideas.
Just generally speaking, I have heard
of people having success with visual reminders
like charts, or a daily schedule with pictures
for helping children and adults with executive dysfunction
to stay focused on what they want to do
and also providing one-on-one attention
from a teacher or an aid.
Adults with executive dysfunction
experience many of the same difficulties.
For example, if we set an alarm
there's no guarantee that we will remember what the alarm is for,
that we won't lose our phone in the meantime,
or that when the alarm goes off we'll be able to transition from what we're doing,
or that when we go to do the task
we won't become overwhelmed and our brain won't completely stall.
The slightly frustrating fact that I've found in my life
and that I've heard from other people with executive functioning issues
is that having a tidy, organised environment
is a real key to success
because the more sensory information and stuff in your environment
the more there is for your brain to sort and process
and that's executive functioning.
So you can use up all of your executive functioning
just being in a messy environment
but this is difficult because
people with executive dysfunction have trouble organising
and again I don't have any quick solutions
every person is different
and so I find that the best thing to do
is to seek out other people with executive dysfunction
and ask them what they do
because you can get some really good ideas that way
You know, we have to be kind to ourselves.
Executive dysfunction can really, really suck
and it can make us feel crappy sometimes
like we're lazy or like we just can't do things and why?
because that's what it is
it's like you just can't do it.
It's like the thing you're trying to envision
is just too big. Your brain can't take it in
so it can be easy to feel down on yourself.
You have to remind yourself that you're human
and that, to be disabled
in a non-disabled world is tough.
But you've gotten this far and you're strong
and it's totally valid
it's a valid struggle, and you're not just lazy.
Okay, so this video has already run on kind of long.
so I'm going to cut it off
but I will be uploading another video
sometime soon, I hope
where I give more specific examples
of little tricks and tips that I've learned
or that I've heard from others on how to deal with executive dysfunction
in your daily life
but I hope that this video was helpful for you
if you have an autism-related question
that you would like answered in a video
please post it in the comments section below
and I might just answer it.
And again, for further reading on this topic,
please see the video description
where I'll also include links to my Tumblr blog,
my Twitter page, my Facebook
all of that good stuff.
Thank you for watching Ask an Autistic.
(Music) I want a renaissance to shine a light
(Music) Be the change we want to set things right
(Music) We've been waiting in the dark for so long