Insights on ADHD and Executive Functioning (A Thinking Impairment)

Insights on ADHD and Executive Functioning

Engineering INVOLVES USING OUR SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING of the natural world to invent, design, and build things to solve problems and achieve specific goals. To engineer anything, we must have a model that has repeatable patterns explained by the model and a means to make observations. A plan is a detailed proposal for doing or achieving a…

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The Executive Function Podcast

“If growth mindset gives the vision, then executive function paves the way!” —Sarah Kesty, Educator, Author   The brainchild of educator and author Sarah Kesty, The Executive Function Podcast provides a range of tools, strategies, and resources designed to improve the lives of children, families, and young adults affected by ADHD, executive function challenges, and…

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Is Doing Household Chores Related to Executive Functioning?

Doing Household Chores

This research update examines two recent studies examining the link between executive functioning and involvement in household chores. Executive functioning refers to cognitive processes such as the ability to shift focus between tasks, manipulate and access temporary information, and inhibit or suppress irrelevant information. Children with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as ADHD, experience delays in executive…

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College Planning for Students with ADHD

College Planning for Students with ADHD

Zach, a junior in high school, is beginning to think about college and all the fun he’s going to have once he gets there—the football games, the frat parties, finally being on his own. Zach’s parents, however, cannot picture Zach living outside their home. He still can’t get out of bed for school. He only…

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Growing College Success from First Semester Failure

Growing College Success from First Semester Failure

Last September, a new cadre of freshmen began college haunted by a looming statistical trend: More than forty percent of those who have ADHD were destined to fail their first semester. And after this initial failure, only a portion will attempt another semester, and fewer still will go on to complete college on schedule. For…

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Executive Function Issues and ADHD

Executive Function Issues and ADHD

ARE THEY MORE LIKE TWINS OR COUSINS? Jack is a twenty-eight-year-old man who has chronic issues with running late that date back to childhood. He also has difficulty keeping track of his schedule and tends to finish tasks at the last minute. Jack remembers having the same issues as far back as elementary school. Margaret…

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Reading Comprehension and Executive Function

Reading Comprehension and Executive Function

Learning disabilities and ADHD often go hand in hand. According to Thomas E. Brown, PhD, approximately 45 percent of those with ADHD have coexisting learning disabilities. The most common learning disability of students with ADHD is dyslexia, characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities (International Dyslexia…

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Fidget-to-Focus Strategies

Fidget-to-Focus Strategies

How do people with ADHD and executive function challenges stay focused on important yet uninteresting tasks? Tasks they know they need to complete, but ones they find dull, tedious, and mundane? It’s a question that clinical psychologist Roland Rotz has been exploring for decades, and a question he continues to ask those attending the adult…

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Screen Time and Sleep During the Pandemic

Attention Magazine April 2022

  What kinds of difficulties did children and adolescents with ADHD experience with screen use and sleep during the pandemic? This research update reviews two recent studies. The first study found that compared to those who had less problematic digital media use, youth with ADHD who had more problematic use showed worse attention levels, more…

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