EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DISORDER

What is Executive Functioning Disorder? 

Executive functioning is a set of cognitive skills that help you get things done daily, because it controls one’s ability to pay attention, plan, remember details, manage time, and more. If an individual's executive functioning skills are not working properly, it may affect work, school, or daily life in general. Although it is called executive functioning disorder, it is not a true medical illness. For example, ADHD is a diagnosable condition, while executive functioning disorder is just a weakness in an individual’s brain. Some people are born with this part of their brain weaker, while for some, previous disorders such as Alzheimer's, may have affected this part of their brain. Essentially, executive functioning disorder is just a term which is used for weaker functioning disorders. 

Symptoms 

People who have executive functioning disorder have a hard time specifically in school, at work, or in timeliness in daily life. This is because symptoms include issues with planning things, completing tasks, being timely, memorizing, and telling a story. Another symptom of executive functioning disorder is that the individual may get upset when another person does not act how they expected. While these are symptoms of executive functioning disorder, there is no specific diagnosis, and the term is not included in the DSM-5 manual. Instead, a medical professional would use different scales to determine that an individual has executive functioning disorder. The first one is the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS) which screens for issues with an individual’s executive functioning disorder. Next, a doctor may use the Comprehensive Executive Functioning Inventory (CEFI) to measure strengths and weaknesses in an individual’s executive functioning skills. Lastly, the Conners 3-parent Rating Scale might be used to measure the individual’s school subjects, memory, and organization in children from 6-18 years old. 

Treatment 

As for treatment of executive functioning disorder, most decisions depend on the strengths and weaknesses of the functions. For instance, if an individual has poor time management, they might want to set reminders and alarms. If the individual has poor organization, some things they can do is write in their planners, make a checklist, write on a whiteboard, or more. Lastly, if the person has a hard time focussing, they could try using fidget toys, take breaks in tasks, and/or do one thing at a time.