- Students who struggle with Executive Function are notoriously unrealistic about how much time and energy it takes to manage schoolwork and life.
- Students don’t have the right EF Skills, systems, mindsets, habits or routines. So they struggle endlessly with output and execution.
- Students are often resistant to help, and doing the things that would make a difference.
- Parents and teachers often don’t understand Executive Function or how to break the pattern. Because of this, people often mistakenly believe that their child needs to, “just choose to get motivated and try harder.”
- Much of the advice our students have been given is great for “naturally organized people”, but useless for non-traditional, outside-the-box, neurodiverse, atypical learners who struggle with Executive Function.
EF challenges include trouble getting started, following through, finishing, focusing, prioritizing, organizing, planning, managing time, overwhelm, etc..
This is not about motivation, it’s about building Executive Function SKILLS, and many adults don’t understand this distinction. Therefore, they mistakenly choose ineffective interventions and the patterns continue to get worse.
Students often hear shame messages like this: “You just need to motivate yourself, stop being so lazy, be more disciplined, choose to work harder, apply yourself more, you just don’t seem to care, why can’t you just put forth more effort, you have so much potential, you make things so hard on yourself, if you would just…”
This is an endless loop that has a terrible impact on one’s transition to adulthood. As a result of these messages, students often feel shamed, less motivated, more resistant, and more distant from their parents, who are doing their best to help.