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  2. Executive Function

22 Results in Executive Function

10 Ways to find motivation to do a task

Autistic people can sometimes lack the motivation to do tasks. They may be easily distracted, find it hard to concentrate, or not wish to prioritise a task that they consider is unimportant or that does not interest them. However, whether we like it or not, at some point all of us have to do menial… Join The Curly Hair Project Community Today This article and our podcasts are available only to members of our community. If you would like to continue to read this article, along with…

10 Ways for autistic people to improve their concentration

Some autistic people have difficulty concentrating. In particular, they may find it difficult to pay attention to and concentrate on things that don’t interest them! This is part of the autism condition. Additionally, it is common for autistic people to struggle with executive function. Concentration is a part of executive function. Some autistic people also have… Join The Curly Hair Project Community Today This article and our podcasts are available only to m…

What is ‘executive function stress?’

People on the autism spectrum may struggle with their executive function. Executive function is the set of skills that helps people get things done, such as the ability to plan, organise and prioritise. Executive function also helps people to be able to stop and start tasks and to remember what has already been done and… Join The Curly Hair Project Community Today This article and our podcasts are available only to members of our community. If you would like to continue to rea…

The problem is ‘how’, not ‘what’

One of the greatest challenges that affects me on a day to day basis, and has done throughout my whole life, is not knowing ‘how’ to do something. Not knowing how to do something is a problem that many autistic people have and that many neurotypical people overlook or do not understand. For instance, when… Join The Curly Hair Project Community Today This article and our podcasts are available only to members of our community. If you would like to continue to read th…

How to make decision making easier for autistic people

This is a follow up article to: Why might decision making be difficult for autistic people? Now I will look at some strategies autistic people could use to help make decision making a bit more straightforward. Also, I'm excited to show you a new animation in this article!

The Freeze Response (animation)

When something happens that I did not expect, I feel as though I freeze. It feels as though the cogs in my brain have come to a halt! This freezing happens for at least two reasons: 1. I struggle with flexible thinking (a part of executive function), which means it is hard to imagine or work out alternative outcomes to things 2. I feel highly anxious, because something has happened unexpectedly. Remember that to 'freeze' is one of the three primary responses to anxiety (the other two are fight and flight). I created an animation to explain The Freeze Response and to provide a strategy that really helps me to deal with it. You can watch it below. I hope you enjoy it!

Why might decision making be difficult for autistic people?

Autistic people can have some difficulty with making decisions. Here are some reasons why this might be: Autistic people might have a preference for sameness A decision usually means that there is a possibility of change. For someone with a need for sameness and repetition, being faced with a decision can cause anxiety or an autistic person may simply feel the fact there has to be a decision is unnecessary.

How to have an efficient workflow

I recently embarked on a very very big project that took a few months. The project was big already, but what made it bigger was that I did not have an efficient, planned out workflow. I learned a lesson about workflow that could be applied to many other activities. This lesson may be helpful to others who have difficulty seeing a project through to an end because they feel frustrated or confused. A workflow is defined as the sequence of processes through which a piece of work passes from start to finish. When you do something for the first time, you probably do not have an efficient workflow yet. This is because you don't really know what the project involves, how long things will take, what order to do things in, or even what the final work is going to look like. There is a lot of 'trial and error', figuring things out as you go along, and going back to change things along the way. You might also be asking other people lots of questions. All of this adds a lot of time to the project. You might feel exhausted and stressed by the amount of work you are doing. You might wonder how on earth other people do this seemingly so smoothly. I too have been there! The positive of all your stress and additional time is that, by the time you get to the end of your project, you will undoubtedly have learned an enormous amount. In fact, the best thing that can come out of these time-consuming and stressful projects is that you have discovered an efficient workflow. 

What is Executive Function?

Executive function is the set of mental skills that helps people get things done, such as planning, working memory, organisation and how to manage the steps of a task. Autistic people tend to have weak executive function and struggle with these mental skills. Watch our amazing animation to understand a fantastic explanation of this complicated idea:

Difficulty doing tasks that are ‘desirable but not essential’

Some autistic people are prone to avoiding or procrastinating when it comes to doing tasks. Here is an excellent example of someone who struggles with getting some things done, yet excels at getting other things complete: Leo (ASD) has trouble with certain tasks. He is very good at doing tasks that are compulsory such as work projects and paying bills, but anything that is sort of 'desirable but not essential', either never gets done or is left until the very last minute. An example might be the washing up - he won't do it until there are no clean plates to hand. Or the housework. It just gets left.
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Written and narrated by autistic author Alis Rowe, full of bright colours and visuals, comic strips and animations… we have managed to simplify and make exciting a very complicated subject!

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