Dr. Russell Barkley is a leading expert in ADHD/ADD and Executive Function Disorders. In this short video Dr. Barkley addresses this critical issue for everyone with ADHD. Executive Dysfunctions have been found to be a critical part of ADHD, and may even be THE critical issue at the heart of ADHD. The "Executive Functions" that we talk about are those that help us maintain goal directed or related behaviour. If you have ADHD, or your child has ADHD, you will know what this means because you know "what's missing."
Dr. Barkley, in this short video and in his books and articles, suggests that there are five essential "Executive Functions":
1. The ability to "inhibit your behaviour,":stop what your doing, and stay on task by not reacting to other outside, distracting stimuli;
2. The ability to use non-verbal working memory- visual memory- in order to imagine working your way through a task. This is especially true with math. Often individuals with ADHD score lower on tests of visual memory than what would be expected by their overall intellectual capabilities;
3. The ability to "talk to yourself," to have a voice in our head to instruct ourselves- also called "verbal working memory." Most of us have this inner voice, and we use it to guide our behaviour throughout the day. Those with ADHD do not seem to have this skill (but it can be practiced and learned!);
4. The ability to control our own emotions, and to moderate those emotions so that we want to stay on task, and are able to maintain mental and emotional energy throughout the stages of longer, more complex tasks;
5. The ability to plan and problem solve - to manipulate information to figure out how to get complex things done. This, like many of the other skills listed above, are not simply fixed with medication, but instead need to be worked on individually through education, modelling, practice and reinforcement.
These are the "mind tools" Dr. Barkley and others suggest we focus on when addressing ADHD in counselling, therapy and coaching. Most of them are addressed through basic behavioural therapy and interventions, as well as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Below is a link to Dr. Barkley's brief, but informative video. In addition to the video there is also a more in-depth written explanation of these "executive skills" and how they effect ADHD. That can be found by clicking here:
http://www.russellbarkley.org/content/ADHD_EF_and_SR.pdf
For more information on ADHD services I provide in my offices in Burnaby, Vancouver and San Francisco, please check my website at http://www.relatedminds.com or http://www.adhdhelp.ca
This page is not meant to offer diagnostic services or suggest specific services to address ADHD. ADHD is a complex disorder, and many symptoms and behaviours taken for ADHD can actually be signs and symptoms of other disorders such as anxiety, depression, Autism spectrum disorder, Asperger's or even depression. See a licensed or registered mental health professional for an appropriate diagnosis.