Executive Dysfunction

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Does Executive Dysfunction always go with AS? I'm curious about how it affects one's employment status.

It isn't in the DSM, and I don't have that problem, so NOPE!

speaking only for my own aspie self, it keeps me unemployable and my living conditions somewhat chaotic. but i know there are others similar to me, each in their own isolated hermit-holes, who struggle to cope with the cognitive challenges of life. i can't help but feel that if i had 30 points greater IQ, i would be much more of a success in life than i am [not], IOW the "grass would be greener" underneath me as opposed to my neighbors.

I'm surprised there hasn't been more input as it seems a significant number of people with AS have co- morbid Executive Dysfunction. Or maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe it's if you have co-morbid ADD. You can attribute mine to my official inattentive ADD diagnosis and I can certainly say it has affected every aspect of my life. There was a recent thread about whether anyone had been accused of laziness. This is what Executive Dysfunction does to you. When you can't plan and execute; people have a tendency to think you're lazy.

Honestly I don't know if I really have Executive Dysfunction, but I am chronically disorganized and messy. It isn't laziness a all, just a sort of disorderliness. Like I don't do things in the proper order and end up having spills and accidentally knocking things around. My computer files are highly organized though. I think that is a plus for me as far as employment, but when they see my desk and drawers, on my!

When you are in a stressful situation can you keep your thoughts in order, like if someone wants you to make a decision now about prioritizing tasks and all you've got upstairs is white noise?

Executive dysfunction isn't a diagnosis by itself; it's a symptom of other diagnoses. For example: Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's and other dementias, depression, ADHD, TBIs (especially to the frontal lobe), and yes, autism.

It basically means you suck at planning and carrying out plans. Many people compensate by making lists, schedules, reminders, etc.; others have people around to remind them to do things. It can include impulsivity (acting without planning), or it can include simply not being able to get started doing something, or being very slow and disorganized at it (such as the psychomotor retardation in schizophrenia and depression). It can include being very inefficient, being unable to regulate one's own attention (trademark ADHD), or being unable to transition from one activity to another (autism and ADHD both include this problem).

It's a known problem, and there are many ways to work around it. I think that most people with autism have some form of executive dysfunction, though it can easily be mild enough that no particular attention has to be paid to it since the effort level required to compensate is not unrealistically high.

I experience something similar, especially in an environment where there are a lot of things going on at once. However, I don't get "white noise" so much as a cacaphony of deafening noises all blurring together into one incoherent jumble that scrambles my thoughts beyond recognition. I can't figure out what I should attend to first, and what I should set aside for later. I get confused, and somewhat disoriented, rendering it very difficult to function.

One skill that really helps, if you can cultivate it, is to actually focus not on the task itself but on the task of figuring out how to do whatever it is. It can be easier to devise a procedure without worrying about carrying it out (at least right then); otherwise you're multi-tasking planning and doing at the same time and that can get really tricky.

We basically experience the same thing. I chose the term white noise but that may be inexact. Your description works well.

I don't know the answer, but I have Executive Dysfunction, ADHD Type 2 Inattentive, and AS!

I am presently employed as a tutor, which is pretty much my dream job, but falls under "good work if you can get it!" I'm trying to pick up clients fot the summer now.

That's a very good idea, as I get bogged down exactly the way you describe. I have other cognitive problems too, such as poor retention of information, unless of course I'm obsessed.

I get executive dysfunction pretty bad, infact it's probably the most prevalent and largest part of my aspie-dom.
Someone mentioned being rubbish at making decisions on the spot, this describes me to a T, the bigger the choice the worse it is. Today for example I was at my close friend's house with another good friend and in the afternoon his mum asked us what we wanted for tea. One made their decision pretty early but me and the other guy were like "um......." for ages because his hum was being reeeaaally vague and then gave a big list of things she has in the house, I was really stuck and said "I don't mind, I'll have whatever" but she wanted us to mae a choice. Eventually she suggested we have something from the chippy, so we did, it's easier than deciding myself.
Seriously though any time I'm asked to make a decision RIGHT THERE AND THEN my mind goes completely blank and no longer works. I'd rather have someone make the choice for me.

i am not really sure if someone with this problem even has the means to compensate (that is the nature of the problem). i think some form of executive dysfunction occurs in many disorders, yet usually not the full blown thing. the full blown disorder would be similar to something like dementia, where the person is entirely gone, and therefore cannot conciously try to improve.

i think dyspraxia can mimic executive dysfunction since someone with this always does things in the wrong order and usually needs to use self talk to complete plans.

memory issues will also cause this, especially if yours are so bad that you usually cannot retain any information unless it has been conciously learned. if you have sleep issues that screw up your short term memory, then it is harder to carry out plans because if you cannot remember all the steps in a procedure, then you end up only completing certain parts and leaving out others.

I have it... people tell me to make lists and have reminders, and people to remind me to do things... but still it seems nothing ever gets done unless I have someone to physically help me do it. It's just... overwhelming. I've made lists, but then I wind up making lists of my lists, and lists of those, and in the process, I lose half of my lists.... and by the end of it, my lists have overwhelmed me to the point where I just sit there, disappointed, really. I'm always so proud of myself... "I'm GOING to get this done", "I'm GOING to figure this out", but I spend so much time and energy in the process of trying to figure out how, that when the time comes, I just shut down.

I've decided finally... after trying many methods to keep my house in some sort of order, that I'm going to just have to recruit my boyfriend to come over once a week and help straighten it up.

It isn't laziness... I really despise that accusation. I sit here and cry for hours sometimes because everything feels just so chaotic, and for some reason I just cannot sort it out or get anything done... then I cry out of frustration over that.

It really hits hard if I see one of my kiddo's friends houses... usually so nice and neat... why can't I just DO that? Why is it so hard? Why do I even need to prepare and plan it out, why do I need help? It gets really depressing at times.

Then, I have other moments when I make split second decisions, and I have absolutely NO CLUE whether or not I even wanted to do that. Sometimes it is for the better, but a lot of the time it just results in me being more frustrated with myself. But most of the time, I can't answer simple "yes" or "no" questions. I let other people make the decision for me a lot of the time, because I just can't answer it. They usually get hit with me just saying "umm...." for 5 minutes before getting really annoyed.

Please read this thread

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt122756.html

"Executive dysfunction" is a buzz word that get thrown around, there is a difference between ED like situations and clinical cognitive dysfunctions.

Dyspraxia/Dyslexia might get mixed up with ED mainly when limited or only specific testing is done. Like if someone thinks they have X they only test for x and not y, they meet the criteria for x even through what they have really got is y. happened to me. 80s and 90s dyslexia was the in thing.

ED cuts across multiple areas, specific leaning difficulties are focused on specific processing.