Executive Dysfunction

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I was reading into this for a bit today. I am actually a bit fascinated with this terminology at the moment and I wanted to see what is known about it in terms of autism. I liked the article on the Wiki (although I am well aware that its scholarly validity would sink in an academic setting). Here is the section that pertains to autism:

Okay, I will try to ask my question from the same place that urged me to look this sort of stuff up.

First question: Autistics Do have executive dysfunction?

Second Question: What exactly IS executive dysfunction?

My third question has already been answered by your post. =)

Yeah that helps. Could this dysfunction also be related to uncomfortableness with change and other things like that? Like does this compound on issues, or do issues compound on it?

One problem I have is juggling multiple tasks.

If I have one task that should take eight hours, I am likely to finish it in eight hours or less.

But for two tasks that should take four hours each, I'll be lucky to finish them in 16 hours.

More than two tasks, forget it. About the only way I can make any progress is to ignore the additional tasks.

I seem to have problems understanding more than one thing, especially if changes are left unsaid because they are "obvious". I generally, basically, do not "shift gears" well at all.

Certain changes bother me, but it is my inability to adjust to sudden changes that is the most obvious I think. And this is more strongly rooted (I feel) in my ability to process said changes which becomes extremely frustrating.

Executive functioning is a lot for me of not being able to plan, organize, feel motivated to get stuff done, or basically "get my crap together" as I like to say. Figuring out how to work around it is another matter.

I had high inhibition for certain activities as a child. Whenever I got a cut on my finger, I would hold my hand behind my back for the whole time that it healed, for whole days without slipping once to do something else with my hand.

What is 'stuck in' perservation behavior verses general perservation tendencies?

The eggserpt gave an eggsample of the Stroop test being something on which autistic people show unimpaired performance compared to controls.

In the Stroop test, there are words for colors, like red, green, blue. The words for colors are printed in colors that are different from the colors that the words refer to. So the word "red" will be colored green, and "green" blue. In the test, you are supposed to say the color of the print instead of the word for a color. If your inhibition is impaired, then you are more likely to say the words instead of the colors. For the word "red" printed green, you will say red when you should have said green. Saying the color requires overcoming the habitual response of saying the word.

Thanks wanderer that actually DOES sound like things I go through! I have poor motor skills, to compound, and thus changes in furniture not only make me panic but I have more accidents in the house, too for a time.

I experience significant difficulties with executive dysfunction, particularly with organizing and planning. It's pretty much impossible for me to figure out all of the various tasks necessary to achieve a particular goal, or how to obtain the information necessary to achieve a particular goal. Often it doesn't occur to me to do certain expected tasks at all -- I just don't think of it. Or I may know of several tasks I should do but be unable to prioritize -- unable to figure out what tasks or more important, and which are less important. I also tend to be unable to figure out the logical order in which to complete tasks. I also have problems with breaking tasks down into a series of logical sequential steps (which others seem to do instinctively, as far as I can tell) so it's pretty much impossible for me to get things done in an efficient and timely manner. Sometimes, I can't seem to get started on things because there are too many things that need to be done, and I can't figure out where to start. There are just too many options, and it paralyzes me. It's also difficult to achieve that mental switching of gears necessary for starting a task. I could go on and on regarding how I'm crippled by executive dysfunction. The upshot is, I feel like I put forth far more effort than other people, and accomplish far less. I know I've said that multiple times before on this forum, but it's a source of ongoing frustration for me.
I hope this was helpful. Another impairment of mine involves explaining things in a way that can be understood by others. I apologize if this makes no sense.