Executive Functioning Profiles
I recently participated in a wonderful seminar on Executive Dysfunction with Jill Fahy from Eastern Illinois University and she shared some useful profiles for people who have difficulty with executive functioning. Her profiles are the “Wanderer,” “Unaware,” “Can't Plan,” “Can't Start,” “Can't Stop,” and “Can't Shift.” Let's break down those profiles to see if you recognize yourself, your partner, or your child.
“Wanderer” - The “Wanderer” is someone who has poor attention, is easily distracted by things in their own mind, has a poor sense of time (did that take or will that take 5 or 30 minutes, I don't know!), and is unaware that they have a problem.
“Unaware” - Someone who fits the “Unaware” profile has difficulty taking the perspective of someone else (Does this person know the topic or person I am talking about? Should I provide some background information on this topic (trains, physics, etc) so they can understand what I am talking about?) and has difficulty accurately appraising their own set of strengths and weaknesses (this is hard for me and this is easy for me vs. I think I am good at everything).
“Can't Plan” - Someone who “Can't Plan” may have good awareness of their strengths and weaknesses as well as good attention, but cannot make a strategic plan. Their plans are inefficient, they can’t think of multiple options (poor fluency), and they often have problems with high-level language and reasoning (if, in order to, therefore). They may have even been discharged from their school speech language pathologist (SLP)’s caseload because their lower-language skills improved.
“Can't Start” -Someone with this profile has a lot of difficulty getting started with a task, whether it is a work assignment, a phone call, or a homework assignment. They lack urgency, need prompts from their mom/dad/boss in order to get started and they can’t accurately anticipate how long something will take. They might be someone who starts a big project the night before it is due because of their inability to estimate time.
“Can't Stop” - Someone who “Can’t Stop” finds it very difficult to inhibit, or stop themselves from doing something. They can’t stop for long enough to monitor their success, check their work, and realize their errors. They may start without a plan (or the necessary materials) and therefore fail to anticipate problems.
“Can't Shift” - The people who “Can’t Shift” tend to get stuck. They repeat a behavior over and over again, have difficulty adapting to unexpected changes, and have trouble generating multiple options/ideas (fluency).
If you feel recognize yourself or your child in any of these profiles, email me at hollis@mindfulspeechchicago.com to get started with an evaluation.
Resources:
Fahy, J. (2019, November 29). Diagnosing Executive Dysfunction in School-Aged Children. Lecture presented at Diagnosing Executive Dysfunction in School-Aged Children in Speechpathology.com.
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Hi, I’m Hollis, the owner of Mindful Speech.
I’m a speech-language pathologist licensed in Illinois and Colorado.
I specialize in providing speech therapy to help children, teens, and young adults to improve language, reading, writing, and executive functioning skills. Now offering in-person sessions in Chicago!
Learn more about me on my About Hollis page.