I have ADHD, and a symptom that impacts my life every day is executive dysfunction. Executive dysfunction is something that neurotypical people experience too, but it’s usually strongest and most visible in people with ADHD.
Understanding executive function is the best way to get a grasp of what executive dysfunction is. As defined by Harvard Center on the Developing Child, “Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully” (Harvard, 2020).
When looking at the DSM-5 criteria for diagnosing ADHD, it’s obvious that most people with ADHD lack the ability to do these things without outside help, which is where the term “executive dysfunction” comes in.
For me, executive dysfunction hinders my ability to manage my time, control my impulses, remember important upcoming events, and split my attention between multiple things. These effects have led me to miss deadlines, accidentally ditch my friends when we were supposed to hang out, and miss points from not realizing that I’ve left out key details in assignments.
Since I’m in high school, my executive dysfunction mostly affects my schoolwork and learning experience. For an adult with a job, it could cause them to get fired because of repetitive mistakes. The stakes are higher for adults, which is why learning effective strategies to combat executive dysfunction is important.
I hope that this article helps people understand ADHD and its symptoms better. Remember to look out for your friends or family who have ADHD to make sure they’re taking care of themselves.
Works Cited:
“Executive Function & Self-Regulation.” Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 24 Mar. 2020, developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/.
Here are my NBA awards and playoff bracket predictions
League MVP: There are many options for MVP such as Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. But my pick this year is none other than Stephen Curry from the Golden State Warriors. Curry lead the league in scoring last year along with averaging 5 boards and 5 assists. He should’ve taken home the award last year but the Warriors missed the playoffs by game which was the biggest knock on his 2020-2021 campaign. This year the Warriors will most likely have a high seed in the west due to incoming rookies Mose Moody and Johnathan Kuminga providing much needed help off the bench; and most importantly the return of all-star shooting guard, and co-splash bro Klay Thompson. Thompson will provide much needed assistance to the Warriors back court. Klay Thompson with bring out the best of Stephen Curry in this upcoming season.
Rookie of the Year: Rookie of the Year is an easy pick; Jalen Green out of Houston. Green will get to play both the 1 and 2 guard positions for the Rockets this year allowing him to have the ball in his hands for most of the game. Having the ball in his hands not only gives him the free range to create his own shot it also allows for him to be a playmaker. Houston with out a doubt will find themselves in the bottom of the western conference but at least they have a franchise player in Jalen Green.
Most Improved Player of the Year: The player who’s game that will elevate the most will be Michael Porter Jr. Porter Jr recently signed a 5 year max-extension worth up to $207 million; not only will he have to prove he is worth a two hundred million dollar contract he will also have to prove that he can be a leader on this Denver Nugget team. The Nuggets will be without point guard Jamal Murray this year so Porter Jr will have the opportunity to take more shots and elevate to an all-star wing he was projected to be coming out of the University of Missouri.
Defensive Player of the Year: This year’s DPOY will be Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis, or AD for short, should’ve taken home the award in the 2019-2020 season. Davis has a chip on his shoulder coming into the 2021-2022 season, AD missed most of last year due to injury and was given the nickname “Anthony Day-To-Day Davis” via the ruthless nba followers on Twitter. AD will not only remind everyone the type of player he is, he will surpass everyone’s expectations for him. I believe this year will be AD’s career year due to the fact that the Lakers added another Hall of Fame playmaker to their roster in Russell Westbrook, brought back legendary point guard Rajon Rondo, and have some guy named LeBron James as well. Davis’s defense will be a key part in the Lakers hunt for their 18th title.
6th Man of the Year: This award will go to Jordan Clarkson out of Utah. It’s his award to lose and nobody is as consistent as Clarkson when coming off the bench. There’s not much to say for JC as he knows his role on the Jazz; fucking score the basketball. And he does, he does it very well so he’ll find himself adding another 6th Man of the Year trophy to his award case.
Coach of the Year: What team/coach fits the NBA’s narrative for the 2021-2022 season. I like Nate McMillan from Atlanta.
This was a long time ago before I moved, around pre k time. I was having my first play date with this kid that I still know to this day. My house at the time had a little section in the center where we had put a hot tub. Once the kid that the playdate was with had arrived we went into the backyard to play for a little while. After we played for a little while we decided to go into the hot tub and relax. Me being the idiot that I am then decided to stand on the edge of the hot tub and jump into it, I did this a couple of times and my mom told me to stop. But I didn’t listen to her and I did it again and that was the stupidest thing that I could have done, not because my mom scolded me but because when I jumped in the full force of my body collided with the filter fixture on the hot tub. As I hit the filter I felt the impact in my chin and slam my jaw shut and the stinging feeling took action. I looked down at the water and saw the blood start to disperse throughout the hot tub. I grabbed my chin to stop the blood flow and contain it as my mom rushed me to the car and grabbed a towel on the way out the door. We went to the emergency room and I got my first ever bit of glue to put my chin back together. Now that may not sound like a big deal but I was three so it was to me. But anyway that’s how I got my first major injury.
I have no idea what college I’m going to. I mean I have another year to think about it but like I don’t even have a dream school. And tuition fees are just going up and up with a lot of schools charging 70-80,000 dollars a year. Everywhere is so expensive and its harder to get in to places. I dunno maybe I’m overthinking all this but I really have no idea where I wanna go. There’s so many cool places with awesome programs, but not all of them have good scholarships. My mom tells me I shouldn’t worry about the money side of things but we can’t pay for 80,000 a year without student loans and FRICK student loans. The wage and finance system is rigged against the working class and I am the working class. But I guess I’ll figure it out when I get to it.
A “cavity” in the Milky Way Galaxy was discovered today. This essentially is a large area in which theres nothing, just the massive open void of space. It’s approximately 500 lightyears wide, and may hopefully help research into star development in the near future. NASA’s Insight mission, that put a lander on the surface of Mars to measure seismic activity on Mars, has detected three powerful “Marsquakes” of magnitudes up to 4.2. This may become a major factor in the eventual colonization of the red planet. SpaceX’s inspiration 4 crew landed safely back on earth after a 3 day mission to space that made the astronauts the first civilians in space. These milestones just make commercial space travel more and more tangible with every success. Finally, research into the near-constant gamma ray bursts coming into our atmosphere reveals that they may be caused by massive stellar explosions in space. This discovery boosts our research into star formation and destruction, and may give us some insights as to what goes on in the massive universe all around us.
To start this was about four or five years ago, my family along with a couple of other families go out to the desert around three or four times a year. We generally go to the same spot but around new year the site we stay at is a little more contested. One of these trips we went out and around half way through the trip we decided to go on a ride that was around 100 miles. Trips that are 100 miles usually take around seven hours, this particular trip was to a place where people put memorials to riders that have died in the desert. The ride consisted of lots of hills and a large open dried up lake bed where we would ride really fast. Shockingly enough that isn’t where I fell.
On the way back we took a similar route to the way there but we were going into the sun so it was getting hard to see. We jumped onto a dirt road in the middle of nowhere to speed up the process of getting home to our camp. We rode for a long while and were just getting back to camp on the road and the sun had just gotten to the point where is was near impossible to see because of the angle that the sun is coming at. I remember feeling my bike just stop and me keep going, this was followed by a section of time that felt slow as I flew forward over the bars of the dirtbike. As I hit the ground head first landing on my visor and the impact sliding out through my body. After I hit the ground it took me a second to gather my senses and get up. When I did get up I realized that my visor on my helmet had broken at the base from the impact of the ground. As it turned out I had hit a rock that I couldn’t see because of the sun in my eyes and it launched me forward while nearly stopping my dirtbike in its tracks.
I have ADHD, and a symptom I experience is impulsivity.
I often do and say things without thinking about the consequences. It happens most when I’m in an emotionally unstable or vulnerable state.
For example, when I’m happy, I go out of my way to do kind things for my friends. I’ll bring them Starbucks or surprise them with presents just because the idea popped into my head. However, it goes the other way too. If I’m angry, I’m likely to say whatever comes into my mind, no matter how mean it is.
When it comes to impulse control, I have to be completely mentally present to stop myself from doing mean or potentially harmful things. I’ve trained myself to stay quiet and think when I’m upset so I don’t ruin a relationship because I wasn’t paying attention to the words I was saying.
I also will buy things off impulse. I have so many meaningless objects in my room that I saw, liked, and bought without a second thought. It’s a struggle to be financially stable while impulsive, which could cause trouble for me later in life if I don’t get a handle on it.
Impulsivity can be annoying at times, but please try to be understanding of people with ADHD. We try so hard every day, and it’s great when people acknowledge that.
I hope that this article helps people understand ADHD and its symptoms better. Remember to look out for your friends or family who have ADHD to make sure they’re taking care of themselves.
NFL Sundays are great, especially in the foggy/misty Fall.
Waking up on cloudy Sunday knowing football is on is truly of the best feelings in the world. And if you are an owner of NFL Network Red Zone that is 7 hours of commercial free football. I start my NFL Sundays with nice balanced breakfast(which is usually leftovers from dinner the night before). Then I’ll turn on a pregame show and read a couple articles or watch highlights of Saturday’s college football games.
10 o’clock hits and it kick off for the morning games. I’ll flip through the various 10am games that are broadcasted on CBS, FOX, and NBC. Following the completion of the morning games I’ll make my way to kitchen to find lunch. Lunch is either a sandwich of now that the Fall is upon us SOOOOOUUUUP! I’m a massive soup guy, chicken noodle, matzo ball, Italian wedding are some of favorites.
Photo from USA TODAY Sports
Once I find a suitable meal I’ll head back to the couch to watch the afternoon games. Around this time is when I’ll make a deal with myself; the deal is I’ll start my homework during halftime of whatever game(s) I’m watching and I’ll finish it before dinner and Sunday Night Football. This deal fails 11 out of 10 times.
As the afternoon games wrap up I’ll set the table and eat dinner with my family. Following the end to dinner I’ll find myself back on the couch watching kickoff for that night’s SNF game. Once the games reality kicks in, with the sun being down and everyone in the house prepping for bedtime I once again realize that I’m in the same shorts and hoodie from the morning and still have a couple hours of homework to complete.
NFL Sunday’s in the Fall are amazing and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Cake is just too much. Too much frosting (I’m allergic), too much sugar, too much cake.
My mom makes the best apple pie, I might be biased. The Schuette family is definitely more of an apple pie family over pumpkin pie. I don’t mind pumpkin pie, but I will get up during dinner to get more than three helpings of apple pie.
We as a family are such big apple pie lovers that my younger sister wrote about the pie.
photo credit: Kristine’s Kitchen
`Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 recipe pastry for a 9″ double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted or salted butter
3 tablespoons all- purpose flour
1/4 cup of water
1/2 cup white sugar (or slightly less)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (or slightly less)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon- to taste (optional)
1 lemon; squeeze juice (add sugar to taste, the lemon will go on top of the apples to stop from browning)
Directions:
Preheat Oven to 425 degrees
Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
Drizzle some of the lemon juice and sugar liquid over apples; just enough to make sure the apples do not brown.
Place the bottom crust in a pan or use the one that came in the package. Put apples in a mixing bowl and drizzle less than half of the sugar/ butter liquid on apples. Put the apples in the crust, mound it slightly.
Cover the pie with a lattice and then pour sugar/ butter liquid over the crust. Brush to make the mixture cover the whole pie.
Line a tray with tin foil and place pie on top. During baking the pie might bubble over, this is a preventative.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees; and continue to bake for 35-45 minutes or until apples are soft. Take of foil and let it cool for 5 minutes.
I have ADHD, and a stereotypical symptom I experience is fidgeting.
The earliest ADHD symptom I can remember is fidgeting. Ever since kindergarten, I’ve bounced my legs under my desk. Sometimes it’s accompanied by finger-tapping. I remember having trouble doing mindfulness activities because I felt like I needed to move somehow.
In the past four years, I’ve started cracking my fingers. Every joint in my hand can pop because of the countless hours I’ve spent absentmindedly pulling and pushing on my knuckles. Sometimes, I do it so much that my hands are in horrible pain and I can barely move them.
I’ve been told various times that it’s annoying, that it’s disrespectful, or that I need to stop doing it. If I had a nickel for every time someone’s told me I’m going to have arthritis when I’m older, I would be rich.
However, I’ve never stopped. It’s not because I lack the ability to break bad habits, or because I hold a grudge against people who commented on it. It’s because most of the time, it doesn’t hurt me, but rather comforts me.
For people with ADHD, fidgeting is a way to expel the energy that our brain exponentially puts out. Fidgeting, while sometimes annoying to other people, is not something that should be repressed. It helps people with ADHD to cope with what happens in their brains.
Not fidgeting can make people with ADHD feel overwhelmed, and it makes us more prone to meltdowns. Fidgeting, when done in a non-harmful way, is a healthy behavior for people with ADHD.
I hope that this article helps people understand ADHD and its symptoms better. Remember to look out for your friends or family who have ADHD to make sure they’re taking care of themselves.
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