Wednesday 6th December 2:15 pm.

Executive Functioning. 30 min CPD.

While autistic individuals excel in many cognitive domains, differences in key aspects of executive functioning can complicate daily living. Challenges with inhibition, working memory and cognitive flexibility manifest in unique ways as we navigate social, occupational and independent spheres.

For neurodivergent clients, different minds means a difference in executive functioning. The following 3 realms serve as examples:

Inhibition control

Inhibition control involves overriding impulses and intrusive behaviors, thoughts or emotions. Those of us with high sensory sensitivity may struggle regulating reactions to intense stimuli from textures, sounds, even ideas overloading our mental bandwidth. Strict personal rituals also help limit unpredictability amid challenging environments.

Working Memory

Working memory allows holding information to complete multi-step tasks. But for autistic minds accustomed to laser focus on details, maintaining overlapping sets of complex instructions taxes limited cognitive resources quickly. We might miss whole steps switching between them, now lost in fractional remnants still locked in memory.

Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive flexibility poses similar barriers when activities demand rapid shifting of attention focus, perspectives or problem-solving approaches. Our brains excel at diving deeply into topics once immersed, but can stick to these vectors like flypaper. Adaptively transitioning between different headspaces requires reorienting whole neural networks.

In this event, presenters Vauna Beauvais and Eoin Stephens, autistic therapists with over 20 years of expertise, explore how these and other executive function differences show up in real-world scenarios to help counsellors and psychotherapists appreciate the lives of their autistic clients and appreciate, more, the client’s struggles.

Please join us in discussing executive functioning for neurodivergent people on Wednesday. The event is online and new subscribers of Vanguard Neurodiversity Training receive the Zoom link in the confirmation email upon subscribing. Alternatively, the event is streamed live on linkedin for anyone to see at the Vanguard Neurodiversity Training LinkedIn page on Wednesdays at 2:15 pm.