“Executive function” has become one of those phrases we use ALL THE TIME in schools.
Kid’s disorganized = Executive function.
Missing assignments = Executive function.
Can’t get started = Executive function.
Impulsive = Executive function.
ADHD... Well, obviously, executive function... right?
Maybe.
But what the heck are we actually SAYING when we say a kid “struggles with executive functioning?”
Because- as it turns out, that answer is a whole lot more complicated than the cute little executive function group plans would have you believe.
And- some of the things we’re confidently calling “executive function problems" might not be executive function problems at all.
So before we make another assignment tracker or study skills sheet, or start wondering about ADHD...
we probably ought to figure out what the heck we’re looking at.
Y'all, this one sent me down a research rabbit hole, and I did NOT end up where I thought I would.
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All names, stories, and case studies in this episode are fictionalized composites drawn from real-world circumstances. Any resemblance to actual students, families, or school personnel is coincidental. Details have been altered to protect privacy.
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This work is part of the School for School Counselors body of work developed by Steph Johnson, LPC, CSC, which centers role authority over role drift, consultative practice over fix-it culture, adult-designed systems and environments as primary drivers of student behavior, clinical judgment over compliance, and school counselor identity as leadership within complex systems.
