EFD stands for Executive Functioning Disorder. Executive functioning is the brain’s management system. I have read that it is similar to a conductor of an orchestra. Every section of an orchestra may play beautifully, but the song won’t sound good unless the conductor puts it all together correctly.
Therefore, the executive functioning of your brain pulls all the jobs of your brain together at the right time. Components of your brain’s functioning will be discussed below.
As I understand it, there are two main causes of EFD: ADHD (all presentations) and/or a learning disability.
- People with ADHD most definitely show the symptoms of EFD because ADHD is the impairment of executive functioning, by definition. From what I have read, it is pretty much impossible to have ADHD without having EFD.
- People with learning disabilities may or may not have EFD. Some learning disabilities involve only certain executive functioning weakness, while others do not.
So to summarize, a person with ADHD will have EFD. A person with a learning disability may or may not have EFD. It is also possible for a person to have both ADHD and a learning disability at the same time. Again, executive functioning difficulties would be present in this case.
On this website, I only address ADHD-I and the EFD that goes with it. Since I lack the hyperactivity component and do not have a learning disability, I will not be speaking to those diagnoses.