The holiday season is upon us and with it brings excitement as well as many schedule changes and opportunities for meltdowns. One great (and free) way to support your child during this hectic time of year is to support their nonverbal working memory. This is the part of the executive functioning (or EF) system that helps us visualize or imagine ourselves in the future as well as think about the past. 

Exercise is good for everyone. In a world racked with uncertainty, this statement holds truer than most. Exercise looks different for everyone; you could be training for a marathon, or training to walk a 5k. You could play a few holes of golf on the weekend, or you could be doing a mile run followed by 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 200 squats, followed by another mile run. But no matter what and how much you are doing, you will very likely benefit from it.

If you are a parent staring down the barrel of the decision on whether or not to medicate your child for ADHD, it is very likely that you are feeling overwhelmed. I have found that many of the articles and studies we research do not include what families can really expect when they embark on that journey, or what they can expect if they don’t. Many studies and statistics that state medication treatment in addition to therapy for ADHD is very beneficial. I, too, am a believer in this idea, but that was not always the case, and of course every child, family, and situation is different; this is really important to keep in mind as you read this post. I want to share with you some information about ADHD and treatment thereof, as well as my personal journey of growing up while trying to figure out how to manage my diagnosis.

Before I get ahead of myself in this blog, I’ll answer the title question: What is Executive Functioning? Executive Functioning (or, EF, as the cool kids call it) is the “supervisor” or “conductor” in your brain. It helps control behaviors, emotions, and thoughts in order to achieve goals.