Understanding ADHD & Executive Function

🎧 Episode Show Notes

Understanding ADHD & Executive Function

In this episode of the PHPS podcast, we wrap up our three‑part series on learning differences with Leda Owens of the Housson Center.

In this conversation, we explore ADHD through the lens of executive function — helping families better understand how attention, organization, working memory, and self‑regulation impact students both in school and in daily life. Dr. Owens offers clear, practical insight into how these challenges show up and how supportive environments can make a meaningful difference.

🧠 What We Discuss

• How to understand ADHD in clear, everyday language
• What executive function skills are and how they develop over time
• How ADHD impacts learning, attention, and consistency in school
• Common misconceptions about ADHD, including attention and hyperfocus
• Practical ways to support students at home and in the classroom
• The importance of scaffolding, patience, and reducing overwhelm
• Strengths often associated with ADHD, including creativity and adaptability

📚 Resources Mentioned

• Leda Owens – Learn more about Dr. Owens’ work with students and families through the Housson Center, including support for ADHD and executive function.
• Theo of Golden – A book Dr. Owens is currently reading and recommends!

🌱 A Message of Encouragement

Dr. Owens reminds us that ADHD is not simply about attention — it’s about how the brain manages and organizes tasks. She emphasizes that while there are real challenges, there are also meaningful strengths, including creativity, curiosity, adaptability, and out‑of‑the‑box thinking. With understanding, patience, and the right support, students with ADHD can build confidence, develop their skills over time, and thrive in ways that reflect their unique strengths.

🎙️ Series Wrap‑Up

This episode concludes our three‑part series on learning differences. Our hope is that these conversations have provided clarity, encouragement, and practical insight for families and educators supporting students every day.

🎧 Coming Next

We’re handing the microphones over to our students for a special student takeover episode, featuring an interview with visiting author Drew Daywalt, best known for The Day the Crayons Quit — a joyful and creative conversation you won’t want to miss.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome back to the PHPS Difference Podcast and to the final episode in our three-part series on learning differences.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Today we're focusing on ADHD in executive function. These are terms many families hear, but it can be difficult to understand what they really mean for students in school and everyday life.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

We're excited to continue our conversation with Dr. Owens as we explore how ADHD affects learning, organization, attention, and regulation. To begin, how would you explain ADHD to families in simple terms?

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Yeah, it's so important. I encourage families to have their own definition of ADHD. So I'll go through kind of something that I would say, but I think it's really important for listeners to take what I say, take what you like, modify your own words because it needs to come in your voice, right? If we try to just copy what someone else has said, our kids kind of tend to roll their eyes and they're like, oh gosh, you know, mom listened to a podcast. We want this to be as organic as possible. So clinically, ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, which is neuro meaning it happens in our brain, and developmental meaning it happens in the early stages of life. But to be more conversational, we can say that it's a difference in how the brain manages attention, activity level, and self-control. It includes weaknesses and executive function skills, which are necessary for managing tasks. And it includes strengths, typically in creativity, curiosity, and spontaneity. So I really want the definition to include both bookmarkins of areas of weakness so we can make predictions about where we might struggle, but also to highlight the associated strengths that we see with this condition.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Well, and we often hear that phrase, especially in education, about executive function. Yeah. What are executive function skills and how do they relate to ADHD?

SPEAKER_02 1:58

The way that I define executive function skills are the cognitive skills that are needed to execute tasks. So we can remember execute executive. That makes sense. They're skills-based, they're developmental, and they're context-specific. So skills-based just meaning, yay, they're not fixed. Like there are things that we can do to build and teach these areas and see differences. Developmental means they are continuing to grow throughout development. And you might know that our brain doesn't fully reach maturation until mid-20s. So these are delays and related to ADHD, again, I want to emphasize it's not that these skills just don't exist. They are delayed. And research shows us there's up to a 30% delay in executive functioning in this population. So what that means is like a 12-year-old that's functioning in terms of their organization and planning like a nine-year-old. So that's that's like a sixth grader and a third or fourth grader. It's a pretty big difference that can lead to underachiev. And again, these things don't finish developing until our mid-20s because they exist in our prefrontal cortex, which is the last part of our brain to develop. So being patient with the growth of these skills is important. And lastly, being context-specific just means that you might see them being manifested differently across context. And that doesn't always have to just mean there's a lack of effort, right? They're very situationally dependent on how they present.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Absolutely. And you know, our our treatment and support for ADHD has has come a long way and it's shifted over the years. And I'm sure that there are families that maybe parents have experienced ADHD for themselves, but we're thinking about students now in the context of our learning environments today. And just wondering how ADHD commonly impacts learning in the daily school life for students and what can be supported in that environment.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Yeah, and it it very much impacts academic learning, right? So when we think about ADHD, there has to be a functional impairment, right? We can't just do a checklist and there not be any area that we're seeing difference. And one of the core areas is in academics, right? Another core area would be social functioning and then home functioning. So the regulatory skills that are delayed in individuals with ADHD make it harder for these students to consistently and reliably demonstrate their knowledge in class and consistently attend to the information that they're receiving. So if we were picturing this, like a student without ADHD might be like a slice of cheddar cheese, and our ADHD student might be a slice of Swiss cheese. So there's just some holes in kind of what they're receiving and then how they demonstrate, you know, in the snapshot of testing. School environments we know favor students with certain brain skills, like attention and organization and self-regulation. So it certainly doesn't mean that students without strengths in those areas can't be successful, but it just means that those environments are going to come easier for them. So we might think about sports like basketball, for example. The game is set up in a way that favors height, right? So if you are a shorter player, you can still be a great player. You just develop other skills like speed and agility or shot accuracy. And so, in the same way, school is similar in that it rewards students for sitting down for long periods of time and sustaining their attention and remembering instructions and staying organized. So students that do that naturally find it easier to navigate. And students that don't just need some different supports or strategies, um, it certainly doesn't mean that they're not capable learners. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

What are some common misconceptions about ADHD that you see you see often? I know you were talking about some of the challenges, but also the strengths. Are there misconceptions that you see? Yeah. You've just spoken to one.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

And and this kind of stems from our diagnostic manual. All of our diagnostic uh criteria is deficit-based. Yeah. So nowhere does it say, does this student also show lots of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking? No. But we do know through research, through collecting data, and just interviewing the lived experiences of these individuals that there are areas of strength. So, yes, that is a big misconception, is that it doesn't always have to be this like negative label. It just describes a difference. And the differences in strengths are worth noting. I think another misconception is the H in the acronym. So long time ago, we used to call it ADD and ADHD, and somewhere someone decided that we're all ADHD, but we have different presentations. And so you can have a predominantly inattentive presentation, mean meaning you don't have the hyperactive or impulsive symptoms. And clearly those things are easier to um identify because they're observable behaviors. Whereas the inattentive presentation and becoming distracted or kind of losing place, being forgetful, those are things that happen internally and they're not always as easy to observe. And maybe one other thing is this idea of hyper focus. Um, and sometimes we still hear from parents because they'll say, well, you know, he can focus. He does his Legos for like two hours, and I'll call his name three times. He doesn't even look up. And again, it's a little misleading based on our label. The label is attention deficit. And it's really not fair. It's not that these individuals don't pay attention. In fact, they pay attention too much. They, you know, tend to pay attention to the wrong information or maybe not the most pertinent information. So hyperfocus is actually an extremely common characteristic of this condition, and the way attention is regulated is either, you know, kind of missing or it is full on in. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

The fourth grader calls that locking in. Locking in the things that he's really excited about. He's excited about the Legos, the playing sports.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

That's true for all of us, right? I think we hear that and we're like, well, yeah, me too. It's just the the quality of it is so different. Yeah. Like I'm lowercase lock-in, and someone with ADHD is like, all caps, log ins. Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Right. Well, and I think that observe that observation piece is so important too. They'll see details or notice things. Absolutely. Maybe nobody else notices. We always have the the wonderful thing with my daughter is she'll show up and if you just got a haircut, she's the first one to notice it. She's the one that's always going to call it out. And nobody else around you may see it. And so there are those beautiful elements that I think are are definitely worth celebrating. Um I like that I like that we're calling that out today because I think that's so important. Um and and I think that it even extends to um going back to what you spoke about with the working memory in our last episode. Um, we think about the environment at home and at school and how we can put proper supports in to help an ADHD child because working memory can be a challenge if attention is the main area of of need. How do we how do we encourage families to be patient, put the supports in place? How do we encourage that at school as well, whether it be a learning difference environment or a mainstream classroom?

unknown 9:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

It's a process, and hopefully we never stop learning.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Yes. Um, I'm learning new things after 15 years of doing this. So I would just encourage parents that, yeah, read as much as you can, have an appropriate understanding of um what this condition entails and what it doesn't entail. Um, there's this idea of scaffolding. So if you ever watch like a building being built, you see the, you know, all the little like ladders and things. I don't know, people in construction are probably dying with this example, but you know, all those little like things that the people use to build the building. And then the building's magically built and that that structure goes away, right? Yes. That's the idea of scaffolding, which just means it's not milestone-based, but it's individual-based. And I really encourage parents, like sometimes this process can be so overwhelming. It's like you get this diagnosis and you're like, holy moly, what do I do? What does this mean? Um, but I would encourage parents to know you are the expert of your child. You do know your child. You may not know all these clinical terms, but you you do know your child and lean into that. And scaffolding just means I'm gonna provide just enough support to help this individual. So if they can do something independently on their own, stay emotionally regulated and consistently do that over time, they don't they don't need that support, right? Right. Um, but conversely, if we see lots of outbursts or we see a ton of inconsistency, it means we might just need to step in. And one way to do that is ask questions instead of telling. And I think as adults, our time is limited. So I find myself doing this. I just kind of start barking instructions instead of asking, which is then gonna make them become more self-aware, observe the environment, and answer the question themselves, right? Instead of like, hey, you need to do this or you skip this. I might say, Hey, take a look, what what needs to be looked at again? Just something simple like adjusting how we communicate with the kids can be a good way to support them.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

Um, in the classroom, what I might suggest is that, you know, what may be necessary for some students is beneficial for all. So normalizing access to these quote accommodations can be a really great way to just introduce it like, hey, we all have different learning approaches and different brain styles. And so, you know, you may prefer this and your friend may prefer this, and that's okay. It doesn't have to be this right way that we're all doing it, and oh, you need this, right? You know. So that might mean just like leaving um fidget boxes out or having headphones accessible for all students. So if they find the environment is too loud, they can go and access that themselves. Um, you know, it might mean just like allowing the student to pace or stand up while they're working because that motion, that activity level, even if we don't have a hyperactive student, ADHD individuals will use activity to help re-engage themselves in a learning. So that can again be an easy way that we provide a supportive environment to them. Um, related to working memory that you spoke to, Lauren, um, it is the cognitive process that is most impaired in individuals with ADHD. So, you know, it's things we've talked about in the last episode, right? Kind of being kind of more forgetful or difficulty following through with instructions. So breaking things down for them might mean like instead of bombarding them with three different tasks, I'm gonna give two. And I might supplement that with visual cues. So I might like hold up a number one while I indicate the first thing, and then I might hold up a number two, and then I can just check for understanding real quick. All right, what did I tell you to do? And see if they can immediately regurgitate it. Because sometimes we find that they're, you know, eyes are locked in, they look attentive, but they're like, wait, what? We immediately catch it. And sometimes that helps prevent our own frustration because it's not five minutes later when they haven't done what we've said, and now we're, you know, right on our soapbox and here we go on a different direction. Right, right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Well, and you've kind of talked to this throughout about kind of not meeting dysregulation with dysregulation, you haven't said those words, but I think that that's something, even as an educator or as a parent, that can be so hard, and that's for all children. Um, little people have lots of things going on in their bodies. Um, but for an ADHD child, I can only assume that um if you are dysregulated and unable to meet them in a calm manner, that it's only going to increase their um emotions and their inability to then go into their executive function skills that they need to be able to complete those tasks and find that working memory place that we're discussing.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

So the struggle's real, right? Like apple tree situation, like you know, this condition is genetic. So a lot of times we have a parent that hasn't quite identified what fully works for them or identified it way later in life, that's now trying to parent a little mini me and it's triggering. Yes. Or on the opposite end, it's like I'm totally different than my child, and I didn't have these struggles. So I'm I'm kind of coming from a place of like, I don't understand why I can't just do it. Yes. So yeah, you're right. There, these power struggles do happen a lot. We know parents that are raising children with ADHD have significantly more parental stress than parents that are not raising these children. So hopefully that is validating if that is you. Um, but I think it's important to keep in mind that pressure doesn't create change, it creates resistance to it. And so sometimes out of our frustration, we just like lean in and you know, tighten up in a way that isn't helpful for the kid because then they just kind of like check out or feel a little bit helpless in terms of making any change or difference.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Absolutely. And not adding shame to something that's already challenging is really important.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

Well, that speaks to comorbidity, which is a funny word, but comorbidity just means like the overlap in these things that we talk about in terms of learning. Um, we know children with ADHD, like the likelihood that there is also something else, meaning like a, you know, a behavioral disorder, emotional disorder, learning disorder, is estimated anywhere between 50 and 80 percent. It's a really high likelihood that if we have kind of this one area that we're addressing, there's probably something else that's happening too. Um, so you're right, like we, you know, anxiousness or just like mood variability also becoming more problematic is a real thing that we need to be attentive to and work to prevent like, you know, throwing gas on the fire. Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Yes. I always remind myself to repair. If I if maybe it is an afternoon that I've thrown gas on the fire, just trying to make sure I go in and and apologize myself and and you know, connect with my kid and tomorrow's a new day and just keep keep trying. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

And I think that restore and repair is so important in both home and classroom. I think we can all we can all be thinking about that.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

If if nothing more than just to model that for our kids, right? So when they've misstepped, they can take ownership and know how to approach that. But yeah, I mean, we're people too, like hopefully none of us are trying to present ourselves in a way that we just got it all figured out, you know. And with our firstborns, like, hey guys, you're the guinea pigs. Like my oldest daughter's like, great. But we said that all the time. Like, we are really trying to figure this out too, and we appreciate your grace and you know, help give us feedback in a responsible way. We will listen to respectful communication.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Yes, that's right. I love that you've shared a lot of the great things that students with ADHD and executive function challenges have. Can you just share what strengths you see or that you that you know that these students have?

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Yeah, let me start with this kind of cool statistic. So, people with ADHD have been found to be 300 times more likely to start their own businesses. And that's because the traits that are associated with ADHD actually become really advantageous when we're in entrepreneurial settings. So this includes things like having higher energy and a greater risk tolerance, um being creative and showing out-of-the-box thinking and hyper-focusing in their areas of interest. And, you know, additional strengths also include just having a strong imagination and innovation skills, um, spontaneity and intuitiveness. So these are things that support really quick thinking and adaptable problem solving. So there's a pretty fine line between being accurate and being impulsive, right? If you do it fast and correct, it's like we value that in our culture. But if you do it fast and inaccurate, you're impulsive. So there's a pretty fine line there. And then we also see that these individuals tend to be a lot more attuned to their environment and subtle changes and emotional cues of other people and minor changes.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Yeah, that's that's great. And that I think we can all think of a person in our lives that embodies that. Um, and so to really lean in on this on all of the strengths of each of these learning differences that we've discussed over the last three episodes, um, and remembering that they're bringing something different to the table and everybody has a creative mind in a different way, yeah, is is really important and it's easy to get hung up on all of the challenges.

SPEAKER_02 19:00

Right. And it's not just to soften the blow of this label. Like it is grounded in research, right? Like this isn't just us putting rose-colored glasses on. It's like this is very much associated with this condition. And so, you know, like I spoke to earlier, recognizing the weaknesses so that we can make predictions and understand what's going to be challenging for us is equally as important as saying, hey, you know, this same thing that's really giving me challenge and pause in school is also responsible for how empathetic I am with people and how I do approach situations differently and bring a really cool perspective to something that, you know, maybe traditional learners would overlook.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

That's great. Um, before we close, we always like to ask our guests what book you are reading right now, or if there is a book that was impactful to you when you were a child, or something you read with your kids that just really stands out.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

I'm actually glad you asked only because I feel kind of cool because I'm in a book club now. Um I would normally answer that by just like all this research in our field and psychology. I listen to a ton of podcasts and always listening to books. But I'm currently reading a book called Theo of Golden. I don't know. Is that I don't know it.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Um add it to the show notes.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

I don't even know. I'm like halfway through. It's kind of interesting. There's this like older gentleman that's like doing good and bringing people together, but there's kind of a mystery behind a story, like you're not really sure where you came from. And so um, I don't know. I think it's teaching me a lot about how we have expectations for people and how we're all just like in our own little worlds and very much don't take time to, I don't know, take little small steps of positivity or positive gestures. But yeah, that's funny.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

That's currently reading. That's great. Well, and also having fun in a book club is neat to connect with other people and discuss it as well. That's right. Good for you.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

You can only imagine your brain whenever you're reading a book versus maybe my brain just in your background and you analyzing everybody and my poor husband is stop over analyzing. That's amazing. Well, thank you so much for being here and helping us better understand ADHD and the important role of executive function in students' learning and development. So great to hear from you.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

I'm happy to have been here. Thank you guys.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

And thank you for listening again and for joining us for this three-part series on learning differences. Our hope is that these conversations bring clarity, encouragement, and helpful insight for families and educators supporting students every day.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

And before we wrap up today's episode, we have something fun coming along. We're handing the microphones over to our students for a special student takeover episode. And they'll be interviewing visiting author Drew DeWalt, best known for the story of the day the crayons quit. It's joyful and a creative conversation that you won't want to miss. So be sure to tune in.