An inside look at executive functioning issues.
A response to: Ask an Autistic – What is Executive Functioning (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=229Xb…)
I like this video. I really enjoy hearing from other a/Autistics and I love it when people make videos in response to or elaborating on a topic from one of mine.
Video is not captioned.
this is a really good description of what i experience. i don’t think choice paralysis is the whole story with executive dysfunction, but it’s such a big factor that i’m not sure i could disprove that it is, either.
non-autistics apparently don’t see every possible next action, even the abysmally stupid ones, and have to choose between them, every time they try to do something. that sounds so goddamn restful. i mean, i’m sure the vast and branching alternate universe tree that opens up before each one of my decisions makes me a better writer, and i know it makes me better at spotting solutions other people miss.
but it also means that when the small saucepan is not hanging on the Hook Where The Small Saucepan Belongs, i suddenly have to cope with every possible place it could have gone springing into my mind at once, including silly stuff like “my helper accidentally took it home with her” and “my spouse took it to his office to put peanut shells in.” the fact that i find it in the most logical place (the dishwasher) within five seconds doesn’t retroactively undo the mental and emotional labor i involuntarily expended on that massive array of choices i thought up. it happened. it happens every time. i can’t decide not to do that. welcome to autism.
Wait, so how do allistics whittle it down? How does normal brain sort out silly options from non-silly ones when deciding what to do? I can’t even comprehend it.
I wonder if allistics have to consciously decide to include silly options before being able to even consider doing a silly thing. That must be why I end up doing silly things and not realizing I’ve done a silly thing until people look at me funny.
i think that’s probably it – the allistic brain instinctively picks out The Next Thing and presents only that to the consciousness.
i think both neurotypes are necessary to a functioning society. allistics get shit done; autistics think up the shit you didn’t know you could do. 😀
hmm. well, imaginative, creative neurotypicals are admired for seeing lots of possibilities and options rather than only one or two, but are also chided for the way that really takes up processing power and leads to bad or deferred decisions.
it seems to me like an actual physical limitation? if you’re the sort of only see one or two choices, that saves a lot of time and energy, but you’re going to have a really hard time navigating complex, novel situations. if you’re the sort to always see dozens of choices then basically every day is a complex novel situation. you’re trading ‘kick ass in familiar situations but freak out and die in unfamiliar situations’ on one end of the creativity spectrum for ‘be about the same level of shitty in all situations’.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Monsters' Queen 