Executive Function & ADHD Glossary
Clear, plain-English definitions of the terms parents and students hear most often, from teachers, assessments, and each other, explained the way we actually use them in coaching.
Each term below has a short definition. Where we've written a full guide on the topic, you'll find a link to go deeper.
Executive Function Basics
Executive Function
The set of mental skills that let someone plan, start, organise, and follow through on a task, separate from intelligence or subject knowledge.
A student can understand the material and still struggle to apply it consistently. That gap is what executive function coaching addresses.
Task Initiation
The ability to start a task without delay, once you've decided to do it.
This is one of the most commonly affected skills in the students we coach, not unwillingness, but difficulty crossing the gap between “I should” and “I am.”
Working Memory
The ability to hold information in mind while using it, following multi-step instructions, keeping track of an idea while writing it down.
Emotional Regulation
The ability to manage frustration, anxiety, or disappointment without it derailing the task at hand.
Self-Monitoring
Noticing when you've gone off track and adjusting, without someone else pointing it out first.
Organisation & Time
Building reliable systems for tracking work and estimating, realistically, how long things take.
ADHD-Specific Terms
ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder)
A neurodevelopmental condition affecting the brain's ability to regulate attention, impulse control, and activity level. Formally diagnosed by a licensed clinician, not a coach.
Hyperfocus
The ability to lock onto a high-stimulation activity with intense, sustained concentration, often the flip side of struggling to start low-stimulation tasks like homework.
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD)
An intense emotional reaction to perceived criticism, failure, or rejection, common in ADHD, often disproportionate to the situation itself.
Time Blindness
Difficulty sensing how much time has passed, or how long a task will actually take, distinct from simply losing track of the clock.
Body Doubling
Working alongside another person, in person or online, to make starting and sustaining a task easier, the presence itself provides structure.
School-Context Terms
IB Extended Essay
An independent 4,000-word research essay required for the IB Diploma, run over several months with minimal built-in structure, a common point where executive function gaps become visible.
IB Internal Assessment (IA)
Coursework completed across the IB Diploma's two years, assessed by the school rather than a final exam, another long-timeline, low-structure task type.
Twice-Exceptional (2e)
A student who is both gifted in one or more areas and has a learning difference or executive function difficulty, often masked because the strength compensates for the struggle, at least for a while.
Masking
Consciously or unconsciously hiding signs of a struggle to appear more capable or “fine” than the underlying experience, common in high-achieving students, and in girls specifically.
School Refusal / School Avoidance
Persistent difficulty attending school, often driven by anxiety, overwhelm, or an accumulation of unmanageable demands rather than defiance.
Recognise your child in more than one of these? A conversation is the quickest way to work out what would actually help.
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