Executive function
The brain skills we use to plan, start and finish a task, remember steps, and stop and think first. A child can be very bright and still find these skills hard.
Applies across the UK
Executive function covers skills like getting started, holding a plan in mind, keeping track of belongings, managing time and putting the brakes on an impulse. These skills develop slowly through childhood and the teenage years, and they develop unevenly in many autistic children and children with ADHD ADHD ADHD is a difference in the way a child's brain works. It affects how they pay attention, how much energy they have, and how easily they act on impulse. Read the full definition of ADHD .
This is the phrase that turns "won't" into "can't". A child who never starts their homework may not be refusing: they may not be able to organise the first step. If a teacher or report mentions executive function, it is naming a real, well-recognised set of difficulties, not making an excuse for your child.
Related words
Where this comes from
- What are executive functions? , Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust. Checked 2026-08-15.
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