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Executive Function Explorer

Run the Executive Function Explorer Fullscreen

Place the following line in your website to include this MicroSim in your course:

<iframe src="https://arunbatchu.github.io/adhd/sims/executive-function-explorer/main.html" height="452px" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Description

Chapter 2 argues that "she knows how to do this" was never the point — executive functions are the skills that manage other skills, and they fail one component at a time. This explorer gives each of the six components a card: click to expand it into its definition, concrete examples at three ages, the judgment that failure usually attracts ("lazy," "rude," "careless"), and the replacement question a family should ask instead.

Quiz mode is the point of the exercise: an everyday scenario appears ("he agreed to take out the trash, walked past it four times, and swears he still meant to") and you attribute it to the right component. The feedback explains the attribution — and why the near-misses differ. That attribution move is exactly what the chapter wants families doing at home instead of reaching for character verdicts.

Lesson Plan

  1. Explore (4 min): Open all six cards. Each learner names the component that hits hardest in their own household.
  2. Quiz (5 min): Run all ten scenarios. Note which attributions were hardest.
  3. Apply (5 min): Each learner writes one real scenario from their week and the group attributes it using the cards.
  4. Debrief (2 min): Compare the "judged as" line with the "ask instead" line for the component your household picked.

References