Executive Functioning (EF) is a term often used in conversation when speaking about Autism Spectrum Disorder.
According to Wikipedia (not the fanciest of sources:)), “Executive functions is an umbrella term for cognitive processes that regulate, control, and manage other cognitive processes,[1] such as planning, working memory, attention, problem solving, verbal reasoning, inhibition, mental flexibility, task switching,[2] and initiation and monitoring of actions”.

I refer to executive functioning deficits often when speaking to parents about why they need to prepare there children in the morning for the day ahead (visual schedules, verbal walk through of the day).
However, my best attempts at explaining this nuero-developmental process, cannot compare to the wonderful table I recently came across in a journal article, “The Development of Executive Function in Autism”, by
Elizabeth Pellicano and colleagues. In this article, the researchers discuss the impact that EF has on a multitude of routine functions of daily life.

I would recommend the journal article if you’re in the mood for a heady kind of read (took me a few times to get through). If you’re more interested in getting a better idea about the concept of Executive Functioning, I recommend viewing the table below from this link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3420556/table/tab1/

Full article link here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3420556/