There is a lot of confusion among Neurodivergent folks and service providers on what may be causing our inability to access a task at any given time.

Is it demand avoidance? Inertia? Executive functioning?

This blog intends to be a primer on some key differences between the three and how we can help ourselves and our clients recognize our experiences with each. 

Demand Avoidance

Generally, demand avoidance (which is terribly named) is recognized as being caused by nervous system dysregulation due to activation of our protective mechanisms when we are presented with anything from an expectation - either our own or someone else’s of us, an internal need like hydration, a demand on our energy or attention like someone talking to us about something we are disinterested in, to a loss of autonomy. 

The nervous systems response to these demands, expectations, loss of autonomy or needs makes it to where we are unable to access the task - be it anything from watching a show we want because of the expectation we enjoy it or getting up to get a glass of water. 

Demand avoidance can be connected to an anxiety response for some. For those of us who do experience an anxiety response with demand avoidance, it is often a heightened anxiety response. However, not all people who experience demand avoidance recognize an anxiety response in connection. Please keep in mind the experience of demand avoidance can differ, just as the experience of nervous system activation/dysregulation and anxiety itself differ.

Challenges in Recognizing Demand Avoidance

Due to interoception differences (ability to recognize internal sensations such as hunger, discomfort, nervous system dysregulation) and Alexithymia (difference in how one experiences and recognizes emotions), many people struggle to know when their nervous system is dysregulated. Not all of us have internal or external clues we can tap into in order to recognize this shift in our nervous systems regulation and activation. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum of interoception and emotional awareness are those of us who are acutely aware of our internal sensations and emotions - we just don’t always know what brought these changes on.

It can take time to identify when these shifts occur and where they come from. With practice in whatever ways work best for each individual it is possible to begin to recognize whether demand avoidance may be the answer to what is blocking us from being able to access the ability to do a task. 

Inertia

The definition of inertia is “an object in motion stays in motion: an object at rest stays at rest.” For many Autistic people and ADHDers we recognize when we keep going with chores, we do better than if we do one thing then take a break because once we take the break, getting started again becomes a significant challenge or even impossible to accomplish (for a period of time). 

ADHD can impact our need to “go go go'' - so we may notice when we do one thing we continue to add on tasks until suddenly we’ve been up doing random things for over an hour. In contrast, we find if we sit on the couch on our phone or when we sit down to watch a show, we have a difficult time getting up to do anything - even if we really want to do it (and don’t notice any nervous system dysregulation). In this example, we have the energy and motivation to do the task, if we could just get up to do it. We can access the internal planning ability (executive function), we can think of how we would begin the task (task initiate - another executive functioning skill) - so why can’t we do it? The answer may be as simple as inertia and not demand avoidance or executive functioning.

Challenges with recognizing Inertia 

In order to pin down the fact we are experiencing inertia vs demand avoidance or executive functioning, we need to be able to deduct the other experiences and realize it is simply the fact we are already going so it’s easier to keep going or we are already at rest so it’s easier to stay at rest. 

Inertia can seem too simplistic to cause the level of difficulty it does. However when we cannot seem to stop ourselves from doing tasks so we can rest when we need to or getting ourselves going when we’re at rest because we need to be doing things can cause significant distress and disruption in our daily lives in the absence of demand avoidance or executive functioning being connected. 

Executive Functioning 

Please note: executive functioning skills are a Westernized idea of what brains and bodies should be capable of doing to perform at school and in work in Neuronormative ways. 

As a simple explanation - executive functioning skills are thought to be skill sets like focus, planning/prioritization, task initiation, self-restraint, working memory, etc. 

Neurodivergent people, in general, experience each of these executive functioning skill sets differently than the average person, so it may not seem fair to hold us to certain standards within executive functioning discussions and consideration. For the purpose of comparison within this blog post - these skill sets are being used as an example of something that is frequently asked by ND adults online to gain a better sense of self-understanding.

We can often tell executive functioning skills are inaccessible when we go to plan a task and can’t seem to figure out how we want to approach it at the moment. Our working memory is inaccessible to us when we try to recall what we just read in the recipe we’re making but have to go back and re-read it multiple times. 

Difficulties in recognizing Executive Functioning challenges 

Due to there not being a defined list of executive functioning skills, it can be difficult to determine if it is a challenge within executive functioning or not as we have to have the information to make a determination. As far as the types of executive functioning skills we could be experiencing difficulty with, it really depends on where you search on which are listed, and while some are more heavily researched such as working memory, others are more theoretical in that they do not have the same neuroscientific research backing. 

Another challenge is how each of us experiences executive functioning skills differently from one another, so gauging difficulty with say working memory for an ADHDer would most likely be significantly different from someone who does not live with ADHD. Working memory challenges for someone with a traumatic brain injury or a seizure disorder will also vary from others experiences with it. Each can experience their own difficulties with accessing working memory, it is just that the experience of this difficulty will be different and therefore it is a challenge to determine with certainty it is specifically executive functioning we are dealing with in any given situation. It is not an impossible task to determine executive functioning difficulties within individuals - it merely means we need to be taking a holistic approach and recognizing all of the various factors which can impact the experience of executive functioning challenges.

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Please also note: it can be a combination of two or more things at once. I can personally experience demand avoidance and task initiation difficulties simultaneously. My inertia and not being able to get up can activate my demand avoidance reaction - so on, and so forth.

A future blog and books are planned to help guide through supporting ourselves in each of these areas. This blog was intended to be a basic primer on the concept of all three potential causes of being incapable of accessing the ability to do certain tasks as this is one of the most debilitating experiences many Neurodivergent folks express.

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Resources:

• “No Way Out Except From External Intervention”: First-Hand Accounts of Autistic Inertia Karen Leneh Buckle, Kathy Leadbitter, Ellen Poliakoff, Emma Gowen Frontoers in Psychology, 13 July 2021 Sec. Neuropsychology
  Volume 12 - 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631596

• Examining the relationship between anxiety and pathological demand avoidance in adults: a mixed methods approach. Johnson Matt, Saunderson Helen. Frontiers in Education, VOL. 8, 2023 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1179015 DOI=10.3389/feduc.2023.1179015

• What are the 12 executive functioning skills? Novella Prep