Article Archive
The Four-Hour Now
What an ADHD Mechanic’s Toolbox Can Teach Us About Hyperfocus, Scaffolding, and Executive Function An auto mechanic begins an engine repair at nine in the morning. For the next four hours, the engine becomes his world. He isn't watching the clock or thinking about lunch. He is diagnosing, removing components, testing possibilities, choosing tools, discovering […]
The Executive Functions We Build Outside the Brain
The Case of Alton Brown: How Scaffolding, Friction Removal, and the Extended Now May Turn Executive Dysfunction Into Expertise There is something fascinating about Alton Brown’s kitchen. It is not simply organized. Plenty of kitchens are organized. Pots go in one cabinet, knives in another, spices in a rack, utensils in drawers. Everything can have […]
When Intelligence Becomes Less Accessible
ADHD, Trauma, Shame, Hyperfocus—and the Difference Between Having Intelligence and Being Able to Reach It One of the strangest things about ADHD is watching intelligence appear and disappear without the intelligence itself changing. A person can demonstrate extraordinary pattern recognition, creativity, mechanical reasoning, verbal ability, or abstract thinking in one environment, then seem unable to […]