Not discounting DeeDee's excellent input, but--
Task initiation is getting going on a task; very hard for people who have ADHD, not usually impaired in people with anxiety AFAIK. People who have impaired initiation often show a frustrating gap between the time they are given an instruction and the time they actually acknowledge it or start to complete it. It can make a child look oppositional even if it's really a processing glitch.Hmmmm... well, not necessarily true that task initiation is uniquely correlated with EF deficits. There are a number of other explanations which involve anxiety directly.
Significant socially prescribed perfectionism can trigger task/performance-avoidant behaviors (basically, procrastination and anxiety).
You can't "do it wrong/imperfectly" if you don't do it at all, basically.
BTDT, this is
precisely the pattern that we see in our DD, who has no other indicators of anything non-NT. But those things
can reach a level that they'd lead to a (mis-)diagnosis-- probably of ODD/ADD-inattentive. Neither of which is at all applicable when separated from the anxiety and perfectionism. Things which are not subject to objective or subjective "grading" or standards, we simply never see this.
The thing is, the "punishment" for non-compliance has to reach a point where it becomes > the 'reward' for not risking failure/taking action... and that can cause delays in "processing" directions/tasks or starting them. What I realized at some point is that what my DD is
actually processing is which is the better alternative-- to do what she's being asked to do? Or to refuse and not 'risk' imperfect performance? Lots to consider when making that determination, including who you're dealing with and how they are likely to respond to a refusal, what other stuff you'd like to be doing, etc.
You'd think that it would be easier to just do what you're asked, right? But apparently not.
