Executive function is one of the latest "buzzwords" in special ed and refers to a broad theoretical cognitive function which supposedly more or less oversees and manages several other cognitive skills. The primary role of this "executive function" involves organization, planning, flexibility, and inhibition. So I would assume that someone using the term Executive LD is referring to a learning disability which is primarily characterized by difficulty with "executive function". Unfortunately, virtually all LD and ADD/ADHD students experience difficulty with planning, organization, etc. So there is concern that executive function (or dysfunction) may simply become a catchall term which describes most if not all LD students and therefore provides little practical understanding or direction. I personally am not convinced that the term is useful from a standpoint of either diagnosis or intervention. As for Neurological LD, the common assumption is that all true learning disabilities have a neurological basis. So the term Neurological LD may simply represent someone’s attempt to assert this idea. Again, all SLD students could be considered to have a “neurological LD” so the term itself provides little if any clarification.

Scott