347: Accommodations That Reduce Cognitive Load Restore Motivation
with Jeff Copper, MBA, PCC, PCAC, CPCC, ACG
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spreaker | Spotify | iHeart Radio
Motivation isn’t what we’ve been taught it is. When we misunderstand it, we accidentally shame our kids for struggling with something they can’t control.
In this powerful conversation, I sit down with ADHD coach and cognitive engineer, Jeff Copper, to unpack motivation through the lens of executive function impairment. What if your child isn’t unmotivated at all? What if their brain simply requires more effort (more emotional cost) to produce the same outcome as their peers?
Jeff reframes motivation as a two-force system: the automatic brain (driven by comfort and survival) and the executive functioning brain (driven by effortful achievement). When executive function is impaired, as it is in ADHD, the balance tips. Tasks feel colder. Harder. More painful. And avoidance suddenly makes perfect sense.
We also dive into why traditional strategies like willpower, rewards, and even common accommodations like “extra time” often fail. In fact, some accommodations simply prolong suffering rather than relieve impairment.
Instead, Jeff introduces the idea of adaptive accommodations — support that reduces cognitive load and restores equilibrium. Think cueing questions, direct oral processing, printing assignments instead of forcing everything digital, and providing scaffolding that truly fits the brain.
This conversation is about dignity. It’s about seeing the invisible impairment. It’s about shifting from shame to understanding.
When parents describe their child as “unmotivated,” Jeff Copper gently challenges the assumption.
“Motivation,” he explains, “is simply the internal force that determines what you do and don’t do.” If a child is sitting on the couch instead of doing homework, they’re not unmotivated, they’re motivated to sit on the couch. That subtle shift matters. Because when we label a child as lazy, we shame them. When we understand competing motivations, we can problem-solve.
Jeff describes motivation as a two-force system: the automatic brain and the executive functioning brain. The automatic brain is driven by emotional urges — seeking pleasure, avoiding discomfort. The executive brain, on the other hand, drives effortful achievement. It pushes us to do hard things for long-term gain.
But here’s the key: executive function is effortful and energy-intensive. And ADHD is an executive function impairment.
“If executive function is 50% impaired,” Jeff explains, “then one unit of effort produces half a unit of output.” That means a child with ADHD may need twice the emotional effort to achieve the same result as their peers. Twice the discomfort. Twice the internal battle.
The result? Avoidance isn’t laziness, it’s self-protection.
Jeff shares a powerful metaphor from his years as a competitive swimmer. For most swimmers, diving into 79-degree water is uncomfortable. But imagine if the water feels 58 degrees instead. The shock is greater. The urge to avoid it is stronger. That’s what effort can feel like for someone with executive function impairment.
This reframing changes everything about how we approach support.
Jeff argues that traditional strategies like willpower and rewards fall short because they amplify emotional strain rather than relieve impairment. Even common accommodations like “extra time” can backfire. “All we’re doing,” he says, “is giving someone a longer time to suffer.”
Instead, he advocates for adaptive accommodations — supports that reduce cognitive load and restore equilibrium between the two motivational forces.
Examples include cueing questions (“What’s your plan for today?”), direct oral processing (talking through tasks to activate thinking), printing assignments instead of forcing digital toggling between screens, and scaffolding working memory demands.
These supports aren’t lowering expectations. They’re reducing invisible barriers.
Jeff’s own story illustrates the impact. As someone with ADHD and dyslexia, he struggled academically until he received unlimited tutoring in college, adaptive support that allowed his intelligence to shine. He went on to earn an MBA. The difference wasn’t motivation. It was accommodation.
“ADHD isn’t a gift,” he says plainly. “But people with ADHD have gifts. When we relieve the impairment, those gifts can come forward.”
This isn’t about fairness. It’s about dignity.
When we stop interpreting behavior as character flaws and start understanding executive function impairment, we shift from shame to support, and that shift changes lives.
Motivation is not about laziness or character. When executive function is impaired, effort costs more emotionally. Avoidance often reflects neurological overload, not defiance.
Traditional tools like rewards, willpower, and even extra time frequently increase emotional strain rather than relieve impairment. Without reducing cognitive load, we may simply prolong suffering.
Adaptive accommodations restore equilibrium. When we fit the task to the brain — through cueing, collaboration, and scaffolding — we protect dignity and unlock potential.
What You'll Learn
How to reframe “lack of motivation” through the lens of executive function
Why effort feels more painful for neurodivergent kids
Why rewards and extra time often don’t solve the real problem
What adaptive accommodations look like in everyday life
How direct oral processing and cueing can support working memory and task initiation
MY GUEST
Jeff Copper, MBA, PCC, PCAC, CPCC, ACG
Jeff Copper is a cognitive engineer and ADHD coach. He is founder of DIG Coaching Practice, Attention Talk Radio, and Attention Talk Video. He holds professional designations from ICF and PAAC and certifications from ADD Coach Academy and Coaches Training Institute. A member of ADDA, CHADD, ACO, PAAC, and ICF, Jeff developed Cognitive Ergonomics From the Inside Out®, a radical departure from the current ADHD intervention paradigm. In recognition of his contributions, he received the ACO's 2022 Professional Excellence Award. Jeff continues to innovate in attention coaching, helping individuals understand and manage their ADHD challenges.
Resources
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Beautifully Complex Podcast #347
Accommodations That Reduce Cognitive Load Restore Motivation, with Jeff Copper, MBA, PCC, PCAC, CPCC, ACG
Jeff Copper [00:00:01]: There are accommodations for ADHD, but I've got a bone to pick with them, and I'm going to pick on extra time. I like this one because it is commonplace, whether it's extra time on a test or extra time to do a thing. Effectively, Penny, all we're doing is allowing people a longer time to suffer. We're not relieving the impairment. We're just having you suffer longer.
Penny Williams [00:00:25]: Welcome to Beautifully Complex, where we unpack what it really means to parent neurodivergent kids with dignity and clarity. I'm Penny Williams, and I know firsthand how tough and transformative this journey can be. Let's dive in and discover how to raise regulated, resilient, beautifully complex kids together. Oh, and if you want more support, join our free community at hub.beautifullycomplex.life.
Welcome back, parents, educators, and other caring adults in our neurodivergent kids' lives. I have Jeff Copper back on the podcast with me, someone I consider a leading expert in ADHD and also a friend. We just have the most amazing conversations about really getting deep into the meat of ADHD and neurodivergence and what is going on for our kids. I'm excited, as always, to chat with you about new ideas, Jeff. But will you start by letting everybody know who you are and what you do?
Jeff Copper [00:01:32]: Yes. I'm Jeff Copper. I'm a cognitive engineer and an ADHD coach. I've been working for 19 years in this space as a coach and a cognitive engineer. I have my own podcast. I have a YouTube channel. I do a fair amount of speaking, and I do a lot of advocating for those with cognitive disabilities. I'm involved with the disability board of a nonprofit and helping some lobbyists form public policy.
So I'm kind of all things ADHD.
Penny Williams [00:01:59]: Yeah. And you've been podcasting for a really long time at this point. I think you were one of the very first to be talking about ADHD in that way. I've learned so much from you over the years as my kid has grown up. It's been such a good resource, and I value it so much. I know so many other people do as well.
Let's get into the topic of motivation and executive function and neurodivergence. I think we have to start with clarifying motivation, because a lack of motivation isn't laziness—but that's what we're taught it is. So how do we reframe that?
Jeff Copper [00:02:42]: That's what I'm here today to do. I want to reframe this with a new way of looking at motivation. I'll give a little bit of background just to lay it out, and we'll try to keep it simple.
When you think about it, motivation is the internal force that determines what you do and don't do. At its most basic level, that's it.
The topic of motivation is quite emotional. A lot of times people look at someone with ADHD and say, "That person's not motivated." That's actually an emotional observation. It's not an objective observation.
If somebody's just sitting on the couch not doing their homework, it's not that they're unmotivated—it's that they're motivated to sit on the couch. That's a subtlety, but it's important.
If somebody's motivated to sit on the couch and you're saying they're not motivated, all you're doing is shaming them. You're not really helping. But if you say, "They're more motivated to sit on the couch than to do that," now you can ask, what do I need to do in the environment to shift things so they would naturally do what might be good for them?
It changes the approach to solving the problem.
Penny Williams [00:04:01]: Yeah, totally. And it's hard to let go of some of those ideas that have been ingrained in us as parents or educators. It's important that we're talking about what motivation really is—what drives it, where it comes from, why it's a struggle—versus just trying to find any way to motivate a kid.
Because that doesn't work, right?
Jeff Copper [00:04:29]: Absolutely.
I'd like to frame out a new way of viewing motivation, particularly in the context of executive function impairment, so we can logically make sense of this and then come back to the emotion.
I'm a big fan of Dr. Russell Barkley's executive functioning construct. He talks about the brain being a two-level system. You have an automatic brain, which is more primitive, and you have the executive functioning brain, which is very effortful because it takes a lot of energy for the executive brain to override the automatic brain.
It's like when you're going back for seconds and you're really hungry. You know you shouldn't eat it, but you do it anyway. There's a fight going on.
So I've changed motivation to a two-force system. You have the automatic brain's motivation, and you have the executive functioning brain's motivation. These two forces compete for dominance.
The automatic brain's motivation is emotional. It's based on urges, seeking pleasure, or escaping discomfort. It's a survival mechanism.
The executive functioning brain is driven by the emotional desire for achievement. But achievement requires enduring discomfort.
I was a competitive swimmer. When I'm standing at the edge of a pool, and the water temperature is 79 degrees, it's cold. When I dive in, I get a shock I don't like. There's discomfort I have to endure to swim every day.
That discomfort is part of achievement.
Jeff Copper [00:08:14]: Now, ADHD is an executive functioning impairment. Executive functions are what we use to solve problems. If they're impaired, they're less efficient.
For illustration, let's say executive function is 50% impaired. If a neurotypical brain expends one unit of effort and gets one unit of outcome, that's baseline.
If executive function is impaired 50%, one unit of effort produces half a unit of outcome.
Logically, someone with ADHD would have to produce two units of effort to get one unit of output.
That extra effort has an emotional cost. It's more painful.
If the pool temperature feels like 58 degrees instead of 79, the shock is greater. The urge to escape is stronger.
That extra effort swings the pendulum in favor of the automatic brain. The urge to avoid increases.
When we see someone not doing what we want them to do and label them lazy, we're not taking the impairment into account.
Penny Williams [00:11:15]: That explains so much.
Jeff Copper: Absolutely.
Because ADHD is invisible and intangible, we act like it's not there. But when we frame it this way, we can understand the difference.
Now the question becomes, what do we do to bring these two forces back into equilibrium?
Willpower doesn't logically make sense because you're amping up emotion to override emotion.
Rewards can help, but they're limited. You're amplifying emotion to endure discomfort. You have to keep increasing the reward.
Extra time? You're allowing someone a longer time to suffer. You're not relieving the impairment.
So we need adaptive accommodations—what I call systemic relief.
If someone can't see, giving them extra time to read doesn't help. Giving them glasses relieves the impairment.
Adaptive accommodations for ADHD might include cueing, direct oral conversation, or reducing toggling demands.
Cueing questions like, "What do you need to do today?" help retrieve knowledge and activate thinking.
For many with ADHD, not to talk is not to think.
In today's digital world, toggling between tabs increases working memory demands. Printing something out can reduce that load.
These accommodations fit the task to the person.
Jeff Copper [00:28:50]: I have ADHD and dyslexia. In high school, I struggled. In college, I had unlimited tutors. That adaptive accommodation made the difference. I earned my MBA.
The difference wasn't motivation. It was support.
ADHD isn't a gift. But people with ADHD have gifts. When we relieve the impairment, those gifts can come forward.
Penny Williams [00:32:49]: Jeff, thank you. I always learn so much.
Jeff Copper: We've got to change the narrative. When we look at behavior differently, the answers change.
Penny Williams [00:33:14]: I see you. You're doing hard and meaningful work, and you don't have to do it alone. If you found this episode helpful, share it with someone who needs it and leave a review so others can find support too.
Take good care.
hey there!
I help stuck and struggling parents (educators, too) make the pivots necessary to unlock success and joy for neurodivergent kids and teens, themselves, and their families. I'm honored to be part of your journey!
Host of Beautifully Complex. I help stuck and struggling parents (educators, too) make the pivots necessary to unlock success and joy for neurodivergent kids and teens, themselves, and their families. I'm honored to be part of your journey!
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