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We’re pleased to announce that Edge Foundation has set up a page on Facebook.  The page is all about providing ADHD college students with news, tips and resources to help them overcome ADHD obstacles and reach their goals in school and life.

Real life solutions to problems college students face everyday

You may have already seen the Edge Foundation Group on Facebook.  It was set up by an Edge Foundation fan who knows, first hand, how effective coaching can be for students with ADHD.  But don’t be confused - so far, it hasn’t been a very active community.  The Edge Foundation Page will have much more to offer.  We will be inviting community members to join us in discussions about real life strategies to stay on top of common issues every college student faces like money management, procrastination, all nighters, and assignment planning.  We’ll also let you know about our latest blog posts, keep you on top of what the experts are saying about ADHD, and link to other reputable sources for ADHD information.

Become our Facebook Fan and help spread the word:  ADHD coaching works!

We hope you’ll visit out page soon and become one of our fans.  And if you know a college student who has ADHD, we’d appreciate it if you’d share the word.  So many people have never heard about ADHD coaching, much less know how helpful it can be.  As readers of this blog, we’re betting you already have a clue about the power of ADHD coaching.  We also are betting you know several other people who have ADHD and are probably on Facebook.  Becoming our Facebook fan is an easy way to help spread the word about Edge Foundation and the benefits of ADHD coaching to your friends and family.  Please check us out!  And when stop by, we hope you’ll write a note on our wall and let us know what you’d like to hear more about from Edge Foundation.

Edge Foundation is pleased to announce it has joined with Global Scholar to provide coaching services for their clients.  Global Scholars is one of the web’s leading online tutoring businesses. Edge Foundation’s ADHD coaching support is now being offered on Global Scholar’s College Finder and School Finder resource pages.

Students with ADHD often need more than tutoring help to stay on track with their goals. Many times ADHD students struggle not with learning, but instead with managing time, staying organized and persisting in completing assignments.  Life coaching can actually boost graduation rates for high school students.  So we are excited by this partnership which will help more ADHD students find the resources they need to be successful in school.

It’s not too late to sign up for the 2009 ADHD Family Summit. And now is a good time to do it because this Wednesday, June 17, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern (8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, and 6:00 Pacific) Edge Foundation Executive Director, Sarah Wright, will be talking about how coaching can help your ADHD teen be successful in school, at home and in life.  Did we mention that it’s FREE?

The ADHD Family Summit is organized by Rory Stern, a passionate advocate in the ADHD community. The teleseminars will be held throughout June on Monday and Wednesday evenings at 9:00 pm Eastern, and include access to a 24-hour replay line for people who aren’t able to listen in live.

Sign up today!

In case you missed the paper on Sunday, Parade Magazine ran a story about an innovative program that helps reduce the high school dropout rate.

Chilling facts about the U.S. high school dropout rate

• Only 71% of all American high school students will end up graduating.
• The current generation of teens are less likely to earn a diploma than their parents.
• Each year dropout students cost taxpayers $320 billion in lost wages, taxes, and productivity.

Innovative program boosts high school completion rates

The state of Georgia has been experimenting with providing what they call “graduation coaches” to at-risk teens.  These “coaches”, who function a lot like social workers, keep on top of teens to ensure they complete enough credits to graduate.  Early results are very promising.  In South Atlanta, the graduation rate has jumped from a shameful 35% graduation rate to an above-average 74%.  That’s progress to be proud of!

ADHD Coaching takes “graduation coaching” to the next level:  life coaching

The power of someone paying attention and caring that kids are actually in class and passing courses is clearly amazing. Students with ADHD need more than attention to help them be successful.  They need life coaching.

Life coaching provides accountability the same way graduation coaching does. But it also helps ADHD students gain self-awareness, self-mastery and self-advocacy.  A coach can help students identify their goals, create action plans to accomplish these goals, and practice skills to monitor their progress towards achieving their goal.

In most cases, after just one year of ADHD coaching, most students have internalized these lessons and are able to carry on successfully without a coach.

Just one year of coaching can turn a disorganized student into a successful person who is able to achieve whatever they set out to accomplish. The Edge Foundation is in the final phases of a ADHD coaching pilot study which will demonstrate how coaching helps college students be successful.  Look for results being announced later this summer.

Now is the time to find a coach who can help getting ready to head off to college in the fall.  For more information visit http://www.edgefoundation.org/students/sign-up.

Dear coach,
My boss just wrote me up for lateness.  I really want to get to work on time, but I just can’t seem to make it.  How do I make my boss understand I’m trying?
Signed,
Better Late Than Never

Dear Late,

Yes, being chronically late can be a problem when you have ADHD.  Instead of focusing on getting your boss to understand why you are tardy, it’s more useful to consider ways to get yourself to work (and school) on time.  You can do it!  It just may take a little experimenting to find what works best for you.

There are three main reasons people with ADHD are usually late.

1.  Getting up late.

Yes, getting out of bed on time in the morning can be hard.  Especially if you are cutting your self short by falling asleep later at night than you should.  (For tips on how to get to sleep on time, see ADHD & Sleep.)  Here are a few things to try:

• put your alarm clock across the room so you have to get up to turn it off.
• use two alarm clocks, so you won’t be tempted by the snooze alarm.
• set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier than you think you need.  It may be that you are just underestimating how much time you need to get out of the house.

2.  Getting sidetracked

Do you jump out of bed with time to spare and still find that you are late out the door? Pay attention to what you are focusing on.

• Keep a checklist of everything you need to do before leaving the house.  And don’t turn on the TV, phone or internet until you get these things accomplished.
• If you take medication, take it first thing out of bed. That way it will start working before you leave the house.
• Set reminder alarms to keep you on track.  Figure out how much time you need to dress, eat and get organized.  Then set alarms to remind you that you need to have that task completed.  Use your phone or buy one of those reminder watches so your alarms are always nearby.
• Add in 5 or 10 minutes to your commute time so you have room for the unexpected.

3.  Being disorganized.

Do you walk out of the house only to realize you forgot your lunch or phone?  Do you spend needless minutes hunting around for your keys or shoes?

You need a “launch pad” by your exit door.  Set aside a special place near the door.  Collect all of the things you’ll need in the morning the night before.  If there are things like lunch that you’ll need to make in the morning, leave yourself a note at the launch pad, so you remember it in the morning.  Then at night, put everything there — keys, sunglasses, phone, purse, briefcase etc.  So they’ll be ready for you to grab as you run out the door.

You may have already tried all of these things, but are still late.  That’s where time with a coach can come in handy.  A coach can give you outside perspective about what’s not working and how to fine tune your routine to make it work for you.  ADHD and lateness often go hand-in-hand, but they don’t have to.  With a few simple tweaks to your routine, you can become a punctual person.

Do you have a question for the coach?  Send it toinfo@edgefoundation.org.  We’ve love to hear from you.

Edge has set up an audio feedback line so you can tell us how we are doing.

Just call (214) 615-6505, enter extension 2908, and start talking. We are currently seeking stories to post on the Edge Foundation website. So if you have a story about how Edge or an Edge coach has helped you, please give us a call. Please understand that when you leave a message on the line, you are giving us permission to quote you. However, it’s just your voice on the line, and your name will not be attributed to your recording. Thanks for sharing your stories with Edge.

Parents know that helping their children learn to sleep through the night is more challenging when a child has ADHD.  Why?  Children with ADHD have twice the rate of insomnia and sleep disturbances as people who don’t have ADHD.

ADHD students need to take their sleep seriously

So falling or staying asleep is already hard if you have ADHD.  Add to that the natural sleep cycle for teens (2 a.m. - 10 a.m.) doesn’t mesh with the time that the world expects them to start their days.  Students with ADHD are often even more sleep deprived than their peers.  Sleep deprivation both mimics and makes ADHD symptoms worse.  So if you have ADHD taking charge of your sleep habits is even more important.

Sleep hygiene, what’s that?

We usually think about keeping clean when we see the term hygiene.  But did you know it also refers to the science that deals with the preservation of health?  Sleep hygiene is the habits you put in place to keep yourself healthy with adequate sleep.  An ADHD coach can help you figure out what you are doing to mess with your own sleep cycles.  Here are a few ideas to try.

• Don’t nap during the day.
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bed.
• Exercise regularly, but earlier in the day.
• Don’t eat a lot before bedtime.
• Establish a relaxing bedtime routine. Turn off the DS, TV, internet or Wii at least an hour before your bedtime.
• Associate your bed with sleep. Don’t do other things like read, check email, text or watch TV in bed.
• Make sure your room is not too hot, or too bright.
• Make sure that the sleep environment is pleasant and relaxing. The bed should be comfortable, the room should not be too hot or cold, or too bright.
• Don’t sleep with your pet. They can wake you up at night making it hard to fall back asleep.
• Here’s a really fun way to look at your sleep environment and make it easier to sleep:   http://www.shuteye.com/sleep-tools/snooze-improver.aspx

For other ideas on sleep hygiene visit:  Sleep Foundation

Other ADHD and sleep links:

Other steps to try for insomnia treatment

Sleep facts and stats

A good overview of signs of sleep deprivation in children compared to ADHD symptoms

Diagnosing sleep disorder when you have ADHD

Have you figured out how to get your sleep on track?  Share your stories with us.

Edge Foundation is pleased to showcase a recent video featuring our coaching instructor, Jodi Sleeper-Triplett. In it Jodi talks about her vision for ADHD coaching including:

• why Edge Foundation coach training is unique,
• how coaching helps kids with ADHD take charge of their lives, and
• how ADHD coaching can help students with ADHD acheive their dreams.

This video is a great starting place for anyone who wants to learn more about how ADHD coaching works.

Edge would like to welcome 5 new board members:  Dick Riordan, Dr. Barry Alberstein, Bill Grinstein, Robert M. Tudisco, and Greg Farrell.  Each of these men brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our board and we are excited to have them on board.

Our new board members’ experience includes national leadership in CHADD, exemplary commitment to excellence in education - especially for children with learning differences, legal advocacy for people with ADHD, clinical practice in psychology, and savvy business knowhow that will be instructive to Edge as we grow our organization.  Just from that quick description you know that Edge will be getting tons of good advice, direction and support from these committed individuals.

You can find out more information about each of them on Inside Edge Board of Directors page.  And while you are there, you can also check out our coaching instructors,  ( Jodi Sleeper-Triplet, Loretta Spindel and Russell Clover) and our staff (Neil Peterson, Sarah Wright and Denise von Pressetin).

Edge Foundation has tremendous human capital at hand.  We know these newest team members will be instrumental in bringing our vision, ADHD coaching for all students who need it, to life.

Dear Coach,
When spring is in the air, It’s impossible to concentrate. Help I’m falling behind!
Signed,
Sunny

Dear Sunny,
There’s no denying it. Everyone feels like goofing off on a warm, sunny day. Unfortunately responsibilities of school, work and home don’t stop when the weather gets nice. Here are some ideas you can use to keep yourself on track:

Work with your urge to procrastinate

• Work at night when the call to be outdoors and playing isn’t so compelling.
• Do a moderate amount of vigorous outdoor exercise, then study.
• Take your studying outdoors - some of the time. It’s not as efficient, but at least you’re working rather than looking out the window.
• And next year, plan for spring fever by taking a heavy load in the winter and a lighter load in the spring.

Be accountable

• Get a study buddy and make an agreement that you’ll each get so much done in the next few hours. Knowing you’ve made a commitment to someone else really helps. It’s the power of accountability.

• Whatever you do not take a incomplete. Do whatever you have to do to finish a course. Or you may never finish it at all.

Schedule your study time

• Apply the principal of exercise intervals to studying. Instead of alternating sprinting and walking, alternate study and play. Set a timer and work hard for 30 or 60 minutes then play for the next interval of minutes. Then do it again. Just be sure you quit playing as readily as you quit working!

• Plan to procrastinate. Know when your deadlines are and how much time the tasks will take, and then do them when nothing else on the list is more important to get done because the deadline is NOW.

Study smarter not harder

• Know which classes will cut you slack so you can put energy into the ones that won’t.
• Know when you’ve hit the point of diminishing returns. If you’ve worked for 5 hours and know that’s enough to get an A- on the paper and it will take 5 more hours to get an A but there’s other work that needs to be done, move on!

If you have a question you’d like our resident ADHD coach to answer, feel free to add it to the comments and we’ll try to answer it in a future post.