If you’re in the San Francisco area and would like to meet Robert in person, be sure to check out EdRev 2010 on Saturday April 17, 2010. Ed Rev is an all-inclusive day of inspiration and resources drawing nearly 2,500 students with learning difficulties, and their parents and educators. Robert will be speaking about how coaching can help transitional students who have ADHD overcome the challenges they face. Event information can be found on Facebook or sign up at, visit the Parent’s Education Network.

Robert had his poem about living with ADHD recently featured at About.com.  The poem clearly struck an important chord with many families and students living with ADHD.  We are pleased to share a copy with you and look forward to hearing your comments.

The Wonderfulness of Me, by Robert Tudisco

If you took all of the things that were special about me,
you could put them all together and call it AD/HD.
No better, no worse, just different that’s me,
I’m really not crazy, please try and see.
Like a talented wizard in a world full of “Muggles”,
its no wonder all you see is frustration and struggles.
As I daydream and drift, you think no one’s there,
but nothing could be further from the truth, believe me, I swear.
I see your impatience as my mind starts to wander
But, you don’t know the depth of the thoughts that I ponder.
For creative thinkers, get lost in deep thought,
which leads to the illusion that they cannot be taught.
I know trying to reach me can give you the blues,
but I wish for just once, you could walk in my shoes.
To see things through my eyes, you would be amazed,
at the speed and sheer volume my thoughts seem to blaze.
I’m not lazy or stupid, if only you knew,
how truly difficult it is to limit myself and think like you do.
But, I can see things that you’ll never see,
its like second nature, because I am me.
With lightning fast reflexes, I can switch gears,
to be firm and inflexible is the worst of my fears.
I’m calm in a crisis and know just what to do,
For I’m in great company, Mozart , Edison and Churchill to name just a few.
So show me some patience, as I’m patient with you.
Just a little tolerance, it’s long overdue.
Please try and understand me, along with my AD/HD,
It’s a very big part of the wonderfulness of me.

Talk back: We’d love to hear about the wonderfulness of you in the comments!

Included in the whitepaper are 60 practical solutions for typical ADHD challenges. Highlights include:

• Using creative ways, like music, to keep yourself on schedule
• Working with your urge to procrastinate, not against it
• How to study smarter, not harder
• How to use fidgeting to stay focused
• 4 student qualities for success

Everything you need to know about ADHD, college, and living your dreams. Download your FREE copy at the bottom of this link today!

Next up, our Executive Director, Sarah Wright, will be speaking at the ADD Resources annual conference entitled Acceptance is Empowering and held in the Seattle area on November 14, 2009. Her session, A is for Anxiety, focuses on how to keep anxiety at bay and builds on the material in these Edge blog posts: ADHD and Anxiety Overview, Common Anxiety Disorders and ADHD, and Non Drug Treatments for Anxiety Everyone Can Try.

If you haven’t heard of them before be sure to check out ADD Resources. This non-profit is a great resource for people living with ADHD. They have a large library of podcasts, books and articles that are free to members or offered at a very low price for non-members. Their November conference will offer a wide range of breakout topics aimed at the parent or student who has ADHD. If you are in the Seattle area next week, be sure to consider attending.  If you aren’t able to make it, be sure to check out the wide range of articles we have on file in our blog and watch for our upcoming post about coping with depression.

If you’d like to find out where Edge Foundation board or staff will be appearing and other inside information about Edge, be sure to  sign up for our Newsletter. ,

Edge Foundation was well represented among the presenters. Sarah Wright and founding board member Nancy Ratey, both presented at breakout sessions, as did several of our coaches and coach trainers including Jodi Sleeper-Triplett, Russell Colver, Harriet Steinberg, Dan Pruitt, and Diane Ladd.

Preliminary findings highlights include:

• Coaching enhanced students’ ability to think about their goals in more effective ways.
• Students receiving coaching increased their use of tools and strategies to work more efficiently, and expanded their use of “self-talk” to persist when temporary barriers complicated their progress.
• Coaching had helped students become more proficient and confident as they pursued their goals.
• Students who received coaching reported a more positive sense of well-being due to their increased self-determination achieved through coaching.

Our findings were also echoed by a dissertation study presented at the conference by Abigail Levrini: ADHD Coaching and College Students: An 8 week study on 6 students.

The Edge Foundation’s nation-wide field study into the effects of ADHD coaching on outcomes for college students with ADHD will be completed next year and full study results will be available in August 2010.

1. 18 year old is really not 18
2. There is an option of not going to college right away
3. The process that we’ve set up in our colleges is still daunting and students need help navigating that process.
4. Get a coach.

An 18 year old with ADHD is really much younger developmentally

Experts remind us that an 18 year old with ADHD is really more like 15 or 16 year old developmentally.  What this means is even though our kids are entering college as adults at 18, they really aren’t ready to learn self-advocacy skills their peers are expected to.  Neil encouraged parents and educators to remember that ADHD youth are often not mature enough to handle the independence that comes when they lose the scaffolding of their parents and home.

A gap year can help students catch up with their peers developmentally.

Neil could see his daughter wasn’t ready for the “free flowing” college dorm situation so help keep her out of school for a year.  A structured gap year that provides experiences and opportunities for your

Getting accommodations is difficult

While we’ve made a lot of progress in serving disabled students in college it’s a daunting process to qualify for services and then inform each of your college professors that you need accommodations.  Neil recommends that parents need to teach their children how to self-advocate for these services if they haven’t done so already.

An ADHD coach can help you keep on track

Neil Peterson is a very successful entrepreneur and former CEO.  His favorite analogy about why a coach makes sense is “If a coach is good enough for a CEO, its good enough for a struggling 18 year old.”  He should know, he uses a coach himself to stay on track.  For Neil’s daughter, Kelsey, an ADHD coach is invaluable in helping her break down the steps of getting her assignments done, setting and following through with commitments to herself, and planning, prioritizing and staying on task.

Do you agree with Neil and other ADHD experts that an 18 year old with ADHD isn’t really 18 developmentally?  Let us know!

Last month I attended my first Association of Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) annual conference. AHEAD is a vital professional association for those who provide services to disabled college and graduate students.

Personal Coaching for post-secondary students highlighted at AHEAD

This was the first AHEAD conference in which personal coaching for post-secondary students was highlighted. They had an all day preconference institute from some of the best-known coaches in post-secondary education, including Theresa Maitland from UNC-Chapel Hill and Karen Boutelle from Landmark College (both are CTI-trained).  Organizers and presenters alike were thrilled at how well attended the institute was.

The afternoon session was Basic Coaching Skills For Non-Coaches: Supporting Students in Managing Executive Function Challenges given by Karen Boutelle. I got to attend some of this session, and I was excited by her take on coaching to executive functioning rather than to ADHD specifically. Karen was brilliant and I heard participants talking about her presentation for the rest of the conference.

Research reports show coaching effective with ADHD students

The morning presentation comprised three sessions on the effects of coaching for ADHD/LD students. These sessions were:

• A National Study on ADD Coaching: Promoting Autonomy, Widening Campus Access by David Parker at Washington University in St. Louis and Sharon Parker at Wayne State University,
• Coaching: A Tool to Promote Successful College Transition for Students with LD/ADHD by Theresa Maitland and Kristen Rademacher, both at UNC-Chapel Hill, and
• Research Findings: The Positive Impact of Coaching on College Students with ADHD/LD by Karen Boutelle at Landmark College and David Parker at Washington University in St. Louis.

The exciting thing to me is that these were all research presentations and all spoke to how coaching helped those who experience chronic difficulties with time management, organization, and dealing with stress. It was particularly striking how all three studies showed that coaching supported the student’s emerging autonomy, helped them self-regulate, and promoted confidence about their future success.

This is nothing new to us in the ADHD coaching profession, but to have three research studies on coaching presented at one conference is a big deal. The results from the third study have already been accepted for publication. You can look for them in the November issue of Learning Disabilities Research & Practice. The results from the first study will be available informally from the Edge Foundation in mid October.

Edge:  You’ve been a leader in the disability community for the 10 years since you were diagnosed with ADHD.  What are the ADHD projects you are most excited about these days?

Robert Tudisco:  I am excited about the work that is going on at the Edge Foundation to provide scholarships and subsidized coaching for college students with ADHD.

When young students leave the structure of home and high school they often find themselves floating along in college without structure, accountability and the ability to advocate for themselves. For individuals with ADHD, this is a recipe for disaster.  Edge Foundation coaches establish the structure and accountability that is crucial for these transitional young adults.

Edge Foundation is also making significant strides in establishing a scientific basis for the efficacy of coaching which has been lacking in this field as well as a means of standardization through their own coaching certification program.

Edge:  So I imagine a coach can be helpful to a student in assessing whether or not they want to disclose they have ADHD or keep it private.  Do you have an opinion on whether students should come out about their ADHD or not?

Robert Tudisco:  Actually, I do not see it that way at all.  A coach can be very helpful in helping a student understand their specific needs due to their ADHD and help them self report and seek supports in a post secondary environment.  Under the law, it is always an advantage for students to self report their ADHD.  In fact, under Section 504 and the ADA, post secondary students are required to self report and ask for services if they are to have any protection from discrimination about their disability.  Disclosure for students is therefore a must.

Disclosure of ADHD in the workplace is more complicated than when attending school

When students enter the working world is when the question of disclosure becomes more delicate to resolve.  In the first instance, most employers do not accept federal subsidies and employers with less than 50 employees are exempt.  Additionally, for an employment claim, the disabled person also has to prove that they are otherwise capable of performing the job.  Disclosure becomes even more complicated with respect to certain types of businesses where there is much competition for advancement and traditional stigmas can hold an employee with a disability such as ADHD back from advancement.  Here, a coach can be particularly helpful in guiding a client toward a career that better suits their ADHD where their particular work style and creativity can maximize their effectiveness and also how to seek support without necessarily disclosing something that may be seen as a negative.

First large-scale study looking at the effectiveness of personal coaching for college students with ADHD.

The Edge Foundation reported today that it has concluded the pilot phase of its ADHD coaching study.  A progress report on the study was presented at the AHEAD 2009 Global Access Conference, Louisville, KY and will also be reviewed at the Southwest Disabilities Conference in Albuquerque on September 30th and at CHADD’s National Conference in Cleveland on October 9th.

The pilot study is the second phase of a $1 million, 27-month study funded by the Deerbrook Charitable Trust, the Foundation of Coaching, and the Edge Foundation.  It is being led by a faculty team from the Center for Self-Determination and Transition in the College of Education at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. For more information about the study team,  ADHD and the Edge Foundation click here.

ADHD Coaching Pilot Study Objectives

The pilot study was conducted with a group of 8 students at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.  It prepared the way for comprehensive, national study by testing its methods and systems to make sure they all work well and the study operates smoothly. It had two major components:

1.       Pretesting the assessment tool and research techniques before launching them on a broad scale.

2.       Identifying qualitative themes through open-ended interviews with students who have ADHD.

ADHD Coaching Study Research Design and Study Population

“There is substantial anecdotal evidence indicating that coaching is perceived by students, parents and educators as a valuable service that helps students succeed in a variety of settings. However, the value of personal coaching has never been subjected to a rigorous scientific study of its effects on student outcomes.” said Dr. Sharon Field, the project’s research director.

The full-scale, national study will be conducted at  several two- and four-year colleges and universities across the United States during the 2009/2010 academic year. It will examine the effects of coaching on 200 randomly selected students with ADHD. The outcomes for these students will be compared to those of similar students who do not receive coaching services.  Study results will be available by August 2010.

The study will examine coaching’s impact on:

• student retention rates,
• credits earned ,
• grade-point average,
• organizational and study skills, and
• students’ perceived sense of well-being, social adjustment and adaptation to college life.

Next steps:

“We believe that the information we learn from this study will result in significant improvement of the graduation rate of students with ADHD,” said Sarah Wright, Edge Foundation Executive Director.  “When you consider that an estimated 8 million children have ADHD, the potential economic impact of this study is significant.”

A copy of the pilot study PowerPoint presentation slides will be available in October.  If you would like to receive notification the slides are available and other study updates, please sign up for our newsletter.

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.