Edge Foundation Blog

Do you ever hold back about sharing that you have ADHD?  You aren’t alone.  Some people’s parents tell them not to disclose it for fear their child will be discriminated against.  Some people hold back because they are ashamed of the impact ADHD has on their lives.  Still others can’t face another conversation explaining how ADHD is a real condition – not symptom of bad parenting, media hype or poor diet.  It can feel risky to reveal you have ADHD.

Sharing that you have ADHD with your friends, families and teachers is a very private and personal decision.  With ADHD Awareness Week just around the corner (September 13 – 17, 2010), we’d like to offer a few thoughts about the positive side of disclosing your ADHD and using it as an opportunity to educate others.

1. Secrecy breeds shame: Keeping a secret that is never discussed has a dark side – it can leave you feeling like there is something wrong with you that you have to hide.
2. Secrecy build barriers: When you decide to hold back about your ADHD, you build a little wall between you and that person.  The longer the wall is in place, the harder it will be to disclose the truth.  While the other person is oblivious, you can end up spending a lot of energy worrying about being discovered.
3. Secrecy keeps YOU in the dark: You can’t educate yourself about ADHD very easily if you aren’t open about having it.  Asking questions of an expert, sharing experiences with other people who have ADHD and learning strategies to work with your strengths and weakness – all require that you are open about having ADHD.
4. Secrecy can hurt you: If the people around you don’t understand that you have ADHD, they don’t have the same kind of compassion for your mistakes as they might otherwise have if you’d give them the opportunity.  Moreover, you need to be able to disclose your ADHD status if you want to receive accommodations in school.

Being Open About ADHD

We hope we’ve shown you some of the positive side of  “coming out” with your ADHD with your family and friends.  If you do, may we recommend you don’t just blurt it out there?  But that you take a three step, thoughtful approach to disclosing your ADHD status:

1. Take the time to do it right. Tell people when you have time to talk about it and they can ask you questions.  There are a lot of misperceptions about ADHD out there and people often don’t have any idea what it means to have ADHD.
2. Educate yourself. Be ready with information about what ADHD is and how it affects people. ADHD affects everyone differently and so understanding your own symptoms and need for support will empower you to advocate for yourself much more effectively. There are tons of resources on the web.  A particularly good one that addresses common concerns people may raise was written by ADHD Coach, Pete Quily http://www.addcoach4u.com/doesaddreallyexist.html.
3. Ask for help. When you talk about your ADHD, don’t be afraid to ask people to help you out.  That can mean being understanding when you slip up by being late, interrupting or running in three different directions.  Married couples should definitely spend time working out the give and take of an ADHD relationship in managing home life.

Finally, if you do share, be sure to pat yourself on the back.  By being open, educating others and asking for help, you pave the way for other people with ADHD to share and learn – or even discover for the first time that they aren’t stupid, lazy or inconsiderate – they just have ADHD!

Do you disclose your ADHD or keep it to yourself?  Have you ever had a bad experience in sharing?  Tell us your story in the comments.

By Robert Tudisco, Edge Foundation Executive Director

I wish I knew back in college what I know now about living with ADHD.  I had to learn ways to cope the hard way because I wasn’t diagnosed until many years after I completed school.  Since my diagnosis I’ve developed many skills that have made a huge difference in my life.  Here are four survival skills I’ve discovered that any college student with ADHD can use to make college more productive and stress free.

READING COMPREHENSION

Many of my prelaw classes had heavy reading requirements that pushed my ADHD brain to its limit.  I tried everything I could think of to stay focused, but my mind always wandered and I struggled with comprehension and staying on task.

Then in senior year, a friend of mine who worked in an accounting firm mentioned that her firm routinely handed out foam earplugs for reading tax code.  The text was very boring and she said that it helped her stay focused.  I immediately went to the store and bought some.

When I inserted the earplugs into my ears, it was like shutting off the world so I could actually climb into what I was reading.  The effect was amazing.  Those small inexpensive foam earplugs got me through the rest of college, law school and the bar exam.

After law school, an office setting presented a new challenge:  I couldn’t just shut it off.  Phones were ringing, people asked questions and my earplugs were of little use.  I experimented with sound machines and music to filter out distractions.  After much trial and error, I determined that classical and guitar music struck the balance that I was looking for.

The important thing to note is that I didn’t give up.  I thought about my focus challenge.  I tried – failed – and tried again.  My thought process and commitment made all the difference.

OUTLINING

Another useful tool I use that also helps with procrastination is outlining.  If, like me, you’ve tried and given up on lists because they are long and intimidating, give outlining a try.  Outlines help me understand how each task is connected and provides me with a map for getting there.  I outline everything that I do, from articles to case briefs to scheduling my day.

• An outline provides the structure my ADHD craves for whatever project or time frame that I need to plan.
• An outline provides a hierarchy of concepts and shows how they are related to each other.
• An outline breaks down projects to smaller subprojects and thereby makes them less intimidating.  Often the hardest part of task is getting started.  Breaking the project into the smallest components makes this much easier.

EXERCISE

After my diagnosis with ADHD, I went back and looked at my school transcripts and tried to correlate the times that I got the best grades with what was going on outside of school.  I quickly saw a pattern.  During the times when my grades were highest in college and law school, I was running to relieve my stress.

After this realization I embraced running and made it a part of my life.  I regularly run 4 to 5 days per week for approximately an hour.  My running helps me organize my thoughts and plan out how I am going to approach situations.

In recent years, research has shown that exercise can help reduce the symptoms of ADHD, anxiety, depression and other disorders.  Integrate exercise into your daily life.  If you keep at it, you’ll find it centers you, reduces your stress and brings you the clarity you need to move forward.

COACHING

One of the most important things that I have discovered in my journey to work with my ADHD is I need help to establish the structure, support and accountability that my ADHD mind so desperately needs.  That’s why I have worked with many different ADHD coaches since my diagnosis.

ADHD coaches offer an objective perspective on the challenges of ADHD.  They help us recognize and develop our talents, and learn where and why we struggle.  Each of my coaches has made a huge difference in how I approach obstacles while building my confidence about the specific talents that I have.

College is a key time to learn skills to work with your ADHD because it is much less structured than high school – especially for those students living away from home for the first time.  You may not have even realized all of the daily support your parents were providing until you are in over your head freshman year.  Even students who are extremely intelligent are at high risk because college requires new levels of self imposed structure and accountability.

An ADHD coach who specializes in the needs of high school and college students can provide the structure, support and accountability you need, not just to survive in college, but to reach your full potential throughout your life.

YOU CAN OVERCOME THE OBSTACLES OF ADHD

As someone with ADHD who has struggled all of his life with the challenges it has provided, I am living proof that there are ways to successfully address these obstacles.  The key is to understand yourself, be willing to try new things, reflect about how you respond to situations and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Keep that perspective and you will learn to gravitate toward your strengths and to avoid your weaknesses.  And always remember you are not alone.  There are a lot of us out there just like you.  Good luck!

Do you find yourself distracted whenever you turn on your computer?  Going online is especially distracting for everyone – not just people who have ADHD.  Email, social media, online games, banking and blog feeds are all appropriate uses of online time.  But they can also keep you from focusing on more difficult computer uses like researching and writing papers.

There are a lot of tools you can use to monitor your online usage.  Timers, lockdown tools and parental nagging all come to mind.  Keeping your priorities in mind can be the simplest, low-tech, no hassle solution to using your time wisely.  How?

• When you turn on your computer use the boot-up time to set your priorities.
• Write on a sticky note 3 – 5 things you must accomplish during your day and post it at the top of your screen.
• Before you do anything else, work on the first item on your list.  For example, if you are turning on your computer to work on a paper, spend at least a half hour working on it before you check your email.  If you are turning on your computer to check email, don’t go to Facebook first.  You get the idea.
• It’s okay to take a break now and then to play on Facebook or read a few blogs, but be sure to keep checking your priority list and returning to work away on it.
• Be sure to spend more time on your work than you spend playing.
• Keep a running list of things you don’t have time to get to and at the end of your session circle or highlight the items you want to get to another time.

What do you do keep on track while you are online?

A special thanks to Edge Foundation Executive Director, Robert Tudisco for inspiring this article.  Robert was an adult when he received his ADHD diagnosis.  Since that time he tackled his ADHD head-on and shared what has worked for him.  Robert is a frequent contributor to Attention Magazine and ADDitude Magazine.  The material for this article was taken from one he wrote for adults in the workplace.

Introspection is the key

Medication and coping strategies do not cure ADHD, but they can go a long way toward managing its symptoms.  There are a ton of strategies out there you can try, the key to making any of them effective is to look deep inside yourself and honestly appraise your strengths and weaknesses.  Take the example of your where you study.  How you set up your study environment can make a big difference in either contributing to your ADHD challenges, or playing to your strengths.  Don’t be afraid to experiment.  Understanding why a system didn’t work for you can provide you with valuable information about designing a system that will.

Identify your distractions

Start by figuring out what distracts you and work to eliminate those distractions.  Are you prone to audible distractions, visible distractions, or both?  Are you distractible some times more than others?  For instance, sometimes silence can help focus.  And other times silence can intensify the distracting noise in your head.  Try experimenting with white noise or music to keep the part of your brain busy that wants to wander.  Understanding what distracts you can be very empowering because you gain an element of control over things that have previously made you feel helpless.

Curb internet distraction

While the internet can be a very useful tool for research and in some cases productivity, it can also be black hole for wasted time.  EVERYONE is distracted by the internet.  It’s too easy to click on a link that appears to go to a related topic until you are so far afield from where you need to be you’ve forgotten what you are supposed to be working on.  Plus, the stimulation of the click, refresh and status update check can get your mind running like a hamster on a wheel.  When you find yourself distracted by the internet, turn it off.  For example, if you are working on a paper that you know you will have a hard time sticking to – take control and turn the internet off!

Identify a productive place

Designing a safe and productive place does not always mean a place within your own home or office.  Learn to experiment in different settings to see whether or not they are helpful to your productivity.  For instance, no matter how much you minimize distractions in your home or office, there may always be subtle reminders of other projects that you have to do.  Some people clean their house when they should be studying.  If you are one of those people, heading to the library may be the ticket to focusing.

Pick your prime time

Are you more productive in the morning?  Are you less productive in the afternoon?  Do you get more done in the study hall before everyone gets there and starts whispering or at the end of the day when things quiet down?  The answers to these questions can be invaluable in making the most of that prime time.  Figure out when you are most productive, and then spend that time on the things you find hardest to focus on.

Get support

Regardless of how hard we try to work around our problems, we may often find that the biggest obstacle we face is ourselves.  When that is the case, don’t be afraid to think WAY outside the box and even outside of yourself.  Don’t be afraid to seek the help of a coach who can work with you to develop a system of structure and accountability that can work for you and get you to where you need to be.

When you start thinking about productivity as a state of mind instead of a destination, you being the important step of taking control of yourself.  Empower yourself to success.  And remember, you are not alone.

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone. That means summer is here, right? For most students, summer means a welcome change of routine. Summer vacation. Summer job. Summer fun! If you’ve been working hard on putting good habits in place to help you cope with your ADHD, don’t let summer fun push those good habits to the wayside.

Get organized. Use your summer down time to your advantage. Down time can be a great time to get organized. Get rid of the clutter in your life. Go through your desk, closet or dresser drawers and give away or toss those things you no longer need or use.

Stick to your sleep schedule. It’s easy to get swept away on long summer’s nights and go to bed later and later. But people with ADHD need to protect their sleep habits more than others. Feel free to move your bedtime a bit later if you can sleep in later as well. But pick a bedtime and stick to it. Your body will be better off and you’ll be less stressed because of it. Plus, it won’t be so hard to get BACK into a routine once school restarts in the fall.

Do you use a journal to learn about yourself and your ADHD? Many coaches have their students use journals to help them keep on top of their lives. If that works for you, don’t stop journaling in the summer. Keeping your writing muscle strong will mean that you don’t have to retrain yourself in this hard-earned self-discipline in the fall.

Exercise. Exercise. Exercise. When going away on vacation it can be hard to keep up your exercise routine. Be sure to pack your gear even if you think you won’t use it. Be open to trying new things. Perhaps you can start riding longer bike rides or swim down at the pond. Summer can be a good time to experiment with new ways to work out. But the key here is to do something!

Do you know other ways to not let your good habits slip away over the summer? Tell us in the comments.

School’s almost out. Everyone has summer on their minds. But have you spent any time thinking ahead to next year’s classes? How about the year after that?

The end of the school year is a good time to look ahead and think about how you want your year ahead to go. Taking a little time now to plan ahead can lead to less stress, better grades and more success in school.

Pause for reflection. Many people with ADHD tend to spend more time looking ahead than reflecting on the past. But taking a minute to think about what worked well, and what didn’t go so well, can help you build on successes and avoid repeating past mistakes. Pretend its January 1st. What are your resolutions for things to do differently next year? What are things you want to build on? Write yourself a note and send it to yourself to arrive on September 1. (43things.com is a great tool for sending yourself reminders about future goals.)

It’s all about balance. Think about what classes you need to take to graduate? Which subjects do you love? Which ones do you struggle with? Think about the type of work required for each class and balance the type of classes out over the year. For example, don’t take more than two classes each term that requires heavy memorization.

Optimize productivity. When selecting classes, think about when you are most productive. When do you listen best? When are you able to knuckle down and study? Now plan your class work and study time to fall during these high productivity periods. For example, if you are a morning person, consider allowing a block of time between two morning classes to get a quick burst of studying in at the start of your day.  Thinking about and planning for a “productivity window” can help and ADHD student move from struggling to success.

Establish good habits now. Do you have a regular exercise routine? If you don’t, start one now. Research has shown that regular exercise helps reduce ADHD symptoms. If you integrate exercise into your daily routine now, it will be easier to keep going in the fall.

Start researching your future teachers now. Talk to your friends and find out about the teaching style of different teachers and professors. Which ones are rigid and which ones may be more accommodating of your style. Consider talking to teachers before you sign up for their classes about their expectations. Better to know in advance that 50% of your grade will be dependent on completing daily homework assignments, don’t you think?

Lighten the load. Consider taking classes over a five year period instead of trying to push through college in 4. Take one or two classes during the summers so you can focus on the tough classes with fewer distractions during the school year. If you are in high school, talk to your guidance counselor and see if a home school option for summer study is available to you, too.

Find an ADHD coach. A coach works with you over time to develop better planning and self-management skills; skills that will help you manage your time and your things so you’re on top of your work and the rest of your life and not overwhelmed or behind. You can begin working with a coach over the summer, so you have good organizational systems in place when fall rolls around.

So as this school year draws to an end, take time to reflect and plan ahead. Instead of New Year’s Resolutions, think School Year’s Resolutions!

What are your School Year Resolutions? We hope you’ll share them in the comments.

We also hope you find these related ADHD coaching articles useful:

Treating ADHD with exercise

Getting the most out of 504 & IEP meetings

ADHD coach vs. academic tutor

Plan ahead so you don’t crash and burn in the fall

Virtual schools are on the rise. What was once seen as a second rate degree, a virtual diploma has become far more common place and acceptable a means of education. Virtual schools have even been lauded for lowing dropout rates among at-risk youth. In fact, a study by the US Department of Education even showed that on-line learning can be even more effective than classroom instruction for some groups of students.

Virtual School Advantages

If you have ADHD, an online school may be an option to consider.

• If you are a few credits short at graduation or you’ve been considering dropping out of high school, on-line education can be a way to get a fresh start, complete your high school credits and graduate.
• An on-line school is also a way to start college without leaving the support structure of home. Many times students take a year or so of community college before going away from home to a college or university. You may want to consider a virtual school in this situation if your local community college doesn’t offer the subjects you are interested.
• In all cases, be sure to check on the accreditation of the school you are considering. And, if you are thinking of transferring the credits you earned to another college in a year or so, be sure to check with that school to find out how many of the credits will transfer.

Virtual School Pitfalls

Virtual school sounds pretty great, huh? Set your own pace. Perhaps there’s even no set class time to show up for – so you are never late. No commute time. Study without ever having to get dressed. All these conveniences can also have a flip side – no accountability. YOU are responsible for showing up. YOU are responsible for keeping yourself on track. YOU are responsible for staying focused on your school work instead of surfing the web. It’s just as easy to fall behind in a virtual school as a traditional one if you don’t manage your time well.  So, just as many have found that working at home can require more self discipline than they expected, you want to think carefully if virtual class work is for you.

• Many students find that they have to go to the library to force themselves to focus on their studies. Where will you go when it’s time to sit down and learn?
• Do you have the ability to organize your time to get everything done you need to accomplish during the day? If you already have trouble getting yourself organized or being places on time, the less structured format of on-line education may not work for you.
• On-line schools may or may not be able to accommodate your 504 plan.

An ADHD Coach can help

• An ADHD coach can be a helpful partner for on-line learning. A coach can help you assess your strengths and work with them – instead of against them.
• You can work with your coach to figure out what type of learning environment is best for you. A coach can help you learn organizational skills that will keep you on track, plus have the added bonus of serving you well throughout your life.
• If an on-line school is right for you, a coach can help you stay accountable and moving ahead with your studies. (Side bonus, keeping Mom and Dad off of your back!)

Have you tried on-line learning? What have you discovered worked for you? Please let us know.
And while you are here, check out these related articles you might be helpful:
Live at home student responsibilities
Resiliency and ADHD success
ADHD College Survival Guide

Editor’s Note:  This month we are pleased to publish a guest post by Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D.  Nationally recognized psychologist, Kathleen G. Nadeau, Ph.D., has many years helping children, teens and adults to learn better planning and organizational skills.   Dr. Nadeau is the brains behind, Skoach, an integrated online time management and task planning tool.

Figure out why you procrastinate, then match your strategy to motivate accordingly.

Procrastination can be caused by several things. You may procrastinate because you don’t enjoy a task. You may procrastinate because a task is large and challenging to organize. Or, you may procrastinate because you aren’t sure how to accomplish the task.

1. Procrastination due to dislike of an activity

If you procrastinate because you don’t like a task, look for ways to increase task appeal such as:

* Make it into a game, and keep score.
* Make it into a game, competing with others.
* Listen to upbeat music while doing it. Schedule a reward immediately after you complete it.

2. Procrastination due to overwhelm

If you’re avoiding a task because it is lengthy and overwhelming, then “divide and conquer”:

* Break the large task into separate, short-term segments.
* Then check off each segment as an accomplished short-term task.

3. Procrastination due to inertia

If you procrastinate because you have difficulty initiating a task, create something to react to. Tasks that can be reacted to are easier to begin than those that you must initiate yourself.

* Work on the task with others – then you can react to their questions, emails, etc.
* Establish a deadline with your supervisor.

4. Procrastination due to lack of organization

Sometimes we procrastinate on beginning a large project because we haven’t organized the task and don’t know where to start. If you can’t seem to get a project organized:

* Think through the task.
* Talk with your supervisor or collaborators to plan it.
* Break the larger task into do-able segments.
* Create a list of resources and supplies needed to accomplish the task.
* Create a timeline for the task.
* Then schedule the first segment of the task.
* Create an email or text reminder for this segment.

5. Procrastination on difficult tasks

Not all tasks can be made easy, but if you find a task particularly difficult, you must analyze how it can become easier.

* Do you need help?
* More training?
* More practice?
* More assistance from other?
* Analyze what is making the task so difficult, and then get the help you need to succeed.

6. Procrastination at certain times of day

More challenging tasks should be done at whatever time of day you seem to feel more focused and energetic. Take note of your daily rhythms, and then try to schedule the most avoided tasks for the time of day when you’ll have more energy to tackle them.

Problem-solve and apply your solution

To combat patterns of procrastination, select a task that you keep putting off. Then look at the list of possible solutions above and choose one that you think is most likely to be helpful.

Pick one (or more) of these solutions, and keep track over the next few weeks. Are you getting things done on a consistent basis? If so, keep up the good work! Your new solutions will soon become habits that require very little effort to maintain.

Final note for severe or chronic procrastinators
Some people seem to have a generally low level of motivation and tend to put off all tasks that take energy or effort. These people are classic “couch potatoes” that would rather do “nothing” than anything at all. If you fall into the couch potato category, you may actually struggle with chronic, low level depression.

Others are couch potatoes due to chronic sleep deprivation, poor nutrition, or poor physical fitness. If you feel as if everything is too much trouble, then get a medical check-up to see if depression or some other health problem is playing a role in always putting things off.

ADHD, Depression and Why it Matters

ADHD and Depression II: Types of Depression

ADHD Depression Busting Tool Kit

There’s a lot of talk these days about information overload.  You may have missed our post about tips to handle information overload. The core idea to managing information overload is to prioritize what you want to see and choose when you want to be reading it.  When you bounce around from site to site or get lost down the Twitter rabbit hole you may be learning lots of interesting trivia or wasting valuable time.

There is no right or wrong way to manage the flow of information.  The key is setting up a system that works for you.  Most information sources, like The Edge Foundation, have a variety of ways you can use to manage the content coming your way.

Email Newsletters

Email Newsletters — With sites that are delivering useful but not breaking news, like the Edge Foundation, you may choose to subscribe to their email newsletter.  What’s great about this type of subscription is you’ll get a weekly (or in Edge Foundation’s case) a monthly summary of what’s been happening on your favorite content site.  One email gives you highlights of the best of the content produced by a site.  And in the case of the Edge Foundation, you’ll get inside information about coaching specials our research studies and other news you can use.  We hope you’ll consider clicking on the link and signing up today!

RSS Feeds

RSS Feeds — With web-enabled mobile phones, putting your favorite blogs into a Google Reader can be a very useful way to manage your news.  You can check into your reader without turning on your computer.  That makes it really easy to scan the headlines while you ride the bus or have your morning cup of coffee.  Don’t know what RSS is.  Here’s a 4 minute video to watch that will explain it.

Social Media Sites

Social Media Sites — If you are active on Twitter or Facebook you can follow Edge Foundation in either of these places.  This is a way to listen to what’s going on in the background.  It can also be helpful if you are very active on Facebook to treat it like a RSS reader and scan all your information without leaving Facebook.  Word to the wise:  it can be a good idea to keep Facebook and Twitter for down time use only.  That means not following a news source on either site or you’ll find yourself justifying the time you spend falling down the internet rabbit hole as “work” and not getting any actual work done in the time you set aside to do it.

Content Aggregators

Content Aggregators:  Sites like NetVibes.com can help you stream all of your content including RSS, YouTube channels, Facebook, Twitter and more into one location.  The downside of these sites are that you have to have your computer turned on to use them.  Many people also like to segment the types of information they read into different types of channels — entertainment, work, school — and an aggregator works bestl when you put everything in there.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts can be a great way to keep abreast of a specific search term such as ADHD.  Set up Google Alerts to come as emails or in your RSS feed on an hourly, daily or weekly schedule.

How do you channel your information?  Did we miss your favorite content management method?  Let us know what works, and doesn’t work, for you in the comments.

College is a critical time for students with ADHD. Finding new strategies that work with ADHD is the key to success. We are pleased to announce that a new resource for college students is now available, free of charge! ADHD and College Success is an invaluable resource, jam-packed with ideas, tips, and encouragement to help college students with ADHD succeed.

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!