Edge Foundation Blog

Last week, Neil Peterson talked about how college students with ADHD often lag behind their peers in social and emotional maturity and aren’t as ready as their peers to learn the self-advocacy skills college demands.   Neil proposed “gap year” between high school and college to give students a chance to catch up and learn valuable skills in the process.  Other parents may choose to send their student to community college or a local university so their son or daughter can continue to receive the support of home while continuing their education.  But what happens when your child has grown up and doesn’t appear ready to leave the nest?

We hope you’ll laugh when you hear you missed celebrating “Crowded Nest Awareness Day” last June.  If your adult child is still living at home, you know that no awareness day is going to get them to leave the nest.  And if you are allowing your child to live at home while attending college, you’ve probably harbor a deep-seeded fear in the back of your mind that your child will never make it on their own.  Instead of worrying, why not take some steps now to help your child reach the end of their college degree and their home stand!

Charge room or board: If your child was living away at college your family would need to factor in room and board in the costs.  Many families expect their students to contribute to their food or housing costs and by taking full-time summer job or a part-time one during the school year.  Asking your child to step up to the plate now, sends a strong message that you will be expecting them to have increasing responsibilities as they get older.

Set house rules: Strike a balance between over-parenting and expecting your child to be respectful to you and your home.  Curfew, visitors, cleanliness, noise limits and alcohol/drug usage expectations should be clearly defined in advance.  Consequences for non-compliance should also be equally clear.

What are your house rules?  Do you agree charging your college student room or board is the way to build a responsible young adult?  Are there other steps you can take to get your child ready to leave the nest?  We’d love to hear your point of view.

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.

If you missed out on the 2009 ADHD Family Summit, you can still hear what Edge staff, Sarah Wright and Dr. Sharon Field, had to say by visiting the audio playback link and listening on-line.