ADD / ADHD Coaching Blog

Strategies For Parents Of Children With ADHD

Announcing The ADHD Strategy Series
http://www.adhdstrategyseries.com

For parents of children with ADHD - Educators - Family Members

Join this virtual learning event - hosted by guest blogger Dr. Rory Stern.  This 6-week, 12 speaker series is all about providing the necessary information about ADHD to the people who need the most.  There will be a heavy focus on providing strategies that you can implement today and rely on over the long-term.

It all starts Monday, May 19th, 2008.  Registration is now open for this FREE event.  All calls will take place on Monday and Wednesday evenings at 8:30 PM EDT - with a 24 hour replay line available over the Internet.

Featured Guest Speakers:

• Tara McGillicuddy
• Evelyn Polk-Green
• Linda Anderson
• David Giwerc
• And many more...

Each guest will get in-depth on one topic and provide strategies that you can count over and over again!

Don't miss this event!

http://www.adhdstrategyseries.com

Disorganized Mind - April Book of the Month

  The Living with ADD Book for the month for April 2008 is The Disorganized Mind: Coaching Your ADHD Brain to Take Control of Your Time, Tasks, and Talents. Nancy Ratey provides just the right combination of her own personal experiences along with helpful tips and strategies. The book has a very ADHD-Friendly setup and is very easy to read. The Tips and strategies are also very useful and easy to implement. This book is a must have for adults with ADHD!

On Tuesday April 22, 2008 at 8:00 pm Eastern Nancy Ratey author of The Disorganized Mind: Coaching Your ADHD Brain to Take Control of Your Time, Tasks, and Talents will be leading the special free TeleSeminar  The Disorganized Mind: Coaching Your ADHD Brain to Take Control of Your Time, Tasks, and Talents through ADDClasses.com

Cutting Edge Sleep Conference

The 2008 Cutting Edge of Sleep Conference: New Research; New Directions will take place December 1-3, 2008 at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts in Lake Buena Vita, Florida.

Keynote speaker, Allan Hobson, MD raises this question: Is the sleep state truly a mystery or does it, like wakefulness, have its own set of predominant functions such as survival and procreation?

The conference panel is comprised of leaders in their respective fields covering the major aspects of sleep.  Sleep research is an important and rapidly growing area of interest; gaining recognition as a primary and significant contributant to both psychological and neurological disorders. 

It is becoming increasingly apparent that sleep issues and the need to resolve them have pervasive effects in many aspects of overall physical and mental health.   If for no other reason than this, it is essential that clinicians from all disciplines understand the world of sleep sufficiently to provide the most effective and up-to-date care to their patients.

For more information or to register, go to: www.ceos2008.org 

How to Make Life Stimulating

Stimulation is very important for both children and adults with ADHD. There is a great audio class in the ADD Audio Library called How to Make Like Stimulating. It offers some great ideas for people with Attention Deficit Disorder to add stimulation to their lives. How to Make Like Stimulating is one of several classes by ADD Coach Sheri Hall in the ADD Audio Library.

Sign up now for the ADD Audio Library>>>>

Social Skills Support

The ADD Book Club begins discussing "What Does Everybody Else Know That I Don't?" on Monday April 7th. The ADD Book Club is more than just a regular book club. The ADD Book Club offers its members structure, support, education, coaching, and convenience.

Sign up now for the ADD Book Club at:

http://www.adhdbookclub.com

This is a great opportunity for adults with ADHD to get support with social skills and improve improve their social success!

ADHD Coaching - Crazy Busy & Easily Distracted

Well, it's been awhile since I have posted here, and I'll tell you that it is NOT for a lack of interest or wanting to connect with you all.

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy, without (what at least feels like) a moment to spare.

But let me realistic with you.

I have had plenty of time to write a short blog post.  So what happened then, you might be asking?

Simply put, caring for two young children makes time feel incredibly short and incredibly busy.  Is my mind clear?  Yes  Is my mind free?  Yes

But sometimes, when I get 5 seconds, I just want time to myself.

Does that affect my productivity?  YES!

And I have no doubt this happens to you as well.  Whether it is ADHD or not, we all get busy and we all get distracted.  And for those of you struggling with ADHD (either personally or with a child), life seems a little bit more chaotic than it has to be or should be.

I raise this point, not so much to provide infinite wisdom or something you don't know.  In fact, I am willing to bet you know this fact of life better than me.  But, I still have to acknowledge it.

Like right now, my son is sitting in his high-chair, screaming at the top of his lungs.  To him, it is a new game because he can finally raise his voice.  To me, the sound is piercing and hurts my ears.  But to him - this is pure FUN as he learns yet another new skill.

Most days, this is what distracts me from getting work done, but this morning, I set a goal to come on here and say hello.

I hope you are all doing well.

Rory
Let Me Know What You Think!

The Disorganized Mind

I was planning to wait until April to talk about the book The Disorganized Mind: Coaching Your ADHD Brain to Take Control of Your Time, Tasks, and Talents because it's not going to be published until April 1st. I got a review copy a few weeks ago and think the book is great so I figured with only about 2 weeks left until it's published I could start talking about it now. Since I have ADHD myself I have a very hard time waiting for things and I know that a lot of the people reading my blogs do too.

Here's some good news! If you pre-order The Disorganized Mind: Coaching Your ADHD Brain to Take Control of Your Time, Tasks, and Talents you can save 5%. So even though you'll need to wait about 2 weeks to get the book you'll save some money!

Tara McGillicuddy,SCAC

ADHD & Thinking Outside The Box

Hi everyone! 

It's been about a week, and I am happy to be back here on the ADD / ADHD Coaching Blog.  And what a week it has been.  Just jam packed with life happening all over the place.

How about you?

Well, the last few posts I have been writing have all really been about thinking outside of the box...  About trying new things...  About asking questions...  And about looking to alternatives for support in managing your child's symptoms of ADHD.

Alternatives are everywhere, and should be explored (within reason).

Now, you might be asking, "Why?"  And that's good.

The answer is that ADHD is different among everyone who experiences.  Sure, there are "hallmark" symptoms - the big ones - but not everyone experiences them in the same way.  Not everyone sees things the same way.  And most of all, not everyone faces the same struggles or believes in struggles.

So it is really up to the individual to seek out what will make the difference to them.

Action steps:

• Focus on one area of your child's life
• Try a bunch of different tactics
• Pay attention to what works!
• Pay attention to what DOES NOT work!
• Do more of what works

Managing symptoms should not does not have to be a struggle all the time.  I know it won't be easy - but find tips, tools, & strategies that work for your child.

Rory Stern, PsyD
Get A Free Report Here

Resiliency - Personal and Professional

It's kind of funny how a certain theme seems to pop up in relationship to ADD Coaching. This week a theme for both my ADD Coaching Clients and myself has been resiliency. I have a couple of excellent resources about resiliency that I want to recommend.

The first is the book the The Power of Resilience. This is an excellent resource about personal resilience. The authors Dr. Robert Brooks and Dr. Sam Goldstein have also researched resilience. The Power of Resilience a really powerful book that combines scientific research with warmth and emotion.

The second is brand new book called Upping the Downside. This a great resource about Professional resilience. Also if you order Upping the Downside today you'll get access to a bunch of different gifts related to professional resilience.

Tara McGillicuddy, SCAC

ADHD & Searching For Hope

The last few posts I have written about, have really talked about looking for "off the beaten path" strategies for managing and understanding ADHD.

When working with parents of children with ADHD, I find that it is just not simply enough to look at a child's behavior as just ADHD.  And this is particularly true when you are first starting to wonder:

"Does my child have ADHD?"

One of the most popular articles I have written, is about ADHD & a Gluten-free diet.  You can read it here (if you are interested).

The main idea behind the article was that Jenny McCarthy (when she found out her son had autism) searched high and low to find different alternatives to treat her child.  My point was to illustrate that she went well-beyond the beaten path to find resources and information on autism that just wasn't being heavily promoted.

I think the article has taken on a life of it's own, because many people now ask me if a Gluten-Free diet can "cure" or treat ADHD.  The pure answer is "no."

And I still stand by the fact that this article was only intended to share a message:

"Sometimes you need to dig deep and look farther than you imagined to find out what is really going on, and what can really make a difference.

Rory Stern, PsyD
Get A Free Report Here