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 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.

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.

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.

• 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.

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 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.

ADHD students don’t need tutors as much as they need coaches

What struck us at the Edge Foundation, however, is that neither article mentioned personal coaching.  High school students have built-in structure and accountability living under their parent’s watchful eye.  In the free-wheeling life of college, however, students face a set of very predictable challenges.  Challenges that going to the tutoring center or getting extended time on their tests will not address.

As Edge Foundation founding board member, Dr. Patricia Quinn points out,  ”While most colleges provide services for students with disabilities, these programs often are not a good match for students with ADHD. While some students with ADHD may need tutoring because they have gaps in their academic skills, or note takers because they have trouble listening in a large lecture, these services do not address the basic problems students with ADHD experience in forming routines and developing a schedule to keep up with their work.” Coaching Students with ADHD: Issues and Answers (Quinn, Ratey, and Maitland, 2000)

For most college students with ADHD the problems are not so much in knowing what to do, but in getting it done. As one student said, “I know how to plan. My problem is very simple; I just don’t follow my plans. I need help making sure that I do what I say I am going to do instead of procrastinating and getting sidetracked by other things.”

ADHD college survival skills are not taught in the learning center

Ms. Azarva rightfully points out the need for students to learn how to persevere, delay gratification, and set up organizational systems that work for them. “The sooner you work on these three things, the easier college will be.”

However, these are exactly the things students with ADHD are weakest in. These skills are not taught at the learning center. These skills are best taught by a personal coach who thoroughly understands ADHD.

Most colleges don’t offer personal coaches

There are over 4000 colleges and universities in the U.S. Of these, only a few dozen offer personal coaching to their students. Yet more and more are finding that personal coaching is the critical piece that’s been missing for their ADHD students. One Director of Student Services found that he and his staff were spending most of their time helping students with ADHD manage themselves and their academics. When he learned about the effectiveness of ADHD coaching techniques, he did his research, got a grant, and put his entire staff through training. That community college is one of the very few colleges or universities nationwide that provide personal coaching for their students with ADHD. If you work with an Edge Coach, your options of where to go to college and have access to coaching open up considerably.

Find a ADHD coach now, so you are ready to go in the fall

One of the nice things about Edge Coaches is they all work on the phone. This takes transportation right out of the equation. You can start working with your coach over the summer and, because you don’t meet in an office, you can “take your coach with you” when you go off to school. You get to your appointments just by picking up the phone, so there’s no commute and you can easily fit your appointments into your schedule. And, by virtue of a phone/email relationship, you stay in much closer touch with your coach than you would if you had to go to an office. This extra contact can make all the difference in being able to stay on top of things.

Think about getting started even before you leave for college. Those first few weeks are guaranteed to be overwhelming, and your coach can help you stay on track. The numbers show that in college it’s surprisingly easy for students with ADHD to fall behind. Getting your first term grades and finding you’ve tanked is a Christmas present no one wants to get. So, start thinking now about getting ready for the fall.  Look into getting an Edge Coach to help you keep it all together.

Edge Foundation is joining other leading experts during the months of May and June for the 2009 ADHD Family Summit. This free event is being organized by Rory Stern, a passionate advocate in the ADHD community. The tele-seminars will be held Monday and Wednesday evenings at 9:00 pm Eastern (8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, and 6:00 Pacific), and includes access to a 24-hour replay line for people who aren’t able to listen in live.

Topics include understanding the ADHD brain, giftedness and ADHD, supporting family members when they need it, working memory, attention master and more. Edge Foundation’s Neil Peterson and Sarah Wright will be presenting Coaching for Teens - The Power to Succeed Academically, Socially, and in Life. Neil’s personal story and Sarah’s experience will be simply one call NOT to miss!  The date of the Edge Foundation presentations are still being finalized, but if you sign up for the series, you’ll be sure to get the news!

While this series officially kicks off on Monday night, May 4th at 9 PM EDT,  a special pre-series call has been scheduled for this coming tomorrow night, Wednesday, April 29th.

One of the biggest for people with ADHD is time management strategies.  Tomorrow night we’ll be talking time management strategies with a very special guest on the topic.  Sign up today to get the details on how to listen in on this exciting pre-Summit interview.

Ever tried to do two or more things at once?  Like doing homeworkand listening to your music?  Or listening to a talk and doodling your notes?  Did it work for you?

Those secondary “mindless” tasks (the doodling and the listening to the music) are what the Edge Foundation’s Executive Director, Sarah Wright, calls fidgeting.

A bored ADHD brain is a sluggish brain

“Everyone thinks of fidgeting as those restless movements we do when we’re bored, but really it’s more than that,” she explains.  “One of the things we know about an ADHD brain is that when it gets bored, it gets sluggish.  Literally.  In brain scans of people with ADHD doing boring repetitive tasks, we can see that pretty quickly the pre frontal cortex slows down.  One of the reasons stimulant medications are thought to work for ADHD is that they correct for this.  When compared to the general population, it is pretty clear people with ADHD just require a higher base level of stimulation to stay comfortably alert and focused.”

Fidgeting helps people with ADHD stay focused

Fidget to Focus is the book Sarah co-authored with Dr. Roland Rotz.  They make the case that instead of being a distraction, certain mindless tasks-like listening to music or doodling on paper or chewing gum or standing up at your desk-are really ways to help self-regulate and stay focused. Fidget to Focus was just featured in ADDitude magazine online.

She explains, “All adults self-regulate with sensory-motor activities.  When we get tired of sitting at our desks, we get up for a cup of coffee.  We switch on the radio in the car to keep us interested while driving.  We maybe splash some cold water on our faces to perk up.  Even as adults we need the right balance of sensory-motor stimulation to keep us in our comfort zone.

“Kids need more.  They need more frequent, more intense, and more variety of sensory-motor stimulation than adults does to stay in their comfort zone.  If you try to take those stimulating things away, they’ll just find something else.  And this is true for all kids, not just those with ADHD.  But because of the way the ADHD brain works, people with ADHD will essentially always need more stimulation than those without ADHD. It’s just a matter of degree.”

Three tips for self-regulating with fidgeting:

Sarah and her co-author emphasize three important points in Fidgeting to Focus that you can start using today.

1.       The great thing about fidgeting is that it’s perfectly natural.  Everyone does it.  The trick is to do it intentionally.  If you do it right, you can manage your ADHD symptoms in a way that’s totally unnoticeable to everyone else.

2.       It’s important to fidget respectfully: doing it in a way that works for you but that doesn’t bother the people around you.  For example, clicking your pen repeatedly during a meeting might not be so cool, but fiddling with a paperclip under the table would be soundless and invisible.

3.       It’s important to realize that a good fidget shouldn’t compete with the primary tasks.  For instance, if you need your eyes for reading, listening to music will be a better fidget than watching the TV.  If you need to listen, doodling or pacing will be a better fidget than being plugged into your iPod.

And ADHD coach can help you figure out which fidget help you focus, and which ones are getting in  your way.  We’d love to hear from you.  What fidget works for you?