Edge Foundation Blog > Archive for August, 2011

If you are reading this, you probably already personally know a number of people who are living with ADHD. You share their struggles. You share their triumphs.  You know just how hard it can be to reach a goal.

• But have you shared the story that coaching works?
• Have you told your friend about the Edge research that shows coaching helps improve academic skills?

Many people who have ADHD have no one to turn to for support. Parents may not know they have ADHD until their child is diagnosed and figure out that they also have it.

Despite all the chatter about our “ADHD culture,” ADHD is still a misunderstood and unrecognized condition. As a reader of this blog, you are one of the lucky ones.  You’ve found a reputable source of information about and strategies for working with the symptoms of ADHD.

And we appreciate the implicit trust you give us each time your visit our site.

That’s why we are asking for your help. Please spread the news: ADHD coaching works. Many, many struggling students have never heard of an ADHD coach. With your help, you can help turn the tide of ignorance about ADHD.

If each of our readers takes just one extra minute to do even one of the steps below, it will help. We don’t have to wait until October’s ADHD Awareness month to act!  Parents, students and teachers need this news now!

 Can you spare 1 minute?

Please choose one (or more) and pass it on!

1. When you use Google, click on the +1 button next to sites (like ours!) that you know have reputable information about ADHD.
2. Like our page on Facebook and join in the discussion.
3. Sign up for our newsletter and forward it to your friends.
4. Forward, tweet, or post one (or more!) of the links below.

• Survival tips for college students with ADHD
• How to keep your meds safe away at school
• Resolutions for the new school year
• What you need to know about your legal rights when you turn 18

Thank you for helping us spread the news that ADHD doesn’t have to be a barrier to academic success!

How often have you kicked yourself for making an impulsive decision?  We bet you’ve told yourself,  “If I just had more willpower I wouldn’t have made that mistake!”

Undoubtedly you’ve heard that impulse control and willpower are weaknesses of the ADHD brain.  True, but wait …  turns out EVERYONE has a limited supply of willpower.  And when you overuse your willpower “muscle” you are more likely to be impulsive, suffer from decision paralysis or explode.

Decision Fatigue and ADHD

Last week, the New York Times ran a lengthy article about will power, self control and new research that indicates that they are connected — more strongly than we ever imagined. It’s even got a name: Decision Fatigue.  In a nutshell, “The more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes for your brain.”

Learning more about decision fatigue is useful for those of us with ADHD. So rather than sending you down the Internet rabbit hole to read a long article, we gathered up all the article’s pertinent findings that apply the ADHD brain and summarized them here:

Decision making, will power and self control are connected

• Scientists have given all kinds of fun and creative tests to determine how will power and self control are connected.  “When people fended off the temptation to scarf down M&M’s or freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies, they were then less able to resist other temptations. “
• “Decision fatigue helps explain why ordinarily sensible people get angry at colleagues and families, splurge on clothes, buy junk food at the supermarket and can’t resist the dealer’s offer to rustproof their new car.”

A tired brain is an impulsive and procrastinating brain

• When your brain is tired, it looks for shortcut.  “One shortcut is to become reckless: to act impulsively instead of expending the energy to first think through the consequences.”  (Sound familiar?  Perhaps the ADHD brain is just more tired than everyone else’s. LOL)
• Another short cut is to conserve energy and do nothing. “Ducking a decision often creates bigger problems in the long run, but for the moment, it eases the mental strain.”
• Turns out that self-control is like a muscle.  That you can tire it out for the day, and when it’s used up, you are less able to resist other temptations.  (That’s why the put the candy at the checkout line. You are less able to resist it after you’ve made all the decisions for groceries in the store.)

Sugar restores willpower

• Sugar and willpower are connected: sugar restores willpower.  (No wonder dieting is so hard and why college students have been known to pop Skittles during late night study sessions!)
• “ Your brain does not stop working when glucose is low.” Instead, “ it responds more strongly to immediate rewards and pays less attention to long-term prospects.”

How to boost your willpower muscle

• People use various techniques to resist temptation.  The people who are the most effective do things to reduce temptations and conserve willpower. “They don’t schedule endless back-to-back meetings. They avoid temptations like all-you-can-eat buffets, and they establish habits that eliminate the mental effort of making choices.”
• “ Instead of deciding every morning whether or not to force themselves to exercise, they set up regular appointments to work out with a friend. Instead of counting on willpower to remain robust all day, they conserve it so that it’s available for emergencies and important decisions.”

An ADHD coach can help you build your brain’s decision-making muscle power

An ADHD coach can help you assess your day-to-day routine and work out ways to reduce temptations.  Turns out that you are not alone in your struggle with impulsiveness and willpower.  Your ADHD coach brings the experience of working with many, many people on these very same issues.  The Edge Foundation’s model of coaching has been proven to boost self-regulation and executive functions such as willpower and self-control.

Now you know how willpower, impulsivity and decision making are connected.  And you also know a coach can help reduce decision fatigue and help you make better decisions.  So, what are you waiting for?  Sign up for an Edge coach today!

We are pleased to announce that today Shire has named the first recipients of its new ADHD Scholarship program.  Twenty-five individuals diagnosed with Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who are going on to higher education were selected from more than 800 applications across the United States.  They were recognized for their involvement in school and community activities, work experience, honors and awards, and their personal essays.

The Shire ADHD Scholarship includes a $2,000 monetary award and offers a prepaid year of ADHD coaching services provided by the Edge Foundation to assist with the transition to higher education.

“We applaud Shire for recognizing the need for coaching and making it available proactively for students entering higher education.  No student should have to fail in order to receive support,” said Robert Tudisco, our Executive Director.  “Edge coaches will help provide these students with structure, support and accountability as they leave home and continue their education.”

The Edge coaching model has been proven effective in helping students with ADHD regulate their own behavior, problem solve, prioritize, organize and otherwise bring balance into their lives.  Last year, Edge concluded a two year study into the effectiveness of ADHD coaching on students in 10 colleges nationwide.  The study results showed that students who were coached showed dramatic increases in self regulation and an overall improvement in their approach to learning.

As you know our mission as a nonprofit  is to help every child, adolescent and young adult with ADHD to fully realize their own potential, personal vision and passion through personal coaching. This scholarship will help 25 more students keep their Edge!

If you’d like to be the among the first to hear about future ADHD coaching scholarship opportunities, sign up for our newsletter.

Robert Tudisco will be presenting a teleseminar on ADHD and advocay on August 16. Here’s a sneak peak at some of the questions he’ll be exploring in this FREE presentation.

This presentation educates both students and their families about ADHD and how it poses difficult obstacles to students making the transition from high school to college. It explores the changes in the law when they leave high school that further complicate the difficult transition to college. It also addresses how those obstacles can be overcome through a coaching model that provides the structure and accountability to help students realize their potential and maximize their future.

Let’s start with an Executive Function Definition

When you receive an ADHD diagnosis, you need to learn a whole new world of terminology. Perhaps the most important term to understand is “executive functions” (or executive functioning).

You’ll hear “Executive functions” frequently used by educators, physicians and other professionals concerned with helping people with ADHD. Most of the definitions for executive functions are scientific and complex.  This one by LDOnline is pretty straightforward: (1)

The executive functions are a set of processes that all have to do with managing oneself and one’s resources in order to achieve a goal. It is an umbrella term for the neurologically-based skills involving mental control and self-regulation

ADHD Impacts Executive Functioning

Think of executive functioning as an aircraft controller for your brain and body. Executive function keeps you in control of:

• Scheduling
• Goal Setting
• Organizing
• Focusing
• Prioritizing
• Sticking with it when it gets tough (a.k.a. persistence)
• Impulsiveness

Some scientists believe that the single greatest predictor of academic success is executive function.  Even more important that IQ! (2)  And ADHD impacts many or all of the above executive function areas. Turns out that the way ADHD affects the executive functions of the brain can be one of the most challenging parts of living with it.

Still students with ADHD are able to be extremely successfully in school and in life. Why?

ADHD is not a one-size-fits-all disability. Each person has their own, unique set of strengths and weaknesses. The key is to be introspective and understand yourself — know your strengths, your challenges, your passions, your aversions.

ADHD Coaching supports ADHD Success

An ADHD Coach help you learn life-long skills which will allow you to accentuate your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. Sure, the greatest predictor of academic success may be strong executive functioning, but it isn’t the only thing that you need to succeed. You also need:

• Awareness that you have ADHD and acknowledging it has special challenges
• Willingness to ask for help
• Seeking out the right resource
• And finding the outside experts to help you develop a plan that works for you.  Like and Edge coach.

Edge Coaches understand how to work with ADHD. They have met the rigorous standards set by the Edge Foundation and are trained to working with students and young adults with ADHD. Our research proves that ADHD coaching works:

• Students who received Edge coaching showed substantial gains in their overall approach to learning – their executive functioning actually improves! (3)
• Students who received Edge coaching services showed significant improvement in their ability to organize, direct and manage cognitive activities, emotional responses and overt behaviors.
• They were able to formulate goals more realistically and consistently work toward achieving them, manage their time more effectively, and stick with tasks even when they found them challenging.

Our coaches know how to help you discover your many strengths and talents – hidden and known – and bring them into the forefront. We are passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of students and young adults with ADHD. And most of all, we are ready to help you.

What are you waiting for?

(1)  Still want to learn more?  In 2008 Joyce Cooper-Kahn and Laurie Dietze wrote an excellent article for LDOnline that has stood the test of time.  It’s worth a read: What Is Executive Functioning?

(2) See Seattle Times interview of developmental molecular biologist John Medina

(3) ADHD students who participated in Edge coaching sessions demonstrated statistically significant, higher executive functioning than ADHD students who did not receive coaching. According to the study, “The magnitude of the effect size for self regulation was more than double the typical educational intervention, and executive functioning was quadruple. Findings with effect sizes that large are rare.”