Edge coaching client, Rory Manson, talks about how ADHD coaching has helped her succeed in school.

An introduction by Coach Jason:

“Tony is a student at Simon Fraser University in BC. Prior to coaching, he had been in college, trying his best to make up his grades to re-attend a science program at University.  Since we have been working together, Tony has made great strides, back at University with his marks steadily improving. Most of all, his academic confidence is at an all time high.

“While I would love to say that it was coaching that made the difference, I take nothing away from Tony, as he has done the work, put in a solid effort and has been willing to work closely with me through our coaching together.

“While only a year ago, he was apprehensive about going back to University, his goal is now to achieve a Nobel Prize in his field of expertise!”

In Tony’s words:

“With Jason’s help, I am now able to better manage my ADD. We have worked together to develop new strategies, techniques and methods that all cater to my strengths. The results of this have led to significant improvements in my academic performance.

“Jason’s success as a coach comes from both his experience and his style. The style in which he coaches has led me to come up with my own discoveries. The discoveries that I have made are my own, and because of that, it has a much greater effect on my life.

“Although my decision to take up coaching started off as a means to improve my academic performance, it has since evolved to something much greater. Our conversations, often rooted in the analysis of the social norm, has led me to reach a level of awareness and understanding that I would have failed to achieve otherwise. It is only from this that I have begun to start becoming the person I want to be.”

If you liked this story, here’s some other places to check out:

• For more testimonials visit ADHD Coaching Testimonials or listen to students speak about coaching in their own words by clicking the yellow audioacrobat button at the top of the page.
• Want to learn more about how coaching can help you succeed in college?  Get our free ADHD College Survival Guide.
• For more stories about what it’s like to live with ADHD, read Stories from the Edge

Have you used an ADHD coach?  Tell us your own story in the comments.

Edge:  Can you begin by telling our readers a little bit about yourself?

Kristina:  I am a 43 year old single mother of four. I realized, after having a brain aneurysm during the pregnancy of my fourth child, that life is too short and unpredictable to not follow your dreams.

I had always wanted to be an art professor and had been taking college classes on and off since graduating from high school.  I had been diagnosed with learning  disabilities in elementary school but it was never a clear diagnosis. I always had accommodations such as note takers and extra time on tests, but without the time management skills and organization it takes to get through college it was starting to seem like an unattainable goal.

I looked into getting retested through my university psychology school in order to pin point my disabilities. The test revealed that I have ADHD. I first started working with a coach as part of the groundbreaking ADHD coaching study and will be graduating from Wayne State University in 2011 with my BFA.

I plan to continue on for my MFA and hopes that by sharing my experience I will inspire others to give coaching a try. Remember, follow your dreams and NEVER give up.

Edge:   How did you hear about coaching and why you thought you’d give it a try?

Kristina:  I first heard about coaching while I was in high school but after looking into it, my mother decided she couldn’t afford it. She was a teacher and thought she could do the things a coach would do. I don’t think she realized until I was involved in this study how beneficial a coach can be.

So, the reason I felt I would give it a try. Well one strong pull for me was that I had been in school for several years and I was doing “OK” but it was a real struggle to organize my time and I was beginning to feel like I might not get through it without help. I was given the opportunity to be a part of the study by my accommodations counselor and I was eager to see if it would help. It did!

Edge:  What was most surprising thing you discovered about yourself when working with a coach?

Kristina:  I was surprised that I didn’t hate the routine as much as I thought I did. I have always felt that the minutia of day to day routine was suffocating. What I didn’t realize was that the stress created by not being organized is the thing that is truly paralyzing Before a coach, I’d keep having things creep up on me – like 10 page research papers that are due the next day or interview questions that I look at and put aside because I got distracted during the holidays.

While working with my coach I realized how important it is to “Just do it.” When I get an assignment or an email (etc.),  I need to either respond to it immediately or put it on a priority list to attend to during my next focus time. I also found that it is necessary to set a time on a weekly basis to organize and prioritize important events, projects, bills etc. (Mine is Monday mornings at 9.)  Otherwise things slip only to creep back in and stress you out later.

Procrastination is a killer! No matter how much you think you’re on top of your game, if you don’t take time to focus on the big picture, you will inevitably forget something. For too long in my life I have just floated along allowing life to just “come as it may.”   Having a coach has enabled me to take back my power and have a much clearer path to my goals.

Edge:  Do you think that you could have read a book and been able to learn the same things you learned with a coach?

Kristina:  I have four children and one grandchild. I have an extremely supportive mother and I have had many opportunities to learn the things that make  life run smoothly. I have also been involved with therapists and I consider myself very insightful, but for some reason I could never embraced the whole conforming thing until I worked with my coach. I’m not sure if it was the non-judgmental approach that she took or what it was –  but it worked!

Earlier I mentioned that my mother was a teacher and thought she could teach me the things that a coach could.  If anyone is reading this thinking that they can do that for their child, I implore you to reconsider. Something about the dynamic of the parent/child relationship is not good for coaching.

My coach became almost a facet of my own personality. When I would start to fall back into old patterns and I would hear her voice in my head. My coach was a weekly phone appointment and I feel like she helped me more than the past 20+ years of therapy. She really helped keep me on track. It’s different when you have to be accountable to another human voice (that’s not your parent!). It makes rationalizing procrastination more difficult.

Edge:  Tell me a little about how long you worked with a coach. Do you think people can benefit from using a coach for just a short amount of time  – like one school year –   or do you think you’ll always need a coach?

Kristina:  I worked with my coach for two semesters – about 30 weeks  I think maybe some people could work with a coach for a short amount of time but in my case I have some deep set bad habits so I needed more time to break bad habits. I believe that if I had had this opportunity when I was younger it would have changed my life. As I said, I am a mother of four, three of which are diagnosed with learning disabilities. All of them are extremely creative and bright and with the proper direction “from a coach” they could do great things.

So to answer the question “do I think I will always need a coach?” I think that if good habits are created early on it is much easier to learn them than trying to fix the damage that is done after the fact. I will not say I would need a coach forever but I sure would like to have the option to come back to her if I found myself slipping back into old habits.

Download our Free College Survival Guide or get monthly news you can use from Edge’s newsletter.

Ready to find out more about coaching, give us a call (1-888-718-8886) or complete our “Get More Information Form.”

To read more Stories from the Edge visit this page.  More about the groundbreaking ADHD study here.

We are taking this opportunity to thank you for the interest and support you have provided to the Edge Foundation in past years.  At this time of year when many of us are deciding about making end of year contributions, we hope you will choose to support the academic success of high school and college students with ADHD, many of whom are struggling to stay in school and complete their education.  Edge supports these young adults through our research-proven intervention of personal coaching.  Your continued support will help us provide that critical support to every student who needs it.

Edge’s year in 2010 was highlighted by the completion and release of the results of a two year, groundbreaking scientific study on the efficacy of coaching for college students with ADHD.  The study, which involved students on 10 college campuses across the U.S., showed conclusively that Edge Foundation coaching has a very significant impact on the ability of college students with ADHD to regulate their own behavior and meet the challenges of living with the disorder.  As a result of the excitement already generated by these results in the ADHD support community, CNN is taping a segment featuring our study, which will air in January 2011.

As powerful as the study results are, they alone cannot help us make this intervention accessible to all students without the necessary funding. Your tax deductible gift will help the Edge Foundation educate the public about this highly effective intervention and will enable us to help students, who would not otherwise be able to afford coaching on their own, to develop the structure, support and accountability that is crucial to students with ADHD.  With your continuing support, we will succeed at our mission of helping students with ADHD achieve their full academic, professional and social potential.

To make your donation to Edge, please click on this link which will bring you to the support page on our website.  http://www.edgefoundation.org/store/donations/

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Happy Holiday!

Neil Peterson                                                                          Robert Tudisco
Founder & CEO                                                                       Executive Director

P.S.  As a thank you for your contribution of $100 or more, we would like to send you a copy of Embracing the Edge, written by Edge Foundation founder and CEO Neil Peterson.

ADHD Students are “At Risk” Students

A few sobering facts to consider about the impact of ADHD on students’ success:

• High school students with ADHD are 4 times more likely to drop out of school than the general population.
• 42% of ADHD students are likely to be held back (compared to 13% general population).
• 60% of ADHD students are likely to be suspended (compared to only 19% of the general population).
• And 35% of ADHD students won’t graduate at all and those who stay in school will suffer from lack of confidence, higher risk of substance abuse and menial grades (on average a C- or D+).
• Only 22% of students with ADHD enter college.
• Only 5% will graduate.

Why ADHD Students are at Risk

Students with ADHD are vulnerable because ADHD impacts the portion of the brain that regulates what  is known as  executive functioning. ADHD students have executive function deficits in attention, planning and organization, prioritization, impulse control, memory, time management, and higher-order conceptual thinking.

Turns out a student’s executive function levels are well known by researches to be a hallmark of academic success.

Coaching Boosts Executive Functioning

Edge Foundation’s study offers hope for students with ADHD because it definitively links coaching to improved executive functioning.  And improved executive functioning means more success in school.

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.”

Coaching has long been used by the corporate world to improve performance of CEOs and executives, but little study has been done until now on the impact this particular kind of intervention may have on populations with learning disabilities, like those living with ADHD. While medication has been shown to improve academic productivity (better note-taking, scores on quizzes and worksheets, and homework completion), medication alone is not associated with skills like better learning, reading or the ability to apply knowledge, all of which are critical in a successful post secondary education.

ADHD Coaching Research Study Results

Students who received Edge coaching showed substantial gains in their overall approach to learning.  The study showed that students who received Edge coaching services showed significant improvement in their abilitiy 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.

How Edge Coaching Works

Edge Foundation coaches work with students in seven major areas: scheduling, goal setting, confidence building, organizing, focusing, prioritizing and persisting at tasks. Coaches help students assess their environments, identify needs, set goals, and offer suggestions and guidance. They monitor student progress and goals through regular phone or email check-ins. The protocol of regularly checking in with clients provides for more structure and accountability. When coaching teens and college students, check-ins are usually made every day.

If you’d like to find out more about how an Edge coach can help you succeed in school, give us a call (1-888-718-8886), send us an email or sign up for our newsletter .

Reference Links:

ADHD and College Success: A free guide

Edge Foundation Coaching Study Executive Summary

UC Davis Study:  Dropout risks: ADHD, conduct disorder, smoking

ADHD and Executive Functioning

Executive Function, ADHD and  Academic Outcomes

The Edge model of coaching has been proven to be effective at improving students’ abilities to study and succeed in school.

If you don’t have enough time to read the full report, here’s what you need to know about the findings in a nutshell.

The Edge model of ADHD coaching:

• improved students’ approach to learning
• increased students’ well being and led to more positive emotional states, and
• is highly effective in helping students improve self-regulation, study skills and will.

The Edge model of ADHD coaching improves executive functioning

Students who received Edge coaching showed:

• substantial gains in their overall approach to learning,
• significant improvement in their ability to organize, direct and manage cognitive activities, emotional responses and overt behaviors,
• increased ability to formulate realistic goals and consistently work toward achieving them
• more effective time management skills, and
• improved ability to stick with tasks even when they found them challenging.

The impact of Edge coaching was highly statistically significant:

• Improvement in self regulation was more than double for that of other educational interventions.
• The improvement on executive function was quadruple other interventions.
• Research findings with effect sizes that large (i.e. double and quadruple other interventions) are rare.

The number of ADHD students dropping out of high school and college is alarming. Close to 30% of students with ADHD will drop out of college. With the Edge model of ADHD coaching, ADHD students don’t have to be “at risk” students.

If you’re in the San Francisco area and would like to meet Robert in person, be sure to check out EdRev 2010 on Saturday April 17, 2010. Ed Rev is an all-inclusive day of inspiration and resources drawing nearly 2,500 students with learning difficulties, and their parents and educators. Robert will be speaking about how coaching can help transitional students who have ADHD overcome the challenges they face. Event information can be found on Facebook or sign up at, visit the Parent’s Education Network.

Robert had his poem about living with ADHD recently featured at About.com.  The poem clearly struck an important chord with many families and students living with ADHD.  We are pleased to share a copy with you and look forward to hearing your comments.

The Wonderfulness of Me, by Robert Tudisco

If you took all of the things that were special about me,
you could put them all together and call it AD/HD.
No better, no worse, just different that’s me,
I’m really not crazy, please try and see.
Like a talented wizard in a world full of “Muggles”,
its no wonder all you see is frustration and struggles.
As I daydream and drift, you think no one’s there,
but nothing could be further from the truth, believe me, I swear.
I see your impatience as my mind starts to wander
But, you don’t know the depth of the thoughts that I ponder.
For creative thinkers, get lost in deep thought,
which leads to the illusion that they cannot be taught.
I know trying to reach me can give you the blues,
but I wish for just once, you could walk in my shoes.
To see things through my eyes, you would be amazed,
at the speed and sheer volume my thoughts seem to blaze.
I’m not lazy or stupid, if only you knew,
how truly difficult it is to limit myself and think like you do.
But, I can see things that you’ll never see,
its like second nature, because I am me.
With lightning fast reflexes, I can switch gears,
to be firm and inflexible is the worst of my fears.
I’m calm in a crisis and know just what to do,
For I’m in great company, Mozart , Edison and Churchill to name just a few.
So show me some patience, as I’m patient with you.
Just a little tolerance, it’s long overdue.
Please try and understand me, along with my AD/HD,
It’s a very big part of the wonderfulness of me.

Talk back: We’d love to hear about the wonderfulness of you in the comments!

We talked about writing down the times that ADHD has been an asset for her so she can remember them on days like these. Like the time she was quick to notice her brother left his favorate sweatshirt behind, or when her out of the box thinking creates a new way of seeing a problem that didn’t seem to have an answer.

And here at Edge, we thought it would be inspriring to hear from other students who have found success using an ADHD coach. You know we are sold on coaching as a powerful way to channel your ADHD for success.

We encourage each of our readers to share their success stories in the comments. Our stories together can remind us all to keep our focus on what is possible in those moments we are discouraged.

Getting organized with ADHD coaching

ADHD coaching really helped me organize. I think it helped me the most in setting goals and making sure I got those goals done in a good way, in a motivational way. Before [I had an ADHD coach] all of my goals and all of my assignments were jumbled up in my head. Coaching helped me systemically put them into a schedule. - College Student

Learning strategies that get results

I’m already reviewing for exams a couple of weeks before I have them. I got this from coaching. Coaching has helped me see things more from a planning perspective – planning ahead and starting early helps make things much easier. I feel much less stressed now about exams, and things are much more doable. So now it is not just like memorizing everything right before an exam and then forgetting it, but doing reading as I go along so that I am actually learning the material when I review it a couple of weeks before a test. - College Student

I still look back and wonder how I was able to get through it. My grades were low, but it was not because I didn’t understand the material. It was simply because I was very disorganized and didn’t know how to study effectively. I lost assignments, I wasted endless hours “studying”, and I nearly drove my parents insane. Then, my mom called an ADHD coach. All it took was a 30-minute call once a week – just 30 minutes! We laid down plans and schedules to get myself back on track. My grades improved tenfold and best of all, I virtually eliminated my problem with missing assignments. With every call, I became better – my study skills improved, my organization was practically flawless, and my self-confidence and ability to motivate myself became fine-tuned. I truly can’t attribute my recent success to anyone but my coach. – High School Student

Astonishing your parents

ADHD Coaching has helped increase my overall organization abilities. It helped me get my room more organized ed. It’s still clean weeks after I did the major clean-up! My folks won’t even believe it when they come see me! And I’m also sleeping more. That’s helping a lot. - College Student

Reaching for the stars

I’m setting higher standards now because, coming into college, my expectations were, ‘Oh yeah; 3.6, 3.7 gpa, no big deal. Because, just coming from high school, that’s just the way everything worked… Now I’m thinking about the bigger picture and what I need to do to get into a good graduate school, and stuff like that. - College Student

ADHD coaching stops the last minute scramble

Grades weren’t really an issue for me ever, but the way I go about getting my grades is better… because of the going through on a daily basis, not waiting until the last minute. - College Student

Hearing more positive feedback

People have commented, ‘Wow, you’re really producing this semester,’ or, ‘Wow, you’re -‘ I don’t want to brag, but – ‘further ahead than everyone else,’ or whatever. I might not have heard [comments like this] last semester. – College Student

Giving perspective – you are not alone

I would say [to my coach], ‘Look, I’m having this problem, right?’ Or we’d be like, ‘Here’s a goal. Why aren’t I reaching that goal?’ ‘Oh, it’s because of this problem.’ And then you know what he’ll say, ‘Well, some people like yourself with ADD, they would try x, y, and z.’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s really helpful to know what other people kind of like me in similar situations are doing and how they solve their similar problems.’ – College Student

An ADHD coach is an angel on your shoulder

Besides the benefits, I think the relationship. Developing a relationship is very helpful in keeping you; it’s almost like developing a relationship with an angel on your shoulder or something. It’s just kind of nice to have a good relationship with someone that can help you. - College Student

Reduces stress

Some people feel less stressed after they’ve sort of planned out what they’re going to do about something they are stressed about. Because it takes away the question of, ‘Oh, how am I going to do this? Oh, this is how I’m going to do it. I feel less stressed about it because I know I can get it done.’ – College Student

[Now I'm] in control, not of myself but of my daily life and of the situation; daily experience. Probably less stressed and more confident in my abilities to get the things done that I need to get done, again, in a timely manner. - College Student

An ADHD coach builds your confidence

I was going to say, ‘Confident. Everything is doable.’ [Smiling] Yeah. - College Student

Learning skills to last a lifetime

I was able to compensate until I reached grad school where I hit a wall and began to struggle with classes, scheduling, organization, and school/life balance. I [was] doing well academically but performed poorly in the field – showing up unprepared and missing deadlines. Sometimes the ADD habit of speaking-before-thinking got me in hot water. At home things were a disaster: it seemed impossible for me to keep up with life tasks like laundry, dishes and cleaning while working and studying. [Medication, therapy and academic accomodationns] didn’t address time management and didn’t help my social issues, disorganization, or the home/life balance disrupted by ADD. Before I started coaching, I was afraid I’d fail out of grad school. After a few months of coaching, both my Dean and my advisor congratulated me on my improvements. I’m actually getting honors in my evaluations, which is much more than I’d ever hoped for. I am also learning skills like time management and home/life/work balance, which will help me for the rest of my life. - Grad Student

Feel more in control of your life with an ADHD coach

I became noticeably more organized [with the help of my ADHD coach]. I went from constantly missing homework assignments my first three years of high school to missing no homework assignments my senior year. I could easily find worksheets and packets in folders instead of looking around in my backpack or my room. I got into my first choice college. I believe the study and organization skills I learned with my coach have helped immensely in my first semester of college. I now feel more in control of my schoolwork and grades. - College Student

Share your success

Now it’s your turn.  We hope you’ll share your success stories in the comment section!

For a more in depth success story read One ADHD College Student’s Success Story

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!

The first student talks about how a coach helped him set an keep his goals.

audio interview 1

The second student shares how a coach helped her change the whole way she viewed herself.  She went from feeling like she was always a day late and a dollar short to a view of herself as a successful, competent person.

audio interview 2

We hope that after you hear these stories, you’ll feel inspired to sign up to talk to an Edge coach.  There’s no obligation.  But why not take the first step to finding out more today?  All you have to lose is your old self image.