Heading to College with ADHD

The transition from high school to college can be difficult if you have ADHD. There are more distractions, more to manage in the daily routine in terms of classes and social life, a more challenging academic environment, and less day-to-day support from parents. These factors can combine to make college a struggle and academic success less certain. Here are some things you can do to improve your odds of a successful start to college if you have ADHD.

The Gap Year Advantage

A gap year is simply a break either before or during college. It is a time when students take a break from formal education to do activities like travel, volunteer, study, intern, work, perform or research. The increased maturity, self-confidence and life experience that a gap year can confer, especially for a student with ADHD, is well worth the investment if it means a better chance for your child to succeed in college and, later, in a career.

ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a condition where a child is almost always angry, frustrated and defiant toward authority figures. The exact causes of ODD are not known, but it occurs more frequently in families with a history of ADHD. There are many effective treatments for ODD, and strategies that parents can use to lessen the severity of symptoms and their negative impacts both within and outside the home.

How to Study Smarter When You Have ADHD in College

The transition to college can be difficult for students with ADHD. College is often the time where you need a new set of skills – or maybe just a tune up – to cope with ADHD. In your life before college, high school and your parents together gave you built‐in structure and accountability. But in college you have a lot of unstructured time and you are totally in charge of making all of your own decisions. Here are some strategies to help you study smarter and experience success in college.

The Daily Groove: Learning to Love Routines When You Have ADHD

You have ADHD and your life seems chaotic and disorganized. You want to add more structure to your daily activities. You need to approach it carefully. Making changes that are too big or complicated, or tackling too much at one time generally won’t work. If you add structure in small steps, you won’t always get it 100 percent right, but you’ll probably be better off than you were before. We offer tips to help you create a daily routine that will give your life structure without being burdensome.

Tips for Staying Focused When You Have Adult ADHD

If you are one of the roughly 10 million U.S. adults with ADHD, it can be a constant challenge to stay focused and on task. You might easily lose track of conversations or forget what you were working on. Or fail to pay attention to important details and make mistakes. But this isn’t an oversight on your part. An inability to focus is a prominent symptom of ADHD. Here are some strategies to help you maintain your attention and focus.

Following Through on New Year’s Resolutions When You Have ADHD

This is the time when many people make resolutions for the coming year. It can be especially difficult for those with ADHD to formulate resolutions and then follow through on them. The first step is to think through and create the goals you want to achieve in the year ahead. Once you have your goals identified, you need a strategy to make them a reality. Here are some recommendations to help with the process.

Checking for Symptoms of Adult ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is not just a problem in children; the symptoms can manifest at any age. If you were diagnosed with childhood ADHD, chances are, you’ve carried at least some of the symptoms into adulthood. But even if you were never diagnosed with ADHD as a child, that doesn’t mean you can’t be affected by it as an adult. You can learn to spot potential symptoms of adult ADHD and determine if you should talk to a healthcare professional about a possible diagnosis.

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