What We're Reading Now

Help for Adults and Children with ADHD (and for the People Who Support Them)

Allison attended a class for parents who have children with ADHD taught by Kate Barrett, read Adult ADHD and Work: Turbo Charge Your Success, and learned more about CHADD, the National Resource on ADHD. The good news is there are great resources and a lot of help for everyone impacted by Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder.

Tags: adhd, allison read, time management and prioritization

The first time I heard about ADHD I was a counselor at Eagle’s Nest Camp in the early 90s and the director of the waterfront. I was in charge of making sure the lake was fun and safe for everyone. It was my responsibility to teach people of all ages to swim (or be better swimmers), and I also certified people to be lifeguards. I remember what it was like to teach a child to swim who needed to be medicated for ADHD when he was on or off his medication (on meds: focused, attentive kid excited for swim lessons; off meds: scattered, badly behaved kid who made me frightened for him and others in my class.) I also remember what it was like to work with a child who didn’t seem to need medication or who was over-medicated (lethargic, uninterested, and unsafe in the water).

This experience brought home for me that Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder was a real, but often misunderstood medical condition. While I know we’ve made a lot of progress on our understanding and treatment of ADHD in the last 25 years, I believe we still have a long way to go when it comes to addressing the stigma associated with this condition and learning how to help both those with ADHD and the people who support them.

Since I was first exposed to ADHD, I’ve also learned more about it through coaching clients who didn’t receive their diagnosis until they were adults. While I’m not qualified to diagnose any medical condition, over the years I have encouraged several clients to talk with their doctors about the possibility that they have ADHD when the techniques I teach for time management, prioritization and focus don’t seem to be working. As you’ll learn on the CHADD site, “Everybody can have difficulty sitting still, paying attention or controlling impulsive behavior once in a while. For some people, however, the problems are so pervasive and persistent that they interfere with every aspect of their life: home, academic, social and work.”

However, my greatest education about ADHD has come from Kate Barrett, a dear friend and colleague who is a certified CHADD coach. I’m also godmother to her three sons, two of whom have ADHD. I’m very close to these boys and have watched Kate support their journeys through an ADHD diagnosis. What impresses me most of all is that she has helped them to understand the condition, create a plan that’s just right for each child (they have different forms of ADHD), and empowered them to talk about their ADHD experience and treatment without shame. It hasn’t always been an easy road, but at 16 and 17-years old, I am so impressed by how these young men take responsibility for themselves and work hard to achieve their life goals. I’m clearly biased and adore this family, but I think even an objective outsider would say these two teens are doing great. Most importantly, they feel proud of themselves and like they’re doing pretty great most of the time. I think that’s rare for most people let alone teenagers.

Kate Barrett, Founder of Coaching Cville

In her efforts to be the best parent she could be, Kate took over 260 hours of training to become a CHADD-certified Parent Educator & ADHD coach. As she went through the training process, she realized she’d like to help others and has started her own coaching practice, Coaching Cville. She works with children and adults with ADHD as well as the people who support them. On 7 March, I attended a class Kate taught for the Piedmont Regional Education Program (PREP) called ADHD 101: An Overview of Diagnosis, Treatment Options, and Tips for Family Well-being. The class was so well received by the parents in attendance that PREP has asked Kate to teach a five-week program on Wednesday nights from 13 April to 11 May. You can learn more about the program here.

I asked Kate for her favorite article on coping with adult ADHD and she recommended, Adult ADHD and Work: Turbo Charge Your Success. Whether you’re formally diagnosed with ADHD or just struggle with achieving what you feel you should, I think you’ll find these five strategies to be helpful:

1. Clarify expectations
2. Request feedback
3. Hand write a strategy
4. Maintain a coordinated task list and calendar
5. Create your master handbook

Finally, I’ve asked Kate if she’d be willing to offer a complementary course at Allison Partners for adults who have or think they may have ADHD. She said she’d be delighted to do that, so please let me know if you’re interested and we’ll find a time later this spring for anyone who is interested. If you don’t live in the Charlottesville area, we can use technology to make sure you can participate remotely.

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