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22 ADHD Coping Skills That You Need to Learn
In a world that rewards peak productivity and efficiency, living with ADHD can feel like you’re swimming upstream against a powerful current. No matter how hard you try to fight the current with willpower alone, you end up downstream from where you wanted to go, exhausted and discouraged from your failed efforts. Despite decades of research showing that ADHD is a very...
How To Parent A Child With ADHD: Helpful Tips For Parents
It’s often said that there’s nothing that can fully prepare you for becoming a parent. Although we may never know precisely who said that quote originally, I strongly suspect that they had at least one kid with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder). Having once been one of the 6.1 million kids and teens with ADHD, I know firsthand how difficult it is to grow u...
8 Things You Need to Know About ADHD After a Diagnosis
Editor's note: This article has been reviewed and verified for accuracy by Theresa Cerulli, MD., a nationally certified neuropsychiatrist with over 20 years of expertise in diagnosing and treating ADHD in children and adults. It can be overwhelming when you learn that you or a loved one has ADHD, whether they're an adult or a child. There’s so much information availab...
A Day in the Life of a College Student with Executive Dysfunction
Picture this: You go from a 6:30am wake-ups 5 days a week to 10:00am ones. You go from six intense hours of learning to a 50-minute class followed by a three hour break. You go from abiding by a curfew to being able to stay up as late as you want. These are the kinds of transitions that college freshman eagerly look forward to (and make all of us wish we were still in...
Overwhelmed by College? Here's How to Regain Control
The college environment presents greater demands for self-management than most young adults have ever experienced. Add in the fallout from pandemic disruptions and we really do have a perfect storm of circumstances that have left many college students anxious, depressed, and overwhelmed. Why are college students struggling? Consider a few of these scenarios to give yo...
When Getting Started is Impossible: 5 Procrastination Hacks that Work
Of all the Executive Function-related challenges we experience, procrastination is most pervasive. Even the most successful students and adults can struggle to initiate a difficult or less-than-exciting task. So what can they do about it? Plenty, it turns out. This week, we’ll be sharing the 5 best strategies to conquer procrastination, all of which have been tested b...
What College Students Struggle with Most (and what you can do to help)
When you’re struggling with self-management, every day can feel like an uphill battle. Not knowing how to manage time, effort, or emotions - or to organize and plan in order to meet demands, is an exhausting way to live. And although it can feel isolating for those who are struggling, these problems are far more common than most of us might think.
A Survival Kit for the New Year: Our 21 Best Tips from 2021
Somehow, we’ve reached the final chapter of 2021. It's safe to say that this year was one giant learning experience as we all have tried to adapt to a world that was unrecognizable just two years ago. We've been lucky to have so many brilliant individuals share their wisdom with our community and contribute to this year of learning. Between the dozens of teachers, the...
The Best Strategy for Building Strong Student-Teacher Relationships
When I had to move when I was in college, I did what most people do: I asked my friends for help. And, despite the busy lives they lead, they did. (Or, at least, many of them did. That’s right, I’m calling you out, Genevieve...) Now, I didn’t offer to pay my friends, but they helped me anyway. (I mean, I did bribe them with plenty of pizza, but no one volunteers to he...
Freshman Social Jitters? 5 Tips to Making Friends in College
As August nears its end and a new school year waits around the corner, a certain segment of students who recently graduated high school are coming to the same realization that I did three years ago: starting college is scary! Moving to a new place without parents for the first time where you know few people (if any) is understandably intimidating. Add on a host of new...
Back to Campus: Insights for Parents' Top 5 College Transition Worries
Transitioning to college is always difficult, but for the semester ahead, students and parents alike are more anxious than ever about the upcoming fall. During a year filled with upheaval and uncertainty, college life shifted dramatically, eliminating the traditional college experience many students had anticipated. But this fall, students are likely looking at a more...
The Anxious College Student: An Executive Function Connection
College students have plenty of fuel for anxiety. They’re in a social and academic environment that’s significantly different than any that they’re used to. They’re often trying to balance course work with a job - in addition to social and family obligations. And they’re doing all this while also trying to chart out a plan for their entire future (and trying not to th...
How to Navigate Student Supports in College
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Janet Price, Director of Admissions and Outreach at College Living Experience in Rockville, MD. Please read more about Janet below. Support in college for students with learning disabilities includes accommodations ranging from extra time on exams to a note-taker or copies of the professor’s notes. However, obtaining ...
Talking to Teachers: Building Self-Advocacy in College Students
Visiting a professor during office hours in college can be a daunting task, especially for freshmen. Students wonder if they should just stop by to introduce themselves or if they must prepare specific questions. Anxiety might take over, with students fearing they won’t sound smart enough or seem like “college material.” Students often think: “What if I make things wo...
When Anxiety Hurts Academic Performance at College: How Parents Can Help
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Marcia Morris, M.D., a psychiatrist with 20 years of experience working with college students. Please see her full bio below. If your child is not doing well at college, there could be many reasons why – poor organization, too much partying, challenges with time management – to mention just a few. But did you know tha...
How to Be Successful in College
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Elizabeth Hamblet, a learning consultant in Columbia University’s disability services office. Please see her full bio below. “I honestly don’t know.” The student is looking at a grid showing the days of the week broken into hour blocks that she’s filled in with her classes, sleeping and meal times, and rehearsals. Thi...
A Day in the Life of a College Student with Executive Function Challenges
Picture this: You go from 6:30am wake-ups to 10:00am ones. You go from four intense hours of learning to a 50-minute class followed by a three hour break. You go from abiding by a curfew to having no curfew at all. These are the kinds of transitions that college freshman eagerly look forward to (and make me wish I were still in college…). But the awesomeness of these ...
The Secret to Success in College: An Educational Consultant's View
Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Judith S. Bass, CEP. Please read her full bio below. As a parent, you want your child to succeed in high school and go on to college. Naturally, you want to do everything you can to help your child get the best grades possible. So, you hire tutors for every subject. You sit with your son every night to monitor his hom...
Countering Senioritis: Focus on Skills for College Success
Counterintuitive. Counterargument. Counterclockwise. That prefix “counter” means to go against: against instinct, against reason, against the typical way the clock hands shift. And this prefix is exactly how you can get your son or daughter to shake off the rising tide of senioritis and be prepared for living at college next fall. Let me explain...
How to Organize Your College Search
Editor's note: This guest blog article was written by Joan K. Casey, the president and founder of Educational Advocates College Consulting, an educational consulting firm.
Executive Function Skills: Weathering the Storm of College Applications
If you are the parent or guardian of a rising high school senior, then you know that this time of year has guidance counselors gearing up for their busy season (kind of like tax preparers in April). With the college application process close at your heels, your Executive Function skills are put to the ultimate test: Can I stay cool, calm, and collected throughout this...
Prepare for the SAT with an Executive Function Coach
Standardized testing is one of those buzz phrases that elicit immediate reactions and responses from parents and students alike. By now, the SAT is one of the most well-known and widely-used standardized tests currently geared toward high school students. However, that test is about to get a makeover. If you need to prepare for the SAT, learning study strategies from ...
Senioritis: Motivating Students Past the Post Application Slump
Attention parents of high school seniors: Do you know where your senior’s backpack is? If it has been staying in the car overnight, you may need to be concerned. March is Senioritis Awareness Month (not officially, but to this executive function coach it is!) and I’m starting awareness with you. Thankfully, the disease is easy to identify when you know what to look fo...
Five Ways to Study Smarter in College
Editor's note: We asked Michele Hearn, Director of Adult, College and Distance Coaching, what advice she has been giving to college students heading toward final exams. Below, she offers her top five strategies to get through those last weeks of the semester with less stress. Share with your favorite college (or high school) student!
Self Regulation: Decisions in College Have Consequences
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" So asks poet Mary Oliver in The Summer Day, a perfectly named piece for this college counselor, advisor, administrator, and coach. Having spent nearly twenty years asking this same question to students arriving on my campus like clockwork every August, I am always prepared for the confusion tha...
What are Executive Function skills?
Executive Function Skills are a set of cognitive skills that help individuals plan ahead, stay organized, regulate thoughts and behaviors, stay focused, and achieve their goals. Each of these skills can be taught, learned, and applied at any stage of life.
- Time Management
- Maintained Focus
- Task Initiation
- Stress Management
- Organization
- Prioritization
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