Tips to Finding Success in College with ADHD, LD & Asperger's

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:30:00 -0500

Finding success in school with a diagnosis like ADHD or Aspergers can be challenging and may have presented challenges for you in the past. These strategies will get you started off on the right foot and help you achieve your academic goals.

Set up your accommodations. Before school begins, get your documentation to the appropriate office and get connected to an advisor. If you never have to use your accommodations that's awesome. On the other hand, if a problem does come up during the term, you will already have the structure in place to fall back on and won't have to scramble to find help.

Connect with your professors. Perhaps the most important part of your success in school will be the relationship you build with your professors. Begin each semester by giving professors the letter requesting the accommodations you need. You can personalize the accommodation request by setting up a time to talk with your professors or by dropping in to see them during their office hours.. Your professors' want you get the most out of their classes - the more information you are able to give them about what works best for you in a learning environment, the easier it will be for them to support you. Continue to communicate with them and stay connected to your professors throughout the semester.

Choose a reasonable course schedule. Choose courses you feel you can be successful in and register only for the number of courses you can easily handle. It's important to adjust to school and build positive and successful class experiences before taking really challenging courses. If you are taking a reduced course load and are worried about finishing school in a certain amount of time, talk with an advisor. There many ways to earn credit that might work with your strengths. Internships, independent studies, and summer or winter term class are just some of the options.

Utilize a calendar or planner Commit to using one planner for the semester. This planner can be "command central" for you. Try keeping all important information such as to do lists, faculty contact information and your class schedule in this one location. I recommend using Google Calendar because it allows for the use of multiple calendars, they can be shared with others, and it can be set up to email or text message reminders.

Familiarize yourself with school policy and academic deadlines. Locate an academic calendar and transfer important dates from it into your organizer . Dates such as add/drop, pass/fail, and registration will be helpful for you in managing your courses. It is also important to know the policy and deadline for withdrawing from a class or withdrawing from school. Sign up for tuition insurance if you have concerns that medical or mental health issues might get in the way of completing a semester.

Go through each course syllabus and put major projects, tests, and deadlines in your calendar. In addition to transferring the dates listed in your syllabuses, consider also scheduling in reminders for when you want to begin projects or start studying for tests and exams. For an exam, you might want to schedule a reminder two weeks before hand so you can plan some study time. With larger projects, like research papers, you might want to put short term tasks for yourself into your calendar such as, choosing a topic, finding resources and writing the first draft.

The value of routines. Setting the foundation.

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:44:00 -0500

In my mind, the idea of working fewer hours when being self-employed equalled some sort of freedom. Freedom to do whatever I wanted with my time. Lately, as I roll out of bed at 8:30, I’m wondering, How was my day different when I was at work by 8? What things did I accomplish in that first part of the day?

I’ve always dreamed that I would get up at 5 in the morning and write or do yoga and have lots of things accomplished by 8. Yet I am a person who enjoys being in bed — who relishes in those last minutes surrounded by covers. What was the point of being self-employed? Was it to sleep more or to have more time to do the things I wanted?

When I worked in an office, the first hour of my day was saying hi to folks, grabbing my coffee, checking my e-mail, making the day's list. I was setting myself for the day.

Our routines set the foundation and the structure for our days, weeks, or years. It would be hard to build a house without the foundation and frame. Routines and rituals are part of how we make meaning in our lives.

Typically, things that are significant we do routinely and regularly — from brushing our teeth to celebrating birthdays. Think about when you meet someone. Usually you shake hands and say hello and then exchange pleasantries. If you’re not following this routine, it feels a little awkward and there is a sense of confusion. Structure and routine ease our anxious brains.

Take greeting someone again: If there is nothing routine happening, our brains might go into overdrive trying to figure out what this means. Maybe this person doesn’t like me. What should I be doing? What do I do know? All of that takes mental and emotional energy.

Not all areas of our lives need to be routine. Change, unknowns, new things are exciting, and they take up energy — precious energy. So we want to be intentional about how we use that energy. I like to schedule unplanned time and down time. This also eases my post-grad-school brain, which keeps wondering what homework I have do or what project I should be doing. Or my self-employed brain, which knows there’s always work to be doing. I give myself permission to relax, to do yoga, to sit with friends, to be in the moment.

What I am beginning to realize is that being self-employed doesn’t mean that I should not have a routine. I have talked with this gremlin who wispers in my ear that routines will take away freedom. I have realized that this gremlin is not interested in my forward momentum and personal growth; this gremlin is interested in feeding the fear and the anxiety. The foundation from which I grow my day, and my year, can be as simple as 15 minutes of meditation and spending the 15 minutes it takes to check out the calendar for the day and the to-do list, and make an action plan.

If I look at my dreams and goals and ask myself the question, What kind of foundation do I need to support myself to get there? then I can create a routine, not because I'm supposed to or because It's good for me ... Instead, I will be creating the kind of routine that will help me move toward the kind of life I want to be living.

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Tips to Finding Success in College with ADHD, LD & Asperger's

The value of routines. Setting the foundation.