The Power of Judgment Judgment is a challenging concept. On the one hand, it makes our lives easier. We use judgment to guide us in our lives every day. We reflexively categorize our experiences into good, bad, and neutral, and that leads us to certain behaviors and decisions. But, as Dr. Mark Bertin explains in his book The ADHD Family Solution, because “judgment mindlessly categorizes experience,” it often “leads us to wrestle with what is not in our control.” This is particularly true when parenting children with a neurobiological condition like ADHD. It's common for parents of childre ..read more

A Classic Tale My ADHD teen son agreed to do one week of conditioning camp with the cross-country team to get ready to try out for the (much cooler, much sexier) basketball team later in the year. By day 3 in the week, cross-country has been kicking my son's butt.  Five minutes before it was time to leave, he didn't want to go. After begging, whining, and negotiating, he stomped up the stairs and locked the door to his room – in true teen fashion. Now what? Scream? Yell? Cry? Plead? Beg? Bribe? Or – use the Parenting Action Model? Article continues below... Minimize Meltdowns! Downloa ..read more

If you have children, you can't control them forever but you can inspire them for a lifetime! There's a point where you have to allow your children to have agency over their own life, and forge their own path. Academic Life Coach Gretchen Wegner is here to discuss how to learn to let go of control of your children, but still provide them with inspiration and guidance! Giving Up Control of Your Children Find Parenting with Impact on your Favorite Player: What To Expect In Our Conversation  The importance of learning to let go of control as a parent of older kids Re ..read more

Raising a child or teen with ADHD is not an easy task. Thankfully, Dr. Sarah Cheyette is here to discuss some very helpful tips and trick for raising kids with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. Raising a Child with ADHD: Keeping Focus on What Matters Find Parenting with Impact on your Favorite Player: About Dr. Sarah Cheyette Sarah Cheyette, MD, graduated cum laude in Cognitive Neuroscience from Princeton University, and received her medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Medical School. Following specialty training in Pediatric ..read more

The holidays tend to magnify everything: the streets and houses get more beautiful with lights and decorations; neighbors get cheerier; lattes get spicier… the nights get later, time gets shorter, gift lists get longer, stores get busier… the list goes on. So how do you manage things when holiday gift expectations get magnified, too? With all of the excitement, kids can become fixated on the holidays and obsessed over this gift or that gift! Our kids struggle with executive function issues all year round, but holiday hyper-focus can make this challenge even harder for them to handle – an ..read more

"Don't Worry" Syndrome If I had a dollar for every time I heard this phrase from my ADHD teen, “Don't worry, I've got it!” Of course, sometimes it means exactly that: your kid is confident and competent. But sometimes, it's just a way to deflect the situation, to get you out of their hair. So, how do you know when they've really “got it” when your ADHD teen says, "I've got it!"? Or when to step in to help, despite assurances that they don't need it? Here's how I'd recommend you deal with the “don't worry” syndrome! Keep in mind that “I've got it” may be a sign that your child is actually stres ..read more

Have You Tried Post-It® Notes? As parents, we're not the only ones who are trying to help our kids manage themselves and pay attention at school – so are their teachers. So if you want to stop your child from interrupting in school, try introducing Post-It® notes for self-management. No, I'm not kidding. Here's what I mean. Our kids tend to struggle with interrupting in the classroom for one of two key reasons: either because they are afraid they won't remember what they want to say or because interrupting keeps them engaged in what is going on Article continues below... Want to Stop School ..read more

How much do teachers know about ADHD, and how much should parents be providing information to teachers? What should teacher training and ADHD look like? Elaine: So one of the questions we've gotten recently is, "How much training do teachers really get about ADHD in particular? And how much of it is my job as a parent to provide that information for teachers?" We hear this a lot: do teachers get training for ADHD? Diane: Yeah. So, the first thing I would say is that it absolutely is part of your job. Elaine: It's your job. Diane: And part of that is just because you know your kid better tha ..read more

Recognize Tipping Points and Take Action Of all the challenges that come with ADHD, perhaps the most frightening for parents is the heightened risk of criminal behavior. Society has a low tolerance for ‘abnormal behaviors.' The law sets tolerances about what is acceptable. Generally, the causes of errant behavior are not relevant in the eyes of the law. That alone heightens the risk for people with ADD/ADHD to ‘get it all wrong.' Tipping Points are an opportunity for prevention. Tipping Points are those times in a young person's life when, if an appropriate and timely intervention is not made ..read more

How do we as parents set expectations for our children or ourselves when at least one of us has an attention deficit disorder? When our children are born, we have conscious or unconscious expectations of how we will be as a parent, how our children will evolve, and how we will grow together as a family. Sometimes, as our infants mature into young people, everything comes to a complete halt. A child starts having some struggles, ultimately has an evaluation, and we are told that our child has an attention deficit disorder. Now what? Mourning a Loss First, there is the process of mourning your ..read more