Are you Frustrated & Struggling with School or Work?
Do you think you may have Learning Disabilities or ADD/ADHD?
Many highschool students with ADD/ADHD enter college or university and are suprised when they begin to find difficulties after they managed up until then to "get by". Even with high levels of intellectual skill sets, students with ADHD are at risk for uneven cognitive profiles and "gaps" in their skill sets, which become increasingly noticeable over time.
ADHD symptoms may include weaknesses in the executive functioning skills required for planning, organization, and time management, which together with frequent procrastination and becoming overwhelmed with work loads, can interfere with successful learning more than actual difficulties understanding and learning the course content. Assignments start to pile up, instructions are mis-interpreted, due-dates missed or totally forgotten, and the result is often increased stress and at times panic or even melt-downs. When a student goes to college or university, their childhood academic support system, including parents, siblings and teachers, are no longer at hand and checking on them daily, leaving gaps in the learning skills required for successful self-directed academics.
Identifying the intellectual strengths and areas of learning difficulties of a student with ADHD going to post seconday school is critical to ensure they have the most optimal academic and learning skill supports in place at their learning institution, and they know how, where and why they need to access them to achieve success.
Young Adult Symptoms & Signs of ADD/ADHD
Some of the behaviours and symptoms you may have experienced include:
- Carelessness in School or Work tasks
- Losing track of conversations and missing details
- Distractibility throughout the day and Problems Sustaining Your Attention
- Procrastination (putting off tasks) or Lack of Follow Through Completing Work
- Messy Desk or Office space causing time wasted looking for items
- Can’t Sit Still, having to keep moving in your chair
- Losing Track of Things, forgetting directions, keys or Shopping Lists
- Fidgeting and Restlessness increase when trying to focus
- Feeling as if you need to be on the go, or having to always be on the move
ADD/ADHD can wreak havoc with work or school life, sometimes resulting in school underacheivement, underemployed, or conflicts with teachers, professors, bosses or spouses. ADD/ADHD can also contribute to procrastination when turning in assignments or work tasks by deadlines. A professional assessment by experienced clinicians is critical as many other conditions may present similarly to ADD/ADHD, and clarification of your diagnosis will help guide you toward the proper treatment.
If you meet criteria for a clincial diagnosis of ADD/ADHD, test accommodations such as extended time on examinations or assignments, a quieter environment, a reader, electronic notes or a note-taker for classes, may be available to you through your College or University Student Services.
Recent cognitive testing and a formal evaluation for ADD/ADHD is typically required to document a disability to qualify for accommodations when requesting additional time etc. on graduate level entrance exams such as: the SAT, GRE, MCAT, LSAT and GMAT exams.
We not only Diagnose ADHD, we also put you on the path to success with effective Psychological Treatment, strategies and therapeutic support.
Are you finding juggling home, family, school or work responsibilities overwhelming?
We can help you with strategies, organization skills and support for ADD/ADHD
Sometimes adults have wondered for years whether or not they might have ADHD but have been afraid to ask a professional, perhaps worried that their fears might be confirmed. Other times, an adult with ADHD has had no idea this condition has been interfering in their lives until someone close to them suggests the possibility. We often find parents/adults start to question their own history of difficulties with focus, attention, task completion and organization after their child has been diagnosed with ADHD.
Clarification of a diagnosis helps not only to understand struggles and difficulties you may have had as a child/teenager, at school/work or in relationships, but also provides opportunity to learn strategies to use in your daily life to reduce your stress, frustration and feelings of being overwhelmed. Parents find they develop a greater understanding of their child's ADHD behaviours once they realize they may have similiar adult-versions of the same behaviours, and Therapy benefits the child, teenager, parent and the family relationship they share.
