ADHD Archives - PTS Coaching

Does My Child Need Diagnostics?

April 22, 2022April 22, 2022

Supporting Children and Teens with ADHD, Coexisting Conditions, and ADHD-like Conditions When your child is struggling in school or at home, it’s often hard to determine what are “typical” behaviors or learning struggles and what is beyond what might be considered within the normal range. I asked licensed clinical psychologist and author Dr. Gene Carroccia to share his expertise to help parents determine when and how to seek support. Question: What are diagnostics? When should a parent consider getting diagnostic … Read more

Paving the Road to Self-Advocacy for the High School to College Transition

April 15, 2022April 15, 2022

If you have a teen who is getting ready to go to college in the fall, you may be wondering, or dare I say, concerned, about what services they will qualify for. Or perhaps equally concerned about what role you, and your teen will play in advocating for those services. I asked Lorri Comeau, an ADHD Parent Coach, Learning Support Specialist, and Educational Consultant to share some important information that will help you and your teen be prepared for the … Read more

Picky Eating and ADHD

March 25, 2022March 9, 2022

Picky eating and ADHD often go hand-in-hand. In fact, researchers at Duke University found a high correlation between selective eating problems and ADHD. Additionally, many children with ADHD are more predisposed to crave sugar due to the surge of dopamine that sugar delivers to the brain. Add emotional dysregulation, inflexibility, and sensory processing issues to the mix, and it can be extremely difficult to introduce healthier foods into a child’s diet. But there is hope! I recently connected with Dana … Read more

Advancements in ADHD Understanding & Treatment

January 28, 2022January 27, 2022

After the recent National CHADD Conference, I met with my Coaches Cohort – a special group of ADHD specialists, advocates, and passionate professionals like myself – whom I have known and worked with for over ten years. Each year after the Conference, we meet to discuss new takeaways and insights to further our knowledge and understanding to support the ADHD community. We decided to do a ten-year “lookback” to share what we felt has changed most over this time. Without … Read more

Mindfulness and Meditations for Students

Mindfulness & Meditation for Students

January 18, 2022January 18, 2022

For all the negatives we know about Facebook, there are some positives. I recently heard from someone I went to high school. She responded to my January 5th post about my daughter teaching yoga to the students in her school after the recent fires here in Boulder, Colorado. Forty of the students in her school lost their homes, and many others were displaced due to severe smoke damage. Carly, and the other teachers, are doing their best to meet the … Read more

Growth and Self-Improvement Portfolio

January 7, 2022January 7, 2022

Sometimes, it’s hard to recognize how much growth and self-improvement your child has achieved each year. This is especially true when we focus so much on the challenges and stressors that we are working so hard to mitigate and improve. Children also have a difficult time recognizing that they have improved and achieved. They can sometimes feel as if someone keeps moving the goal post out further to mark success. As soon as they accomplish one marker, they are told to immediately … Read more

Initiation & Activation: 2 Exercises to Help Kids Focus

December 3, 2021November 29, 2021

In this article that I have written for the PESI Blog, I highlight two skills that we discuss in ADHD, Executive Function & Behavioral Challenges in the Classroom (co-authored with my daughter, Carly Wolf, M.Ed.). One of the most common struggles for students with ADHD or executive function challenges is staying focused on a specific accomplishment during a given time period. These students may have an especially hard time getting started or simply staying on task while other thoughts or external factors … Read more

The Kinesthetic Classroom: How Movement Benefits all Students, Especially Those with Symptoms of ADHD

October 29, 2021October 29, 2021

During my current professional ADHD Parent Coach Academy training, we addressed the value and importance of movement and flexible seating for children with ADHD. During this discussion, one of my coaches, Bonni Cohen, expressed that as a school principal, she had the opportunity to incorporate significant opportunities for movement in her classrooms and that it had a positive impact. Manorhaven School in Port Washington, NY, is a K-5 suburban elementary school. In 2015, Manorhaven school was honored with the Michelle … Read more

Launching Into Young Adulthood...Ready or Not! by Chris Dendy

Launching Into Young Adulthood with ADHD…Ready or Not!

October 24, 2021October 12, 2021

It is an honor to have Chris Dendy and Ruth Hughes share about their new book to my PTS Coaching community. I have known both Chris and Ruth for many years through my involvement with National CHADD. They are each compassionate advocates and outstanding practitioners. Their new book, Launching into Young Adulthood with ADHD…Ready or Not! is full of guidance and strategies to help your preteens and teens develop the key life skills necessary for the adult world and identify … Read more

ADHD is not a problem URL FB Image 8.28.21

ADHD is Not a Problem of KNOWING What To Do – It’s a Problem of DOING What You Know

September 10, 2021August 25, 2021

Ok, school started. Back to the grind. For some parents, it’s a relief to have the kids back to a routine. But for others, it’s a daily nightmare of prodding them along to reach the potential you know they have. I wish I had the magic bullet for you to convince your child that if they JUST create and stick to a realistic routine, stay off their devices, get enough sleep, eat well, and exercise, the year would go so smoothly! … Read more

Ready, Set…Now How Do I Get Started?

October 13, 2021August 19, 2021

Below is a presentation that I did when I was a Speaker for the International Dyslexia Association Annual Conference in 2020. Getting started is a skill. Help your child or teen get started with these tips, tools, and strategies. I hope you find it helpful! You may also want to view the 2016 ADDitude podcast, Ready, Set, Work: Help Students Fight Procrastination and Get to Work You are not alone on this journey! Cindy

College Search Considerations for Students Needing Accommodations by Sara Zessar

August 25, 2021August 14, 2021

If you are concerned about your child’s college search, ADHD, and accommodations, you are not alone. I recently spoke with independent college consultant Sara Zessar about college search considerations for students needing accommodations. Please see her poignant advice below. If you have concerns about how you can best support your child as they consider the role that accommodations will play for them in college, please read my article ADHD and College: Making it Work on Sara’s blog. And as always, please … Read more