The Changes that My ADHD Coach has Made to My life.

 My guest blogger is Hunter, a  wonderful 15 year boy who was diagnosed with ADHD recently. Coaching has worked well for him because he has put in a huge effort to change how he operates. He also has wonderful parents, and their story will follow soon.

Before I met Michele my life was pretty turbulent. I had difficulties getting organised at home, even getting ready for school in the morning was a struggle, my grades at school were lower than I expected them to be and I was not confident socially.

The first thing Michele and I tackled was helping me get ready in the morning by suggesting an app called 30/30. The app lets you put in things that you need to do and the time that it will take, after the timer goes off you hear a noise and you must move on to the next thing. This has really helped me in the morning, because before this I used a list on the fridge. That did not work because I had to stop what I was doing and tick whatever I had done on the list off. Since I have being using 30/30 my mornings have being calmer and way less stressful and I now leave the house much happier and more organised.   

The next thing was my school grades, when I first went to see Michele my grades were Cs and Ds, but since I have being seeing Michele my grades have risen and now my grades are As and Bs. Michele taught me strategies to help me with tests and projects.  One thing she picked up was a problem I was having with maths where I could not transition between the number questions and the word questions. She suggested I try doing all of the number questions first and then I do the word questions. I used this strategy in my maths exam and did so well the school sent my parents a letter of commendation.   

Michele has also helped me with my social life. Before I saw Michele I was nervous about asking for people’s phone numbers, but now I can because of Michele. She helped me by telling me to start conversations and find out what people like and what you have in common with them.

So Michele has helped me with getting ready in the morning, my school grades and my social life.  I could not have done any of this without Michele’s help and tips. It’s really made a huge difference to my life and managing my ADD.

Hunter, age 15.

ADHD SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING IN PERTH

I will be running social skills training for primary school, children in the second semester.  The programme, which was developed for children with attentional difficulties, will consist of sixteen 45-minute sessions over two school terms.

Children will be taught the following skills:

• meet people, be friendly and hold a conversation

• give compliments and show care

• seek attention in constructive ways

• understand their own feelings

• ‘read’ the feelings of others

• take turns, be calmer under pressure, handle loss and disappointment with
  poise

• deal with worry

• thoughtfully respond to rejection and bullying

• always apply positive thinking to fix problems

• cope more resiliently with the inevitable emotional highs and lows that life
   offers.

Places are strictly limited.

Please contact Michele for further information on: 0411 067 541, or 6142-9456

Dr Michele Toner (BA, HDipEd, MSpEd, PhD) has been working with families dealing with ADHD for over 10 years. In addition to her practical experience, Michele also has a solid research background. Her Masters and PhD research theses both explored the lives of people with ADHD. She is passionate about helping people of all ages with ADHD to achieve their potential.