Summer was about to end, and the only thing on his mind was making the football team. He dreaded school, but was willing to do anything that would get him on the field again.

Julian did not want to re-experience last year. Athletically, he was on top of the world… starting in football, basketball, and baseball. Academically, the world was on top of him…beleaguered with low grades, discipline problems, and missing homework assignments. Because of the latter, the school stopped him from stepping foot on the field of dreams and told him to study harder.

For Julian, it was the worst of both worlds.

Just when he thought things could not get any worse, they did. His parents enrolled him in a popular motivational tutoring program, which promised better study skills, better organizational skills and better grades. Although he didn’t like it, this was his ticket to the athletic field.

Yet after six long months, his grades still had not improved, and he was again unable to play sports. Discouraged and defeated, his confidence shrunk even further. Julian went from someone who made academic mistakes, to feeling like he was a mistake.

“Something has to give,” his parents told me during the intake meeting. “We are losing him. We have tried everything, and don’t have a clue on how to help our son.”

Upon completing an assessment, we realized Julian did not have a motivational, organizational, or a study problem. Julian had ADHD, attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Following his diagnosis, we put together a treatment plan that addressed both his short-term and long-term needs.

To meet Julian’s short-term attention needs, a physician prescribed medications to help him focus. For his long-term attention needs, we placed him on “Play Attention TM,” a computer-based attention training system that has been educationally proven to help children develop ther ability to focus, and reduce impulvity. We also included learning style training to help him harness his natural style of learning, and parent training to reinforce the behavioral changes we agreed upon. In all, Julian began to better understand how ADHD was impacting his life, learned how to better manage the challenges related to the disorder, and developed his ability to focus.

Twelve months later, Julian has taken control of his life and is off medications – and is doing well academically and athletically. This season his parents will proudly sit in the stands watching him play in his first high-school football game.

Here are a few steps I recommend you take to help your son or daughter tackle ADHD.

1. Become Your Child’s “Parent Advocate.”

You must learn as much about ADHD as possible. Period!

It is critically important to understand the challenges your child may face and the resources available. Know the teachers, the treatment team, and the law. I recommend the following book to any would-be parent advocate, “Special Needs Advocacy Resource Book,” by Michelle Davis.

2. Put an Interdisciplinary “Treatment Team” in Place.

Before school starts, connect with your psychologist, physician, nutritionist, neuro-psychologist, and/or coach to plan for the upcoming year. Have them evaluate your child’s learning style, neurological functioning, strengths and limitations. If possible, select teachers that play to your child’s strengths. Also, talk to your providers about proper nutrition and computer-based attention training programs.

While medications help manage the symptoms in the short-term, recognize that “pills don’t teach skills.” Sound nutrition, proven computer-based attention training programs, teaching children to maximize their learning style and building academic confidence permanently improves attention and teach skills necessary for success in the classroom and with friends.

3. Develop a Schedule, and Strive for Consistency and Structure.

Beginning a week or two before school starts, re-adjust bed and wake-up times. With young elementary school aged children, eliminate the fear of the unknown by introducing them to their new school, teacher and bus schedule before the first day. Children with ADHD function much better if they know what to expect. In addition, let your child get comfortable with the new supplies, organizational and/or attention training systems they will be using this year.

4. Make Meaningful Behavioral Changes.

As you well know, children with ADHD are frequently impulsive and often seek immediate gratification. Accordingly, they tend to do best when given more immediate and frequent feedback and consequences. You might also consider using incentives before punishment, and striving for consistency. I also recommend the following book to any parent of a child with ADHD, “Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents,” by Russell A. Barkley, PhD.

Althoug it may be difficult at times, try not to personalize your child’s problems or disorder. Inattentive and impulsive behaviors are common symptoms of ADHD, which experts conservatively estimate affect between 5 to 7 percent of school age children.

5. Be Positive!

Your child’s biggest liability may be their thoughts rather than their reality. Beliefs determine behaviors. If your child approaches the new school year with the fear that they are about to live out their worst nightmare, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Be wise, be optimistic, and be loving. If you do not believe in them…why should they believe in themselves?

I know it can be frustrating, but let your child know that whatever the school year may hold, “we will get through it together no matter what.” Let them know that you are in their corner… fighting with them, cheering for them and proud of them. Also, discover and teach them about some of the many extremely successful adults with ADHD.

For a list of successful people with ADHD, you can go to the website for my book, www.Focus-book.com. The book is entitled Focus: Unlocking the Secret Entrepreneurial Powers of ADHD.

6. Celebrate Every Success!

Our kids will hear plenty about their flaws and their failures… so make sure you celebrate their successes, even small ones.

7. Last, But Not Least of All, Take Care of Yourself.

Contact CHADD (Children and Adults with ADHD), and join a support group. Also, pursue a hobby or some other personal passion you may have dropped over the years.

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These seven steps will equip you to begin to discover and cultivate your child’s creativity and drive. As such, they will successfully tackle ADHD, and maximize their personal potential on and off the field.

(Click to hear Interview)

Michael Gerber, Best Selling Author

In this Age of the New Entrepreneur, Michael E. Gerber is its spokesperson and leader. Named by INC Magazine as the world’s #1 small busines Guru, Gerber has sold over 5,000,000 books and that many people can’t be wrong.

Listen in as Michael interviews Dr. Shane about ADHD and Entrepreneurship!

However, the First Lady’s strategy might be open to an unexpected counterpunch: ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. While ADHD affects nearly 5% of Americans, an article from the January 2009 issue of the journal “Obesity” states that 26–61% of patients seeking weight loss treatment struggle with ADHD and obesity.

But what is it about ADHD that increases the chances of obesity?

People with ADHD tend to be impulsive and easily distracted and hyper-focus. As such, they make hasty eating choices and frequently use food to relieve boredom. Paradoxically, when people with ADHD hyper-focus they can become so engaged within an activity that they don’t realize how much they’ve eaten, or they simply forget to eat. By the time they do eat, they are more likely to be starving and gorge themselves — and much less likely to make positive food choices.

Here are six weight loss tips that can help you beat obesity when you have ADHD:

1. Seek a professional diagnosis. Get a diagnosis to determine if you actually have ADHD. Also, find out if you have any co-existing conditions. For example, anxiety, depression, substance and/or alcohol problems can significantly undermine your weight loss efforts.

2. Schedule your meals the night before with plans to eat three good meals and a few healthy snacks. Packing your food will help you make healthier choices and eat smaller portions.

3. Pay attention to your body’s signals that it’s hungry, and schedule your meals throughout the day. These practices will help to avoid getting so wrapped up in an activity that you later make poor choices such as eating unhealthy snacks and overeating because you are hungry.

4. Recognize the first three letters of the word “diet” are D-I-E. We’re talking about lifestyle changes, and not fad diets here. Fad dieters are more likely to lose muscle and fat; and unfortunately when they regain the weight they replace it with only fat — and not muscle. As such, fad diets make us unhealthier and increase the chances of obesity.

5. Focus on being healthy instead of “skinny.”

6. People with ADHD need to get more active. Rather than turning to food when bored or stressed, turn to more stimulating activities such as horseback riding, canoeing, cycling or paintball.

These suggestions should help people with ADHD to win Mrs. Obama’s fight against America’s obesity epidemic.

These challenges are often rooted in differences in vantage points and communication styles. People with ADHD make sense of the world differently than others. For example, have you ever noticed that your partner hyper-focuses on things that truly grab his attention, and may tend to show up late because he got lost in time? Or that he tends to breaks promises to you, despite the fact that you have expressed your disappointment in this habit?

If patterns like this repeat themselves, you are likely to take it personally and feel disrespected. But these annoying traits typically don’t mean your partner doesn’t love or respect you. Face it: you both simply focus and experience time differently (and by the way, have you ever considered that some of your traits may annoy him too?).

It’s easy to understand how symptoms commonly associated with ADHD (hyper-focus, impulsivity, inattention and hyperactivity) can affect relationships. To complicate matters, most people with ADHD are not diagnosed until they are adults – if at all – and even fewer receive treatment.

Once you commit to developing an understanding of these differences, you and your partner with ADHD are on your way to a much more fulfilling relationship.

In light of some of the discord they experience, frequently the partner without ADHD wonders “why was I attracted to someone with ADHD in the first place, and why am I still in love with them despite the challenges?” Their responses frequently indicate that their partner with ADHD also has many positive and endearing qualities:

Creative
Energetic
Authentic – perhaps to a fault
Charming
Risk Taker
Fun!!!

For better or worse, here are seven tips that can help you and the one you love to live happily ever after.

1. Seek a professional diagnosis. Get a diagnosis to determine if your loved one actually has ADHD.

2. Educate Yourselves. The most important thing for an adult diagnosed with ADHD and their partner is to educate themselves. While an ADHD diagnosis may initially be a relief, it is a very complex diagnosis and the symptoms don’t disappear or become any less hurtful simply because one receives a diagnosis.

3. Work closely with your doctor, psychologist and/or ADHD coach to create a treatment plan. Your partner should find out not only if he has ADHD, but also if he has any co-existing conditions – for example, anxiety, depression, substance and/or alcohol problems – that can impact his treatment (and your relationship).

4. Determine what behaviors prevent you from being a fulfilled couple. If you love someone with ADHD, you can probably easily name at least one of his behaviors that seems to be interfering with the relationship. But relationship problems don’t develop in a bubble. Be humble enough to recognize that you may need to work on being more tolerant and identify your own blind spots or challenging traits. Work together (and with your ADHD professional, if possible) to find solutions.

5. Look at your household chores and determine if they are divided according to your respective strengths. As strange as it may sound, I’ve found that household chores tend to be a sticking point for couples dealing with ADHD. If one partner is more organized or adept with finances, then the chores they focus on should reflect that (e.g., balancing the check book). If the other spouse is more energetic, their chores should be those that require more movement (e.g., doing yard work). Instead of trying to get him to change, a better solution is to divide chores by strengths. This will increase the chances of them getting done consistently and fairly, as well as reduce stress.

6. Set aside quality time to spend together – make sure you date your spouse. Find someone to watch the children and do something fun together. Make a list of things that you both enjoy and spend some time each week on one of those things.

7. Sex. Could your sex life use a pick me up? Have you ever considered that challenges related to ADHD, including reactions such as lowered sex drive due to medication, could be preventing you from keeping your sex life as lively and fulfilling as it could be? The good thing is, with open communication with your partner and therapist, you should be able to get your sex life back on track relatively quickly. Talk about it!

All couples view the world differently and communicate uniquely – this fact may just be heightened for couples with ADHD. If your partner has ADHD, I encourage you to use these seven tips to turn potential challenges into creative ways to grow closer to them and get the love you deserve, when you deserve it!

ADHD coaches specialize in understanding, developing and leveraging the unique strengths and limitations associated with ADHD. Accordingly, they are distinctly qualified to help you become more successful at work (whether you are an employee or an entrepreneur), at school and at home.

2. What is ADHD coaching? It is a specialized type of life or business coaching that uses specialized techniques geared toward working with the unique brain wiring of individuals with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. ADHD coaching is not a substitute for traditional treatment for ADHD, such as medication, diet, exercise, and other behavioral therapeutic interventions.

You also might want to consider whether the coach uses a strength-based approach when working with ADHD clients — that is, do they treat ADHD from a “giftedness” rather than a “deficit” perspective. If you are considering an ADHD business Coach, you might consider one that employs data driven assessment tools that incorporate objective data (from you, direct reports, peers and customers) about your unique ADHD and leadership traits. This way, they can asses your strengths and limitations based on objective data.

3. How will having an ADHD coach impact the rest of your ADHD treatment team? ADHD coaching is a compliment to the treatment you get from your physician(s) and counselor. Your ADHD coach will work in concert with your treatment team to make sure all of your symptoms are being managed effectively.

4. Is ADHD coaching different from therapy? ADHD Coaching is not psychotherapy. First, it generally doesn’t directly focus on a person’s past or emotional healing. Rather, ADHD coaching identifies specific actions that will help achieve your life and/or business goals. It is not uncommon to work with a coach while you work with a therapist or counselor. Many ADHD coaches also have backgrounds as therapists or counselors.

5. How does ADHD coaching work? ADHD coaching is a close, ongoing partnership. It is not uncommon for clients work with their coach for six months or longer. Coaches can either meet their clients in person, or by telephone three or four times each month, for 30 to 45 minutes per call. Coaching sessions cover what’s going on in the client’s life and/or business — with emphases on challenges, opportunities, employing strategies for success and incorporating feedback to adjust the strategy if need be.

6. Does telephone coaching really work? The answer to this question is mixed. Yes, telephone coaching works well for most clients with ADHD. Meeting by telephone can be preferable to the logistics associated with traveling to meet in person. In addition, it provides a wider variety of options in selecting coach who specializes in ADHD, as you are not limited by geographical location. However, there are those clients with ADHD that prefer face to face meetings. Alternatively, you can do both, or even video conference. Guess the best answer is there are options.

7. How do I select an ADHD coach? Most coaches offer a free trial coaching session, while others offer the first two visits at a reduced price. And, others offer webinars or conference calls, and will let you sit in as a visitor. Use these sessions to find out if you like the coach’s style, and if what they are offering complements your situation.
It’s a good idea to talk with three or more coaches before making your choice.
When evaluating your choices, listen for clues that the coach understands ADHD and has a solid history of working with it.

In addition to demystifying ADHD, I am excited about how coaching will help you tap into your hidden genius and maximize your success at work, school and home.

To watch video clich here