ADHD Experts on Call Returns on National ADHD Awareness Day

If you have a question about ADHD, on Wednesday, September 19th from 8:00 am until midnight, you will have a chance to ask one of the ADHD experts assembled by Shire US to provide you with answers and information. Simply call (888) ASK-ADHD or visit ADHDExpertsOnCall.com.

You wouldn't believe how many questions are answered in one day by the 20+ ADHD experts assembled to provide help to parents, grandparents, adults with ADHD, spouses, educators, and others.. No question is too simple-or too complex. Physicians, nurses, psychologists, counselors, ADHD advocates, and educators will be on hand all day. Call or do an online chat with one of the ADHD experts.

For the fourth year in a row, Congress has declared that National ADHD Awareness Day take place on September 19th-the same day as the Experts on Call Program. AThe purpose of National ADHD Awareness Day is to acknowledge ADHD as a major public health concern and to encourage all Americans to learn more about ADHD, support ADHD mental health services, and seek treatment and support if needed.

If you have a question about ADHD, cal the Experts on Call team (888) ASK-ADHD or visit www.ADHDExpertsOnCall.com this coming Wednesday, September 19, 2007.

What is Your Focus Pattern?
How is that important in good career decisions?
By Wilma Fellman, M.Ed., LPC

All jobs have a different pace. Are you a "sprinter" or a "plodder?" Sometimes we find distinct patterns and sometimes not. If not, that is very useful information for career search. If we DO find a pattern, we want to use it to our advantage.

Many individuals with ADHD find that they have bursts of energy and focus, followed by feelings of being depleted. These "sprinters" of the world are perhaps best suited for doing project work, where full "steam" can be applied to a job, and then it ends. Examples of this type of work might be advertising think-tank participants, customer service representatives, emergency room hospital workers or real estate attorneys.

The "plodders" are the workers who seem to have the ability to sustain focus and attention in relatively the same amounts each day. Administrative personnel are good examples of those who need to be as sharp and "plugged in" on a Monday morning as they are on Friday afternoon, throughout the month. Other examples of those who do well as plodders are advertising account executives, chronic disease heath professionals, and criminal attorneys. Notice that the job environments are the same in both groups of examples, but in the latter case, these jobs require sustained, linked focus from one time to another.

An easy, low-tech way of determining which group you might fall into is to keep an Energy/Focus Log for a month. At the start, middle and end of your day (whatever time of day that might be) choose a number from 1 to 10, where 1 indicates you have very little focus/energy at the moment, and 10 means you are highly focused/energized. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, such as illness, travel, houseguests, etc., that would change your "normal" pattern, at the end of the month you will note one of 2 things: 1) Either there will be NO pattern, in which case this factor will not need to be considered in your career choices, or 2) there WILL be a pattern, and the knowledge of this will enable you to use your expected focus times to your best advantage. Either way, the information is essential to choosing not only the job arena, but also the specifics of the job title as well.

Wilma Fellman has been a Career Counselor, for over 24 years, specializing in individuals with AD/HD, LD, and other challenges. She is the Founder/Coordinator of a Michigan organization for professionals who specialize in AD/HD. She is the author of: The Other me: Poetic Thoughts on ADD for Adults, Kids and Parents, and contributing author of Understanding Women with AD/HD. The Second Edition of her career development book, Finding A Career That Works For You, contains a Special Foreword by Richard Nelson Bolles, author of What Color is Your Parachute? Wilma is a Past President of Michigan Career Development Association, served on the ADD Association (ADDA) Board for 8 years, and is developing training for other career counselors, coaches, etc.

Calling All Frauds
Ari Tuckman, PsyD, MBA

Adults with ADHD tend to be very aware of their weaknesses and foul ups, but may be less confident about their good qualities and successes. Unfortunately, many have learned over the years to doubt their abilities, since good skills and good intentions don't translate reliably enough into successes. When hard work and maybe a little bit of luck do yield something good, they may still doubt it. At the extreme, ADHD adults may feel like frauds who are just waiting to be found out-"Sure, I may have done a good job on that one project, but it's just a matter of time before I mess things up again."

Especially after years of undiagnosed and untreated ADHD, it's easy to over-focus on your weaknesses. The antidote to that is to actively seek treatment for your ADHD, doing your best to improve your weaknesses, while also accepting that some of those weaknesses will remain. This is easier to do if you value your strengths, too. Also, remember that everyone has both weaknesses and strengths, it may just be that ADHD weaknesses are more obvious and/or that you are more aware of your own weaknesses than others'. Everyone else has to work to achieve success despite their weaknesses, they may just be different weaknesses than those with ADHD struggle with.

It's easier to feel deserving of your successes, and less like a fraud, if you remember:

myADHD.com and Addvisors.com offer a free ADHD related teleconference on the second Wednesday of each month.

Hear Matthew Cohen, JD discuss ADHD and the law. This is your chance to have your questions answered by one of the most renowned special education attorneys in the country.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 from 8:30 - 9:30 pm
Call: (646) 519-5883 Pin: 2648 at 8:30 pm EST on May 9th to join the teleconference.

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