Outwitting Einstein: Preparing for Math Tests
by Blythe Grossberg, Psy.D.

In my book, Test Success: Test-Taking and Study Strategies for All Students, Including those with ADD and LD (Specialty Press, 2009), I discuss how students can improve in all areas of academic and standardized testing. One common fallacy among parents and students is the belief that failure is not part of the process of academic improvement. The reality is that mistakes can be a student's best guide to how to get better. However, too many students immediately crumple up tests on which they have received lower-than-desired test grades and throw them away without realizing that such "failures" are the key to doing better. In fact, such less-than-successful tests can be gifts if they are used correctly.

The key to using lower-than-desired tests to do better is to analyze exactly what went wrong and to determine a way to do better that is tailored to the student's specific learning style. Here are some common problems that lead to academic failures as well as some time-honored, student-tested ways to overcome these problems:

• I simply didn't understand the material, but I thought I did.
  This mistake is common among students, and it means that the student has to check in with the teacher or a successful fellow classmate to figure out how to study for the next test. The student should review the material for many days in advance of a test and then ask questions in class about what she doesn't understand. Cramming the night before a test will not allow a student to conscientiously sort out what she hasn't mastered and to be active about studying it.

• I studied the material with my tutor, but I didn't really understand it.
  Tutors can hurt more than help if students aren't doing the work themselves. Tutors work best if a student first previews and sorts through the material and then asks the tutor (or teacher) about what he doesn't get. If the tutor is presenting the material to the student for the first time, the student is likely to take a passive attitude that won't result in success on test day.

• I ran out of time on the test.
  Students should first preview a test for about 30 seconds before beginning to work. They should be sure to look at the last page to budget their time accordingly for long problems, and they should resist the urge to get stuck on problems they can't solve. Instead, they should work efficiently through each question and return to those they are unsure about after finishing the entire test.

• I read the directions incorrectly.
  Test-takers need to clarify directions with their teachers and slow themselves down long enough to underline key parts of questions. They can also have their teachers tell them the format (not the content) of the test beforehand so they understand in advance what they need to do on test day.

• I made a lot of careless errors-for example, in math.
  Students need to work quickly-but not so quickly that they are rushing through problems without attending to important information. They can attend to signs in math problems by underlining them, and they can also "subvocalize," or speak under their breath, to remind them of important steps in math problems (for example, "now I remember that I'm adding a negative number instead of a positive number"). If they have time left at the end of a test, they should go back and review their answers using checking routines that the teacher has showed them.

A student who has carefully analyzed why she isn't performing up to potential and who has devised a realistic game plan to do better has also developed the kind of maturity and self-awareness that will benefit her long after her school days are over.

Meet Christina Leon from AthleKinetix.

Throughout the next few months, Christina will be preparing articles for myADHD.com News on anything related to fitness and ADHD for adults and children.

Christina is not a medical professional, but she has dedicated her career to health and fitness for the past 25 years. Over the span of her career, she has taught aerobics, step, spinning, Pilates, yoga, kickboxing, aqua aerobics, and boot camp. She has also been a personal trainer, group exercise director, and fitness director. Christina is a published author on fitness and has been featured locally and nationally in print and television. She is currently launching a new program nationwide called Athlekinetix which is the culmination of the best of everything she has learned and experienced over the years in this industry. We are very fortunate to have her as our "resident" fitness expert at myADHD.com News.

By spending years working with people of all ages and fitness abilities to lose weight and maintain their weight loss, Christina has learned firsthand that weight issues are never really just about weight. The emotional, behavioral, and psychological issues her clients have struggled with over the years have played a much more significant role in their weight gain than simply eating too many Oreos.

Recent studies have shown an interesting correlation between adult and childhood obesity in adults and the diagnosis of ADHD. A study in the journal Eating and Weight Disorders found over 25% of adults with ADHD were obese compared to adults without ADHD. Even more worrisome, researchers from Brown Medical School in the July issue of Pediatrics cited that 1 in 5 children with ADHD are overweight.

The ability to successfully lose weight and keep it off is challenging for everybody. It is exponentially more difficult for people diagnosed with ADHD. Unfortunately, it is the very symptoms of ADHD that make committing to diet and exercise programs an extra challenge.

Stay tuned to future issues of MyADHD.comNews to learn strategies for making weight loss successful with nutrition and exercise tips specifically geared to adults and children with ADHD. AthleKinetix is also currently in production of exercise dvd's which will be soon be exclusively available to MyADHD.comNews subscribers.

ADD and College by Stephanie Sarkis, PhD, NCC, LMHC

One of the most important ways to increase college success is to obtain accommodations through the college's Office of Student Disability Services (OSDS).

Accommodations are changes made in order to provide students with disabilities equal access to education. Accommodations include extended time on tests, testing in a quiet location, having another student take notes for you in class, and having a reduced course load count as full-time status. Accommodations create an "even playing field" with your classmates that don't have ADHD.

Apply for accommodations as soon as possible. You can even apply through the OSDS as soon as you are accepted to the college. To qualify for accommodations, you must have (in part) an evaluation from a mental health clinician. The evaluation must detail your diagnosis of ADHD, give specifics on how ADHD impairs your academic performance, and provide the clinician's suggested accommodations. See your college's OSDS for more details.

Stephanie Sarkis PhD NCC LMHC is the author of 10 Simple Solutions to Adult ADD: How to Overcome Chronic Distraction & Accomplish Your Goals and Making the Grade with ADD: A Student's Guide to Succeeding in College with Attention Deficit Disorder. A third book, ADD and Your Money, will be released in December 2009. Dr. Sarkis is a licensed mental health counselor and coach in private practice in Boca Raton, Florida. She is also an adjunct assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University.

Visit myADHD.com and use the following tools this month to learn about Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) tools to help adults with ADHD who may suffer from anxiety or depression.

• Introduction to Cognitive Behavior Therapy
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Anxiety
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Depression

Children with Attention Deficits Concentrate Better After Walk in the Park
Andrea Faber Taylor and Frances E. Kuo

Objective: In the general population, attention is reliably enhanced after exposure to certain physical environments, particularly natural environments. This study examined the impacts of environments on attention in children with ADHD. Method: In this within subjects design, each participant experienced each of three treatments (environments) in single blind controlled trials. Seventeen children 7 to12 years old professionally diagnosed with ADHD experienced each of three environments-a city park and two other well-kept urban settings-via individually guided 20-minute walks. Environments were experienced 1 week apart, with randomized assignment to treatment order. After each walk, concentration was measured using Digit Span Backwards. Results: Children with ADHD concentrated better after the walk in the park than after the downtown walk (p = .0229) or the neighborhood walk (p = .0072). Effect sizes were substantial (Cohen's d =.52 and .77, respectively) and comparable to those reported for recent formulations of methylphenidate. Conclusion: Twenty minutes in a park setting was sufficient to elevate attention performance relative to the same amount of time in other settings. These findings indicate that environments can enhance attention not only in the general population but also in ADHD populations. "Doses of nature" might serve as a safe, inexpensive, widely accessible new tool in the tool kit for managing ADHD symptoms. (J. of Att. Dis. 2009; 12(5) 402-409)