I learned about this tragedy while standing in line at a juice bar. The news was spreading from cell to cell, as jaws dropped all around me and people went pale. What to say? How to respond? This quickly becomes a trauma, not only for the Connecticut community where it happened but for the country and the world.

How do we humans explain this to ourselves and to our children? Gradually, facts will come out, theories will evolve, some perspective will emerge. But, at core, we still will feel what we all felt when I was standing in line: shock, amazement, horror, and incomprehension. We will invoke a word like "crazy" to explain what we can't explain. I would urge us all to remind one another that while these random acts of terror and destruction do occur and will occur, they must not destroy our belief in one another. Indeed, they prove how much we need each other, more than ever, how much we need each other to be there for us all, we need each other to group together and in our world wide community stand together as solid proof that sanity will prevail, love will prevail, and community will save us from the chaos tragedies like the one that happened in Connecticut seem to portend.

Now it is time to band together. Now it is time to tell our children they are safe, because they are. Now is not the time to hold back on life out of fear, but to step up and, together, boldly press on. Together, we will prevail now, as we always have.

Remember to take time and savor the joy of the moment.

If you have an ADHD high school sophomore, junior or senior, or a first or second year college student who is in the dark about career options, the holiday break provides an opportunity to begin the career exploration process.  

How can you help your teen or young adult begin this exploration process?  

Take an interest inventory - Dr. Hallowell and Cathy Corman, in their book, "Positively ADD, Real Success Stories to Inspire Your Dreams," explain that it is important for people with ADD to do something that they are passionate about. Most interest inventories provide a list of occupations that the student, given their responses, is likely to be interested in or satisfied with. If your teen or young adult has taken an interest inventory through either the high schools guidance office or the Career Counseling Center at their college, I would inquire about the results. An alternative is for your child to take the highly regarded Self-Directed-Search� (SDS), that only costs, $4.99.  (Note: for inventories like the SDS the list of possible jobs only identify positions that match interests and do not take into account skills, fund of knowledge or aptitudes.) 

Upon reviewing the results, you might be able to identify some relatives or friends who are in one or two of the jobs suggested or who know someone in that line of work. Encourage your teen or young adult to learn about the real nature of the job from "the horse's mouth" so to speak.  Your son or daughter could ask:
*    What does the day-to-day job entail?
*    How did you get your first job in this line of work?
*    How do you see this job/ occupation/ industry changing in the next 2 years, and the next 5 - 10 years?
(For additional Informational Interview questions, see p. 47 in the book, "What Color Is Your Parachute? For Teens," by Carol Christen and Richard Bolles (2010 edition).

In addition to job titles, SDS� also provides links to O*NET, The Occupational Information Network. A teen or young adult can review summary information on the job, the skills needed, the educational requirements, salary information and more.  Encourage your son or daughter to explore and bookmark the summaries that interest him or her for future reference. Once a student has done some initial exploration, encourage him or her to revisit their guidance counselor or career counseling center in January. 

If you are interested in engaging a Career Coach to help your ADHD teen or young adult, please contact Robin Roman Wright at the Sudbury Hallowell Center, (978) 287-0180 and ask to set up a complimentary inquiry session.