Attentional Spectrum Books

Monday, July 23, 2012 Leave a comment

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ACO Conference Binder 2012 -
Blog expanded Speaker Content
Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – Part 4c


“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”
~  Albert Einstein

“We spend our life until we’re twenty
deciding what parts of ourselves to put in the bag,
and we spend the rest of our lives trying to get them out again.” 
~  Robert Bly

The Attentional Spectrum through The ADD Lens™

As I compiled this list of “ADD-related” books, I became crystal clear that my concept of “related” is that the book sheds some positive-minded light on the process of attentional regulation.

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Filed under A1b-1 Anxiety, Depression & Mood Swings, A1b-1a Bipolar Disorder, A1b-2 Autism, Aspergers & Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD/PDDNOS), A1b-3 OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, A1b-6 Substance Disorders, A1b. ADD Comorbids etc., E2c. ADD Community Support, G3. ADD Coaching Secrets, H. Brain Based Coaching/Training Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

ADD seldom rides alone

Thursday, July 19, 2012 6 Comments

ADD Cormorbidities

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, MCC, SCAC

ABOUT ADD Comorbidities, the introductory article in this series, explained that a comorbid disorder refers to additional conditions, syndromes or disorders frequently found in a specific diagnostic population more often than the condition is found in the neurotypical population – to a statistically significant degree.

In other words, we’re talking about accompanying conditions that are not automatically included in the diagnostic criteria for the “main” condition, but are frequently seen in that particular population of individuals.

Regardless of the Reason Why

The overlap may reflect a causal relationship between the two diagnoses, and they may reflect an underlying vulnerability in common. The important concept is that two or more conditions co-occur more frequently in our “target population” than in population norms otherwise, and to a statistically significant degree.

From a behavioral standpoint, these additional conditions sometimes occur with similar or overlapping symptoms, and sometimes they show up with additional symptoms – those not necessarily seen in other individuals with the original or “base” diagnosis.

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When you are NEW to ADD

Tuesday, June 19, 2012 4 Comments

From the Brain-Transplant Series

ADD Information you NEED to know!
from the ADD Poster Girl: Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, MCC, SCAC 

Whad’ya mean NEW to ADD?

GOOD question!

Here are some possible answers:

  • Diagnosed [dx'd] in the last three months
  • Dx’d in the last YEAR, but still struggling and don’t really understand WHY
  • Dx’d EVER, but suspect you are still “under-functioning” and don’t know what else to do
  • Your CHILD fits in either of the three categories above
  • You SUSPECT ADD – in yourself or a loved one – and are wondering if you need to explore diagnosis – no matter HOW you feel about the meds issue

NEW means new to ANY of “The ADD Basics” – no matter WHO you are or how long you’ve been working with ADD in any fashion (even as a professional, by the way).

  • I’ll bet you a year of free coaching that, even if you THINK you know
    ADD fairly well already, what you don’t know still will surprise you –
    and could change your life.
  • Some day I hope to have time to add a few quizzes, but for now . . .
    what’s the harm in checking them out just to see if you already
    know everything you think you’ll find there?
  • They will be a great review, if nothing else!

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ABOUT The Brain-Transplant Series

Monday, June 18, 2012 10 Comments

Brain Transplants Available Here!
from the ADD Poster Girl, Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, MCC, SCAC


My friend and colleague Peggy Ramundo (co-author of the ADD classic, You Mean I’m NOT Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?!) makes fun of me all the time.

“Madelyn,” says she, “it’s like you are trying to give them a BRAIN transplant in every communication.”

Well, maybe not the WHOLE brain – but I do want to insert a few modules that will help you learn to drive the very brain you were born with.™

Really!  I can help with that.  That’s what I DO – for my clients, my students, my colleagues and my friends.  I’ve been doing it for 25 years now.

ADD Driving Lessons

While sharing ADD information, coaching and training ADD Coaches
are how I earn the money to keep a roof over my head and food on my
table, I have a soft-spot for the many ADDers who are struggling and
can’t AFFORD to pay for services, no matter how important or useful
they might be.

So, in addition to the many free and practically free TeleClasses and ADD Hours™ I have run over the past several decades, I have taken a great deal of time out of my life and out of my schedule to write, edit and post many, MANY articles with content that could change your life — available for FREE right here on this blog.

But not enough of you are not reading them. :(

Why NOT?

There are a LOT of answers to that question.  The biggest ones seem to be these:

  • Too much ADD-info out there to be able to remember where you read what – taking the time to sign up for notification of new content will remedy
    that one
  • Poorish reading skills in the ADD community overall – insufficient time, technology (and money!) are currently keeping me from my eventual goal of reading the content TO you and posting that option on every page – but it’s coming!
  • Not enough of you remembering to “like” and “share” and “rate” to help me get the word out to your friends and colleagues after you read the content (ADD, anyone?)
    You tell ME – what will it take to remember to DO that? 

The problem this new series is designed to attempt to provide a remedy for this one:

You are unaware that the articles exist or
which ones have help for YOUR situation.
I might have figured out a work-around for THAT one!

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Intentionality CAN be a Trap

Monday, June 4, 2012 4 Comments

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Hover before clicking for more info
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Lessons Learned from Late Night Upsets

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, MCC, SCAC

“When in deep water, become a diver”
~ the Viking Runes (Ralph Blum version)

Unexpected Benefits

When I lived in Manhattan, there were more than a few nights when somebody’s car alarm went off — sometimes blaring away for over an hour.

Sometimes the car was parked close enough that it seemed as if the sound threatened to oscillate the teeth right out of my head.

With the laws in place at the time I lived in The Big Apple, there was absolutely nothing that anyone but the owner of the car could do to silence the racket, including the police.

Dealing with this little hitch in my git-along, as they say in the South, turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

THE UNIVERSE IS PERFECT

The first few times I heard that expression, it annoyed me. Greatly.

Perfect?!

How can (for example) disturbing an entire neighborhood in the middle of the night because some idiot parked the car too far away from his or her apartment to be able to hear that s/he needed to go turn off the racket possibly be considered any flavor of perfect?

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Play Podcast: ADD and S-E-X

Wednesday, May 30, 2012 Leave a comment

Creative Commons; Wikipedia

Ways ADD impacts sexuality:
an ADD Coaching approach

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

(Scroll down to play podcast)

As I said in the “coming soon” announcement –

Sexuality is one of the not-so-surprising areas affected by Executive Functioning Dysregulations of ALL types, including ADD.

Factors effecting physical intimacy is an arena that is rarely thought about in terms of ADD specifically. The topic of ADD’s impact on sex is even less frequently spoken aloud and in public — at least not seriously!

So, of course, I wanted to discuss it – and we DID!

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Filed under A. Hopefully Helpful
, A5g. Distractions & Transitions, A5h. ADD Relationships, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, C3. PODCASTS! Tagged with , , , , ,

Getting OVER Overwhelm

Tuesday, May 29, 2012 2 Comments

Brain-based Coaching Secrets
that Beat Back Overwhelm - free TeleClass

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Are you overwhelmed by all there is to DO to keep your life and your business on track?

TeleClass Over - Sign up Link Disabled

Are you over-committed, under-prioritized, and dog-tired of feeling like you’ll never be able to catch up on things?

Did you sign up for this blog, hoping to take advantage of the information here to help you cope, but day turns into day and you STILL haven’t had a spare moment to really explore?

Register to be able to call in for this TeleClass

  • Do you ever hear your inner voice muttering that your thoughts and actions are so scattered you surely must have undiagnosed ADD?
  • Is your ADD diagnosed, but things seem to keep getting worse, so you’re concerned that there might be a whole lot more going on?
  • Does your short-term memory seem to be slipping?  Are you more and more frequently dropping things out, forgetting what you went into the next room to do, fumbling over names  – and nouns?  Do you secretly wonder sometimes if maybe you are sliding into some kind of atypical, early onset Alzheimers?

If you even hesitated over the questions above, you’ll want to be sure to tune in to this week’s Getting over Overwhelm free TeleClass – Thursday, May 31st, 2012.

[Don't forget: links are dark grey to reduce distraction potential - they turn red on mouse-over]

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Transitional Modes

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 2 Comments

Sherlock YourSELF, John

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Thanks to artist/educator Phillip Martin for capturing so MANY of my concepts in his images – and for their use.

There ain’t no IS about ADD

All human beings, even “identical” twins, have differences — all the way down to the celular level.

Those differences are magnified and multiplied when you throw attentional spectrum disorders into the mix.

While your challenges and talents may be impacted by (or even a product of) ADD, don’t make the mistake of assuming that your experience is reflective of ADD in general.

Throughout the Transitions Series, for instance, I offer my examples to help you compile and categorize your troublesome transitions.

But don’t assume that you work the same way
I do simply because we both have ADD. 

EVEN when we share what seems to be an
identical list of transitional challenges,
when we dig deeper we will find that they
are challenging for completely different reasons.

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Filed under A5b. Activation, A5f. Organization & Task Completion, A5g. Distractions & Transitions, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, G5j. Transition Tamer Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Truth about Transitions

Saturday, May 12, 2012 2 Comments

Sherlocking Transitions

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

As I said in Trouble with Transitions, the first article in the Transitions Series:

One of the primary reasons that transitions are so tricky is that we have only one word to describe THREE phases of the same darned task: 

COMPLETION – transitioning out of
– “putting away your toys”

PREPARATION – transitioning into
– “getting out the pieces of the new puzzle”

and

THE GAP – that “toy free”
period between the two.

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Filed under A5b. Activation, A5f. Organization & Task Completion, A5g. Distractions & Transitions, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, G5j. Transition Tamer Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

ADD and S-E-X

Thursday, May 10, 2012 Leave a comment

ADD & Sexuality: an ADD Coaching Viewpoint

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Creative Commons; Wikipedia

Sexuality is one of the not-so-surprising areas affected by Executive Functioning Dysregulations of ALL types, including ADD.

Factors effecting physical intimacy is an arena that is rarely thought about in terms of ADD specifically.

The topic of ADD’s impact on sex is even less frequently spoken aloud and in public — at least not seriously!

So, of course, I wanna’ discuss it!

The Back Story

During a break betweeen sessions at last March’s ACO Conference in Atlanta, I was chatting with a few of the other speakers about the key issues that our clients bring to coaching. The question of how (and how often) we are called on to handle the topic of sexualty came up for discussion.

One of the participants in the conversation was the founder of ADDClasses.com, Tara McGillicuddy, an ADD Coach, advocate and speaker who is the host of the most popular ADD podcast series on BlogTalk Radio: ADHD Support Talk.

So, of course, WE made plans to have a conversation on the topic of the impact of ADD on sexuality for her show.

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Trouble with Transitions

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 2 Comments

Fade In - Fade Out

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Transition Trials

As we work our way from dawn to dusk — multi-tasking, time-slicing or hyperfocusing — the moment we realize that we must begin a particular task before we have completed what we are currently doing is the very stake in the heart of “trouble with transitions.”

But WHY are transitions so difficult?

Wait! Let’s ask a better question: who claimed that transitioning was supposed to be easy?  

ADD or vanilla, most of us have some degree of trouble with transitions —  a big-time reason why most of us reach the exhausted end of many a busy day with so many undone to-dos.

It is merely a trick of language that promotes the fallacy that we will be able to transition from one task to the next with the ease with which one image dissolves into another at the movies — or the way a really great cross-fade between tunes seems to sneak the volume of one song down just as the other comes up.

Easy? NO WAY!

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Filed under A5a. Attention & Focus, A5f. Organization & Task Completion, A5g. Distractions & Transitions, G5j. Transition Tamer, G5l. Organization & Task Completion, H. Brain Based Coaching/Training Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

A Notebook as a System to Fulfill

Saturday, April 28, 2012 21 Comments

Creating “A System to Fulfill”

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
In support of The ADD in the Spirit Coach Training Program Series

Setting it up so that you get to WIN!

The priciples of setting up a tracking system for a brand new coaching practice generalize — so don’t skip this article, simply because you won’t be setting up a notebook for coach training.

Beginning with the END in mind

There’s a lot to track when you’re setting up a brand new system for a brand new business!

If you are like most of us with ADD, that tracking part doesn’t land anywhere close to your centers of competency, so don’t make it harder than it needs to be.

Start out organized!

Don’t play games with this – do it right away!

  • You know what will happen to the notes taken in all those tattered legal pads and spiral notebooks – or on the little scraps of paper - or on anything else you grab to write on “for now,” don’t you?
  • Somewhere deep inside you KNOW that the “tomorrow” where you will finally get everything together and filed for easy retrieval-on-demand will NEVER turn into today — don’t you?
  • Yep! The task will loom larger and more daunting with every scratch of the pen and tick of the clock.

Class notes, handouts, contact sheets, practice management tips, tricks and brain-children, medication references, bridge numbers and access codes (and who knows what else?!) - OH MY!

Your best defense against overwhelm and Boggle

. . . is to make it “easy by default.”

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Filed under A5f. Organization & Task Completion, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, C1c. ADD Pros & Coaches, C4. Class Materials Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Ten ADD Organizing Principles

Friday, April 27, 2012 5 Comments

NOT Your Mama’s Organization

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
In support of the Challenges Inventory™ & ADD Coaching Series

As I began in an earlier post (ADD & Organized?) . . .

Yes, even YOU can learn to be organized –
JUST AS SOON AS YOU UNDERSTAND
the REASONS why you’ve been stopped in the past.  

HERE’S the KICKER: it’s a different mix of stoppers for every single one of us.  

If you don’t understand how YOU work, you’ll never be able to determine what YOU need to do to to keep from spending half your life looking for things that were “right here a minute ago” – and the other half tripping over dirt and detritus.

So much for helpful hints and tidy lists!  

That said, I’m going to go w-a-a-y out on a limb by offering ten ADD organizing principles that I call, collectively, The ADD Organizaing Manifesto — a summary of some basic concepts that need to be embraced and understood if you want to have a shot at working out what YOU need to do for YOU to be organized.

In future posts in this series, I’ll expand on some of the points below.
For NOW, print ‘em out and hang ‘em up!

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ODD & Oppositional Rising

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 2 Comments


Part of the ADD/ADHD Cormidities series
(Dark gray links become obvious on mouse-over)

Small Blessings

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Fortunately, most of us with ADD do NOT have full-blown, comorbid, diagnositic ODD – Oppositional Defiant Disorder – a protracted “terrible twos,” on steroids!  

Almost ALL of us, however, ADD or not, have a small – perfectly “normal” – part of our personalities that balks unless the task is totally appealing in the moment we are “supposed” to take it on.

Part of developmental maturity is learning how to “postpone gratification” and work with what some therapists and self-help gurus call “the self-saboteur.”  (I prefer to think of it as “learning how to bribe our Inner Three-Year olds.”)  

In any case, and for whatever reason, those of us who qualify for an ADD diagnosis, even those who aren’t particularly impulsive otherwise, seem to struggle with “postponing gratification” more than the neurotypical population: sort of like having “ODD Rising.”

ABOUT ODD Rising

“ODD Rising” and “Oppositional Rising” are my terms for what I refer to as “a high oppositional piece” in an ADD symptom profile.  ODD rising is significantly below the diagnostic threshhold for ODD, yet severe enough to make us feel a little crazy as we wonder what it is, exactly, that is stopping us from achievement commensurate with our level of intelligence or education.

I keep up with the ODD field, as I keep a keen eye on all of the ADD Comorbid diagnoses, but ODD itself is not my speciality. 

My focus is applying what I learn from related disorders to help those with Attentional Spectrum Disorders work with whatever it is that is going on with them: learning to drive their very own brains.

AFTER I offer a brief introduction to diagnostic ODD, the remainder of this article will introduce the “oppositional piece” concept. I will revisit ODD in future articles exploring ADD comorbidities — conditions that frequently accompany an ADD diagnosis, to a statistically significant degree more often than in the neurotypical population.

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Is Your Child on the TEAM?

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 5 Comments

TEAMS: A New ADHD Treatment for Preschoolers

Guestpost from David Rabiner, Ph.D.
Associate Research Professor; Dept. of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University
ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE – April 2012

=============================================================================================
I have been a huge fan of Dr. David Rabiner’s ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE since its inception in 1997. Not only do I count on his comprehensive, plain-English explanations of up-to-date research trends and developments as key resources in my drive to keep my information base current,  I also archive them for future reference.  

For those who aren’t already among the over 40,000 people currently subscribed (sponsored now by CogMed, so no longer a charge to you), at the conclusion of this post I tell you how to get your own monthly copy in your very own email box.

I urge any professional working with individuals on the Attentional Spectrum — whether teachers, counselors, coaches, therapists or physicans — to sign yourself up the second you see those instructions, before it falls through the cracks.  (Parents and ADDers themselves can benefit too!)

Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, A.C.T, MCC, SCAC
=============================================================================================

TEAM Training

In this month’s issue of Attention Research Update I review a recently published study that examined a new intervention for preschool children with ADHD called TEAMS – Training Executive, Attention, and Motor Skills.

The premise of this interesting and important study is that through regular parent-child engagement in games designed to exercise important neurocognitive skills, it may be possible to affect enduring reductions in core ADHD symptoms.

Thus, in contrast to current evidence-based interventions like medication treatment and behavior therapy, the goal of TEAMS is to produce more fundamental and enduring change.

I think this is very important work for the field and I believe you will find this to be an interesting study.

Sincerely,
David Rabiner, Ph.D.; Associate Research Professor
Dept. of Psychology & Neuroscience; Duke University; Durham, NC 27708

———————————————————————————————————
mgh note: Although this post is longer than usual, I chose to present the entire April issue instead of writing a summary, in answer to the many requests I have received for more information about non-pharmaceutal treatment alternatives.

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Filed under A2c. Non-medical alternatives, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, David Rabiner, Ph.D., E2c. ADD Community Support, E2d. ADD and Education, I. Guest Posts Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Juggling Invisible Balls

Thursday, March 29, 2012 4 Comments


By Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, A.C.T., MCC, SCAC
Part 2 of a 2-part article in a series of excerpts from my upcoming book,
TaskMaster™ - see article list below

Some Juggling is an INSIDE Job

 

Juggling invisible balls is my term for the conscious attempt to screen out persistent, irrelevant, or intrusive, off-task, background “noise.”

“Noise” refers to input from any modality (an area of information processing using our sensory apparatus);
“juggling” is a metaphor to help us understand the mechanism by which we handle life’s many demands.

In the previous TaskMaster Series article, Taking Your Functional Temperature, I introduced several analogies that help illuminate what’s going on “behind the scenes” to help explain WHY we struggle with focus — and WHY we struggle in ways that make it difficult-to-impossible to get things done.

If you haven’t read the previous article, I STRONGLY suggest you start there, or I doubt the content below will be as valuable to you as it could be.

In this second section, we’re going to take a closer look at some of the reasons why functioning can be so erratic.

As I said in the first part of this article, on an average day, you may well be able to handle a great many things that, on another day, you simply cannot.

  • It makes sense ONLY if you start becoming aware of – and counting – invisible balls, so that you can better predict your functioning level BEFORE you attempt to take on more than you can manage.
  • Part of the value of ADD Coaching is helping you develop the habit of taking your functional temperature to help you take on the type and number of tasks that will keep you stimulated but not overwhelmed.

You will find tasks easier to manage if you learn to think of your day as if, like Alice, you were faced with one long  juggling  performance for The Red Queen.

You may certainly plan what objects you TAKE to her palace, but you must determine the order of your performance in the moment, so that the objects don’t come crashing down around you to the tune of, “Off with your head!”

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Taking Your Functional Temperature

Sunday, March 18, 2012 5 Comments


By Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, A.C.T., MCC, SCAC
Part 1 of a 2-part article in a series of excerpts from my upcoming book,
TaskMaster™ - see article list below

Functional Temperature

artwork courtesy of artist/educator Phillip Martin

Some days I don’t wanna’

When I look at my wide and wonderful list of things I DO want to do, it seems the items I must do to keep a roof over my head, food on my table (and some semblance of organization and order in my life) are seldom the items that make me drool.

I often fantasize about what I’d do if I were to win the lottery, so I know, without stopping to think, exactly what I’d do first: I’d prepay everything for a decade or so!

Next, I’d throw a couple of years of generous support to a would-rather-be-a-stay-at-home Mom to add me to her list of charges.

THAT would allow me to coach and train, and write, and jump on the speaker’s circuit to advocate and educate for NOTHING — following my bliss every single second of every single day — freed from the constraints of capitalist imperatives.

Alas! Since I would probably need to drive someplace to purchase a ticket to said lottery (and my car is currently feeling too lazy to run), I doubt I’m likely to experience said windfall any time soon.

So if anybody knows somebody in that 1% who’s in
a philanthropic mood, send ‘em my way.  

Until then I, like you, must figure out an effective way to bob and weave between the tasks that allow me to make a living and the activities that make life worth living.

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Filed under A5f. Organization & Task Completion, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, G5a. The ADD Lens™, G5l. Organization & Task Completion, H. Brain Based Coaching/Training Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Sherlocking Task Anxiety

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 2 Comments


By Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, A.C.T., MCC, SCAC
Another in a series of articles from my upcoming book,
TaskMaster™ - see article list below

Task Anxiety 101 - part 2

Watson, we need to review

The three most recent segments introduced a unique connection between bribery and intentionality. reward and acknowledgment (introducing the connection between inner three-year-olds, the cookie concept, reward and acknowledgment, and accomplishment).

IF you’ve been playing along . . .

In the TaskMaster Series Introduction and in Task Anxiety Awareness, you made some lists.

One is a List of Ten – activities you find yourself doing INSTEAD whenever you attempt to complete a task, or in response to an attempt to initiate a task.

  • This is a list of any ten of the things that YOU do that leaves you chronically behind and befuddled.
  • Many of you had self-identified with that not-very-helpful “chronic procrastinator” label as a result.
  • I encouraged you to reframe those tasks as “avoidance” activities: avoiding task anxiety.

You also have a List of Five Feelings.

I asked you to think of a specific example in your life where you tried to listen to “logical” advice from those who did not take the time to understand the parameters of your problem before stepping in to suggest their “simple solutions.”

  • I asked you to recall how you felt when you attempted to take that “logical” advice (or even thought about taking it), especially when accompanied by a failure to reach a goal or complete a task.
  • I suggested you write down at least five descriptive feeling words, then walked you through four paired-awareness exercises, shuffling the paired words around a bit to see if any new insights bubbled up from your unconscious.

Now, dear Watson, let’s connect some dots!

Filed under A5f. Organization & Task Completion, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, G5j. Transition Tamer, G5l. Organization & Task Completion, G8. TaskMaster™ Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Remembrance of Selves Past

Sunday, March 11, 2012 8 Comments

 Remember – links on this site are dark grey to reduce distraction potential
while you’re reading. They turn red on mouseover.

A not-so-new form of Self-advocacy

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Practically all of us here in ADD-land have what the neuropsychs call “short-term memory deficits.”

Not only does that make it tough to run our lives, day to day, it also has a negative effect on what we are able to remember about our past.

Since one’s memories become the fabric of one’s sense of self, self-esteem can only be battered by the trade winds of today if you have no reliable sense of past to keep you moored.

It also makes it difficult to explain ourselves, our decisions, and our conclusions – even to ourselves!

Many of you who battled with teachers who accused you of cheating because you had the answer but couldn’t “show your work” know just what I mean by that statement.

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Filed under A5a. Attention & Focus, A5e. Memory and Info Processing, G5d. Intentional Attending, G5g. MoodMender™ Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

ABOUT ADD Comorbidities

Thursday, March 8, 2012 3 Comments

Cormorbid or Co-occuring?

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Wait!  Doesn’t comorbid mean
co-occuring?

Not exactly. Comorbidity refers to a specific KIND of “co-occurance.”

A comorbid disorder refers to additional conditions or syndromes or disorders frequently found in a specific diagnostic population.

In other words, we’re talking about accompanying conditions that are not part of the diagnostic criteria for the “main” condition, but are frequently seen in that particular population of individuals.

From a behavioral standpoint, these additional conditions occur sometimes with similar or overlapping symptoms, and sometimes they show up with additional symptoms – those not necessarily seen in those with the original or “base” diagnosis.

The overlap may reflect a causal relationship between the two diagnoses, and they may relect an underlying vulnerability in common, but the important concept is that they co-occur more frequently in our “target population” than in population norms otherwise, and to a statistically significant degree.

So, even if an entire hotel full of ADDers happens to be diabetic as well, we still would not say their diagnosis was ADD with comorbid diabetes, because the two conditions haven’t been proven to occur in tandem any more frequently than the incidence of diabetes in the general (non-ADD or “vanilla”) population.

So, in this example, the two conditions are co-occuring, NOT comorbid, even though it may not look that way to anyone staying in this particular hotel!

Muddying the waters further, the statistics change depending on which end of the diagnostic telescope you look through. For example, up to 60% percent of children with tic disorders also have ADD, but nowhere near 60% of ADDers have tic disorders.

The high possibility of comorbidities is yet another good reason to make sure you get an excellent differential diagnosis – but the articles in the Comorbidities Series are going to look at some of the diagnoses that frequenly hitch-hike along with ADD through another lens: SUCCESS!

Developing person-specific work-arounds and interventions to help you achieve that blessed state of Optimal Functioning that I believe is our birthright comes through the identifying, understanding, and learning to work with and work around ALL of the “mix-ins” in your particular flavor of ADD:
“Learning to drive the very brain you were born with
- even if it’s taken a few hits in the meantime!”™

Read more of this post

Filed under A1b. ADD Comorbids etc., ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, Variations on ADD/ADHD Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Alphabet Soup

Friday, March 2, 2012 6 Comments

Remember – links on this site are dark grey to reduce distraction potential
while you’re reading. They turn red on mouseover
Hover before clicking for more info
.

EFD, ADD, ADHD, HRT, MBD – WTF?

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Hold onto your hats everybody, there is discussion afoot toward yet another renaming of ADD – and the front-runner seems to be (at the moment, at least), EFD.

I wouldn’t block consensus on EFD.

However, as illuminated in an earlier article on this site [ADD - What's in a Name?], I don’t have a problem with the acronym “ADD” – as long as we focus on the disorder of THE ATTENDING MECHANISM and the Dynamics of Attending.

In other words, the essential point, for me, is that, for whatever reason, ADD is an impairment in the extent of one’s ability to pay attention, STOP paying attention, and/or to get back on track after an interruption or distraction.

  1. Focusing on the intended object;
  2. Sustaining the focus;
  3. Shifting focus AT WILL

Underlying each of the Dynamics is the same impaired element of cognition common to all of the Executive Functioning Disorders: VOLITION.

That’s INTENTIONALITY, boys and girls – being able to drive your own brain and run your own life, rather than being at the effect of chronic oopses and mishaps.

Read more of this post

Filed under A1a. Executive Functioning Disorders, A1c. Dances with Diagnosis, H. Brain Based Coaching/Training, Variations on ADD/ADHD Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Coaching Tips For Parents Of LD & ADD/HD Children

Friday, February 17, 2012 2 Comments

Artwork courtesy of Phillip Martin

Playing on the SAME Team
Guest blogger: Dr. Steven Richfield

A parent writes:
Both our son and daughter struggle with learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder.

As they struggle so do my husband and I. Communication breaks down into arguments, problems arise in school and among peers, and we are often unsure of how to handle their emotional ups and downs. Any suggestions?

Children with LD and ADD/ADHD present unique challenges and rewards to parents. The vulnerability of a fragile ego, the unthinking behaviors rooted in impulsivity, or the steep decline of emotional meltdowns, can render even the most patient parent looking for tools and techniques to manage their child’s unpredictable behaviors.

These scenarios fall under the heading of what I have come to call the “Now, what do I do?” syndrome. It is a question echoing through the minds of all parents at one time or another.

As a child psychologist who trains parents who regularly witness these scenarios, I help empower parents with tools and tips to manage the emotional and social currents of ADHD and LD children.

Here are some to consider:

Read more of this post

Filed under A3. Linking & Learning, A5f. Organization & Task Completion, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, Dr. Steven Richfield, I. Guest Posts Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Task Anxiety Awareness

Saturday, February 11, 2012 1 Comment

Remember – links on this site are dark grey to reduce distraction potential
while you’re reading. They turn red on mouseover.

Task Anxiety 101 - part 1

By Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, A.C.T., MCC, SCAC
The second of a series of articles from
my upcoming book, TaskMaster™
- see article list below

Get out your notebook

Before I go into a bit of background explanation about task anxiety, I am about to ask you to make another list.

For those times when you attempt to complete something or in response to attempting to begin something, make a List of Ten activities you find yourself doing INSTEAD.  What is it that YOU do that leaves you chronically behind and befuddled.

As I asked in the first article in the TaskMaster Series:

What were some of the tactics you used to deal with your anxiety about not knowing how to tackle a particular task?
(Those supposed “procrastination” activities you took on instead of what you intended or needed to do)

I find it more useful, AND more accurate, to reframe those tasks as “avoidance” activities: avoiding task anxiety.

So now it’s time to get to work on changing a few things.

I’ll get you started by sharing my own list of activities I do when I “go unconscious” about my own task anxiety. To get the benefit of this section, you need to connect PERSONALLY – so take the time to write out your own List of Ten, so that you will be able to do the four exercises that follow.

I’ll bet you a year’s free coaching, if you don’t actually DO the exercises, there will be no new insights — and you will dismiss them as a huge waste of time and energy as you read about them.

(At the bottom of this article, I’ll give the skeptics among you a couple of credible scientists
to check out, with links to what they have to say about optimizing internal processing.)

Filed under A5f. Organization & Task Completion, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, G5j. Transition Tamer, G5l. Organization & Task Completion, G8. TaskMaster™ Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TaskMaster – Getting Things DONE!

Sunday, January 29, 2012 5 Comments

Remember – links on this site are dark grey to reduce distraction potential
while you’re reading. They turn red on mouseover
Hover before clicking for more info
.

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Part One of the TaskMaster™ Series

Taming Training 101

You are about to learn to become your own Task Master.

Nooooo - I don’t mean standing with a chair and a whip, caging the beast that is YOU.

The TASKS must be trained.  They need to be tamed so they’ll work the way YOU need them to work.

Task taming is a multi-stepped process:

•  Tasks must be trained initially, then
•  Revisited and re-trained every time you learn something new about what you really need.

Let me guess . . . at this point, ALL you know about what you really need is that whatever others tell you to do doesn’t seem to work for YOU, right?

I’m about to let you in on an important ADD secret that many of us had to learn about the hard way. Shhhhhhhh!

At least 80% of what others have been telling you wasn’t designed to work for you!

  • It was actually intended to chastise you for not ALREADY knowing how to make it work, and
  • to get you to stop looking to others for help (especially them!)

Really! And I’ll bet it worked just as designed.

Think about it. Didn’t you feel thoroughly chastised, tongue-tied about what to say next, and reluctant to ask for help the next time?

Read more of this post

Filed under A5f. Organization & Task Completion, A5g. Distractions & Transitions, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, G5j. Transition Tamer, G5l. Organization & Task Completion, G8. TaskMaster™ Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Surviving Beloved’s ADD

Friday, January 27, 2012 5 Comments

Ten Tips when the ADD is Beloved’s

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

As I mentioned in the first article of the Beloved Series, I get a lot of differently phrased questions from spouses that, essentially, all boil down to the same thing: How do I deal with ADD when it’s not my ADD?

Toward the end of that article, I encouraged you to believe that  ALL the relationship goodies are beyond that “wall” of “I can’t deal with this another minute!” - as is your own inner healing, the need for which is bringing everything to the surface in this manner.

The relationship you dreamed of is still there – behind that wall of pain, rejection & reaction. As awful as it feels, there is a shiny silver lining to this blackest of clouds, whether you work it out with this Beloved or not.

MEANWHILE, this section will give you Ten Tips designed to help immediately. Don’t worry – your needs won’t get overlooked, and CAN’T get overlooked, but I can’t do much to help there in ten quick suggestions.

If you want some immediate relief to avoid damaging your relationship beyond repair while we’re working on how to change dynamics on the home-front, try one or all of the tips below.

Read more of this post

Filed under A5h. ADD Relationships, F1. ADD Top Tens, G6. When Beloved has ADD - alternatives to murder and divorce! Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When Beloved Has ADD

Thursday, January 26, 2012 3 Comments

HOW COME I’m the only grown-up
in this relationship?

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Another adorable Phillip Martin graphic.

I get a lot of differently phrased questions from spouses that, essentially, all boil down to the same thing: How do I deal with ADD when it’s not my ADD?

Their words are different, their issues are slightly different, and their frustration levels can be anywhere from hopelessness, to exasperation, to panic, to RAGE.

When posted on one of the ADD bulletin boards I try to support, there is usually embarrassment tinged with a light sprinkling of shame in the tone of their posts – as if they should be able to figure it all out without help or information.  So THAT’s a good place to start here.

Your FIRST task is to stop being so hard on yourself -- for your frustrations OR for posting them on “ADD sites.”  I promise you that those sites are are frequented by a lot of other spouses desperate for information before they commit Hari Kari – or worse!

Most people, myself included, admire your willingness to use that safety valve and the honesty with which you post your frustrations.  It IS frustrating to be “forced” to deal with a cognitive disability as confusing as ADD, especially when it isn’t even your own!

One of the things I always need to remind the ADD half in couples coaching is that the non-ADDers deserve extra credit for sticking around rather than running away screaming!  Being pre-frontal cortex backup is NOT an appropriate part of the “standard” deal.

Read more of this post

Filed under A5h. ADD Relationships, G6. When Beloved has ADD - alternatives to murder and divorce! Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Finishing what you Start

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 Leave a comment

Linears and  Holographics

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

ALL Kinds of Minds

  • Tortoises and Hares
  • Detailers and Concepters
  • Prioritize First vs. Do it NOW
  • DECIDE and Do vs. Go with the Flow

WHY won’t they LISTEN?

We humans are funny critters.  We want everybody to do everything OUR way.

Secretly, we sincerely believe that whatever we have figured out effectively for our own lives would transfer to anyone else’s – if they’d DO IT RIGHT!

THIER problems would magically disappear with OUR solution,
IF ONLY they’d:

  • try hard enough
  • give it enought time to become habitual
  • “want to” badly enough
  • stop resisting
  • or procrastinating

 – or really wanted a solution and not simply a chance to complain!

Read more of this post

Filed under A5. Tips, Tricks & Techniques, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, G2. Rewrite Your Coaching Manual, H. Brain Based Coaching/Training Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Homage to Kate Kelly

Saturday, January 21, 2012 3 Comments

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

A bit of background on the article below Saturday, January 21, 2012 – 2 AM

UPDATE Sunday-2/19/12

For anyone who hasn’t already heard, dear friend, ADD Coaching colleague, and Interfaith Minister Kate Kelly was in Christ Hospital in Cincinnati when I wrote the article below. She is now recuperating at home, between rounds of chemo for what turned out to be renal shutdown due to a mass in her bladder, which turned out to be cancer.

After a very scary couple of weeks in January, we’re as certain as man is allowed to be about these things that she will ultimately be fine, but her body’s got a bumpy road ahead to carry her to glowing health once again. (This all serves as background for the insight which was the reason for this post – be patient, or scroll down for Small Blessings).

——————————————————————————————————

Even if you think you don’t know Kate, you probably know OF her. I’ll bet you’ve read the ADD classic Kate and co-author Peggy Ramundo wrote.

Cover of "You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid o... Do yourself a favor and beg, borrow or buy a copy now if you haven’t already read it – this is one you will definitely want in your ADD library.

If you already have one in your library, and can afford it, buy a brand-new copy as a gift for a friend or to donate to your public library or local Youth Group.

Not only will you be saving somebody’s quality of life, you will be offering support to Kate in a very practical fashion. Cancer-care is EXPENSIVE, and book royalties will probably be her primary source of income for some time to come. Any published author will tell you that the authors see VERY little of the price of each book sold. So let’s put it on the Best Seller’s List together.

Peggy Ramundo is another dear friend, with whom I am working on the ADD in the Spirit Coach Training. Peggy and I have already been dervishes in the past month, setting aside nearly everything else to get materials fluffed by deadline for our presention at the upcoming March ACO Conference in Atlanta. Our session together expands upon the importance of spiritual coaching concepts in a field as pragmatics-focused as ADD Coaching.

Before we had time to refocus on day-to-day work objectives, Kate took a sudden turn for the worse. We have practically lived at the hospital since Kate was taken by ambulance to the Christ Hospital’s Emergency Room,  over a week ago. If you missed me, that’s where I’ve been!

So, in 2012, I’ve barely had time to edit drafts of older content to post here, much less time to write anything new!  Since it’s likely to be another week or so before I am able to resume anything resembling my “normal” schedule — and then comes catch-up – I believe I’ve come up with a novel way to fit it all in: blogging about my hospital insights (very big grin).

Read more of this post

Filed under A5d. Black & White Thinking, A5f. Organization & Task Completion, E2b. Midnight Musings, E2c. ADD Community Support Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Sis-Boom-Bah!

Thursday, January 12, 2012 Leave a comment

We Need a Pep Rally

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

I’ve been working my tail off over the holidays, putting together binder materials to support a couple of presentations for the upcoming ACO conference in Atlanta this March (The ADHD Coaches Association).

The presentation that started me thinking about a much needed pep rally is entitled Making the Connection: Brain-based Coaching.

In addition to ADD research, I’ve always kept a watchful eye on the comorbid and “overlapping” fields. Before I put together anything with statistics, I make the rounds one last time - just to see if perhaps they’ve published something relatively new that we haven’t picked up on yet.

As I hopped from website to blog, each developed to support those various other communities (from Autism to Traumatic Brain Injury to Affective Disorders of all types), I kept having the same nagging thought — over and over again, like a broken record:

THEY are supporting their disorders better than we are.

By “supporting,” I mean that they are calling for more research, education, and political support as they share information on how to obtain the services that are available, along with general information and anecdotal support.

I don’t think it’s UNRELATED that ADD is the butt of jokes
that would never be tolerated
if made about any other disability.

And I’m not talking about dinner table humor, here!  I’m talking about pot shots taken by the press, in magazines, on talk shows, and even in presentations sponsored by supposedly credible and uplifting orgazations like TED.

(See my post taking Sir Ken Richardson to task for making fun of ADD
in his “educational” presentation by clicking HERE)

Read more of this post

Filed under A1. The Attentional Spectrum, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, E2a. Rants; Ruminations Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Tracking the Days of our Lives

Saturday, December 17, 2011 8 Comments

By George, I think she’s GOT IT!

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

English: 2011 Calendar

I just got off the phone with Kay Odell, the delightful genius who created a brand new way to track time for increased follow-through and productivity: WeekDate: a calendar like no other.

Her relatively new paper-format calendar is the first totally new take on planning and tracking I’ve seen in YEARS

– and this one’s ADD-friendly!  

Here on ADDandSoMuchMore.com, I have already introduced a pending Time Management Series (excerpts from some of my books  in preparation to become e-Books).

In one of the articles in draft, I describe how my own calendar system works for me “out of the box,” and what I need to tweak to fit my own personal flavor of ADD.

(One size never fits ALL very well; that’s why movie stars have tailors!)

That particular article is still on the schedule, but I have a feeling I’m going to have to revamp the “how I use my datebook” portion totally.

My own WeekDate is on order.

I’m going to go way out on a limb here . . .
and say that, sight unseen, Kay Odell’s system just might be
THE answer for a great many of us.

Read more of this post

Filed under A5c. TimeSteps™, A5f. Organization & Task Completion, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, E2c. ADD Community Support, G5k. TimePeace™ Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Reframing Task-Completion

Saturday, November 26, 2011

ADD/ADHD and Unfinished Personal Projects
Guest blogger: Bryan Hutchinson

I have hundreds of unfinished personal projects and I have ADHD.

From what I understand about ADHD, and from what I have read, I should be upset about unfinished personal projects.

However, I am a writer and writing has taught me an extremely valuable lesson, and that is:

 •  Finishing everything I start writing is nearly impossible
and,
 •  Not everything that’s started is meant to be finished.

Sometimes what I start is meant to take me somewhere else, to get me past a hump or lead me to deeper thoughts or inspiration.

Before I go any further, let me clarify that I am talking about personal projects here. Not jobs. That’s for another post.

Read more of this post

Filed under A5c. TimeSteps™, A5f. Organization & Task Completion, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, Bryan Hutchinson (ADDerWorld), E2c. ADD Community Support, I. Guest Posts Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Are you OUT of your MIND?

Monday, November 21, 2011 2 Comments

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Hover before clicking for more info

Reframing to Rewire (First in a series)
by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Most of us take that “Are you out of your mind?” question to mean that we’ve just said or done something NUTS.  I want to stand that idea on its ear.

A bowl of spaghetti looks twisted and tangled,...

Image via Wikipedia

I think it would be FAR more powerful to use that phrase as a reminder to do exactly that: to GET out of our minds.

To “get out of our reactionary mind” so that we can align our actions with our intentions is more what I had in my mind, so let’s explore how we might begin to DO that.

For those of us with Executive Functioning Dysregulation, following one idea to completion is frequently an exercise in frustration and failure.

Metaphorically, our brains are rather like a tangle of string-like dendritic connections resembling a plate of cooked spaghetti.  

About the only way we can locate both ends of a single strand of spaghetti on a dinner plate is to lift it up out of the plate and away from the rest of the tangle.

After twenty plus years of investigating ADD and working with ADDers, I’ve come to believe that “getting it up and out of the plate for closer observation” is the most successful way to locate both “ends” of a single train of thought as well.

When that single-thought strand is left tangled with the other strands, ADDers in particular can become like Alice in Wonderland clones, looping around relatively aimlessly and getting ourselves into all sorts of odd predicaments

Lifting that strand of spaghetti away from its tangle successfully is where the mere presence of another person makes all the difference in the world: an ADD-literate mentor, coach, or non-judgmental friend who can reframe our challenges simply by virtue of the fact that, from their vantage point, things don’t look so convoluted.

(More to come about that concept in a later post in this series)

Movin’ ON to the Rewiring

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Filed under A1a. Executive Functioning Disorders, A3. Linking & Learning, A5e. Memory and Info Processing, D. Coaching with MGH, H. Brain Based Coaching/Training Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Occupy ADD

Sunday, November 20, 2011 4 Comments

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Is Your ADD-Doc GREAT?

We wanna’ know about competent ADD professionals.

How come?  Sadly (shamefully!), we see mounting evidence of a retreat to the ADD Dark Ages, and we need to jerk a knot in its tail and cut off its ugly head!

I have been disheartened, often appalled, by the accounts of patient/doctor and patient/therapist interactions that have been showing up recently on the ADD sites — in increasing numbers!

To say it plainly:

  • If the extent of ignorance we who are looking for help are finding among doctors and therapists who CLAIM to be ADD-specialists existed in any other field, we’d see malpractice suits and lost licenses!
  • There seem to be few AMA “watch dogs” with eyes on what the ADD doctors are doing.
  • Uninformed, non-medically trained government regulators seem to be more concerned with preventing drug abuse than safeguarding access to pharmaceutical interventions for those whose lives are derailed by legitimate, diagnostic disorders, made manageable through consistent access to medication.  Medication shortages are unconscionable.

THIS is not OK with me — and I hope it’s not OK with you, either.

Read more of this post

Filed under A2a Your ADD Treatment Team, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, E2. Making a Difference, E2a. Rants; Ruminations, E2c. ADD Community Support Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Ten Stupid Comments from ADD-Docs

Saturday, November 19, 2011 19 Comments

The comments on this article add information — take the time to read those too. You’ll be glad you did!
———————————-

The Top Ten Stupid Comments
from [supposed]  ADD Professionals
by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Ten Unfortunate [and recent]  Examples of Ignorance masquerading as Information – and
uninformed personal opinion presented as medical FACT.

First Things First:
Let’s not lump the good ADD doctors and the ones who made these stupid comments together!

They are not the same species AT ALL! Read more of this post

Filed under A2. ADD Treatment, A2a(1) Your ADD Doctor, E2a. Rants; Ruminations, F1. ADD Top Tens Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Distinctions: Coaching vs.Therapy

Friday, November 4, 2011 3 Comments

Some of the DIFFERENCES between
 The THERAPIST and The COACH

Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, A.C.T., MCC, SCAC
Dr. Lee Smith, CTP, MCC  ©1994, ’95, ’02, ’11

Obviously, the well-being of the client is the context for this discussion, and determining what kind of assistance is appropriate is an important question.  Why?

Because most coaches are not trained therapists and most therapists are not trained coaches.  


•  For potential clients: the question is, Which do I choose and how do I decide?

•  For helping professionals: the issue becomes when, what, and to which professional to refer.

•  When ADD is part of the picture, the differences between an ADD Coach and any other kind of coach becomes important as well.

Let’s begin the process of differentiating therapy and coaching by focusing only on the items in common with all coaches, without regard to specialties.

At the end of this article are some links that will help you understand some key differences that only well-trained ADD Coaches understand.  In a future article I will address the issue ADD Coaching differences more directly.

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Filed under A2. ADD Treatment, B. Coaching Concerns Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Distinguishing Distractibility

Monday, October 31, 2011 2 Comments

Distractions! What are they anyway?

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC


A distraction is an involuntary diversion of attention in response to a stimulus – beyond our control.

Distractions have a negative impact on our ability to focus on an intended object and sustain that focus – in other words, a distraction is an intrusion into our attempt to concentrate on the task at hand.

Distractions can be external (nagging at any one of our five senses), or internal (“interruptions” from our own brain wiring or emotional states).

They can be subtle or overt, compelling or mildy irritating, important or trivial, but they ALL pull us off task, despite our best intentions.

ADD or not, ALL distractions reduce our ability to place our full attention where WE choose to concentrate.

• Can you fully concentrate on calculating your tax liability with repeated visits from your young daughter pleading with you to come outside to watch her ride her brand new bicycle?

• Are you able to take complicated directions over the phone while your spouse attempts to impart, in your other ear, something s/he deems important for you to hear RIGHT NOW?

• Are you able to drive through a blinding rain while your young children squabble in the back seat and your young teen blares the latest “Listen, this is so cool!” rap song?

Not really, right? ALL distractions have a negative impact on our ability to focus on the intended stimulus, and sustain the focus, the first two of the three Dynamics of Attending.

Read more of this post

Filed under A5g. Distractions & Transitions, B1. ADDCoach Terms & Tools, H. Brain Based Coaching/Training Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The ADD-ADHD Coachablity Index™

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 Leave a comment

ADD Coachability

In early 1994, to better suit the needs and reflect the brain-based realities of individuals with Attention Deficit Disorder, Madelyn Griffith-Haynie requested and received permission from Thomas J. Leonard to adapt the Coachability Index© that he developed for Coach-U.

The language of The ADD Coachability Index™ reflects the impact of the challenges of Executive Functioning Disorders on learning and accomplishment: brain-based struggles with short-term memory deficits, focus & decision-making, planning & follow-through, sequencing & prioritizing; activation & motivation, mood lability, time-sense & transition-facility chief among them.

©Adaptions and/or duplication must credit both parties

How Coachable are YOU?

Although the magic of ADD Coaching is a product of the
coaching relationship and it’s ability to compensate for
unreliable executive functioning, it only works if and when
clients are ready, willing and able.

Are you READY and WILLING:

  • to take the actions that will be necessary?
  • to make the changes that will be necessary?
  • to step,  with power and ownership, into the life you were destined to live?

Heck yea!  Seriously, who says no to that?
Certainly not an ADDer! We’re always ready (for that last one, anyway)

Read more of this post

Filed under A1a. Executive Functioning Disorders, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, B. Coaching Concerns, B1. ADDCoach Terms & Tools, B2. Working with an ADD Coach, D. Coaching with MGH, H. Brain Based Coaching/Training Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Domino Problems

Saturday, October 15, 2011 4 Comments

 Remember – links on this site are dark grey to reduce distraction potential
while you’re reading. They turn red on mouseover.

Stuff series: Part 4

Domino problems?

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

Yeah. Domino problems!

You know that game where you set a row of dominoes on end, then tap the first one to watch them fall, one at a time, as the domino before it knocks it down?

As hinted at in Part-2 of this series, for many of us (especially those of us with ADD Brain-wiring), DECIDING is journey fraught with domino problem land-mines!

Like I said, even the most disorganized of us has
no problem putting trash in the trash can, books
on a shelf, and beer in the ‘fridge, right?

So what IS the problem?

  • Deciding whether something is trash, which shelf on which bookcase and where in the ‘fridge is the problem!
  • An even bigger problem is deciding what to do with the produce you removed to be able to appropriate the crisper drawer as a beer cooler!

Every decision to be made seems to be complicated by another decision that needs to be made first!

The terror of tiered tasks

As an example, let’s use something considered relatively simple by many with neurotypical brains: putting away the groceries on return from the store.

We’ve got canned goods and boxes and bags, oh my!  But the really tricky stuff needs to go into the freezer or ‘fridge — before it reaches a state where it is unfit for any place but the garbage can!

Uh-oh.
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Filed under A5f. Organization & Task Completion, A5g. Distractions & Transitions, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, G7. STUFF - and Nonsense! Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reframing

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 8 Comments

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Stuff series: Part 3

Escaping the Frame Changes the View

by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC

*attribution below

Changing the context

• Framing (adding perspective)
• Reframing (changing perspective)

Reframing is  a well-worn tool in a number of helping professions.  The fields that seem to advocate it most are Neuro-Linguistic Programming [NLP], therapy, and Coaching (especially ADD Coaching).

Reframing is on the Optimal Functioning Institute™ list as one of the Ten Basic Coaching Skills used Most Often with ADDers.  

Including Reframing on this particular list underscores the importance of the two most important ADD Coaching skills, normalizing (ADD affect) and endorsing (client actions, perspectives and talents).

But what IS Reframing?

In the coaching field, reframing is one of the Languaging skills that refers to a particular manner of speaking that allows an individual to escape black and white thinking boundaries so that a different conclusion can be drawn from the same set of facts.

That, in turn, changes the way the situation “seems,” in a manner similar to the way that reframing a picture impacts the look of the picture itself.

In other words, changing the context puts a statement or point of view into a different frame of reference; a “seeding” skill that fosters a shift, (paradigm shift, in some fields).
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Filed under A3. Linking & Learning, ADD | ADHD | Attention Deficit Disorder, B1. ADDCoach Terms & Tools, G7. STUFF - and Nonsense!, H. Brain Based Coaching/Training Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

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