When the ADHD kid goes to college . . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious how then transition to life works out when suddenly there are no accommodations? DH and I are really struggling with this question, so no offense intended.

You work for the federal government. Most people take a week and half to get projects done that could be done in a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious how then transition to life works out when suddenly there are no accommodations? DH and I are really struggling with this question, so no offense intended.

You find a job that fits your strengths and you also use workplace accommodations available through the ADA. Also work is very different from school, and the stressors are different so someone who needs extra time for an exam may not encounter a similar issue in the workplace as few jobs require exams.

And you still get distracted and cruise the net when you should be finishing up a presentation for work! - says the ADD inattentive type woman. As someone with ADD, and with two kids with ADD, I agree with the concern that the accommodations will never stop. And unless you're going to work for the feds, I'm really not sure how accommodating most workplaces will be to ADD/ADA. I hear "jokes" in the workplace all the time about ADD, I guess I hide it well, but it's very hard. My husband bears the brunt of it!

I see your frustration. Are there careers you can suggest or discourage? My ADD DD is currently throwing out Accounting as a possible college major. I'm an engineer/lawyer so I really don't know but it seems to me that Accounting would not be a good fit for someone will little attention to detail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious how then transition to life works out when suddenly there are no accommodations? DH and I are really struggling with this question, so no offense intended.

You work for the federal government. Most people take a week and half to get projects done that could be done in a day.

To be hired by the Fed Govt, one needs to have connections or to be a minority.

[Anonymous]

I worry about the ADD meds at college--others hitting them up for their drugs.

[Anonymous]

And you still get distracted and cruise the net when you should be finishing up a presentation for work! - says the ADD inattentive type woman. As someone with ADD, and with two kids with ADD, I agree with the concern that the accommodations will never stop. And unless you're going to work for the feds, I'm really not sure how accommodating most workplaces will be to ADD/ADA. I hear "jokes" in the workplace all the time about ADD, I guess I hide it well, but it's very hard. My husband bears the brunt of it!

There are people with ADD who have this problem, but there are all kinds of people who have issues with surfing the web and not being productive. Maybe they're depressed, maybe they're lazy, maybe they hate their job. Not everyone with ADD/ADHD can't get this under control, and honestly one great thing about ADD/ADHD is if you can channel the hyperfocus stage, it can be very powerful for powering through work (in college, if I could get myself in the zone, I could study for hours...the hard part was getting there--as another adult with ADHD). Everyone has their things to deal with. I think the biggest thing is that when in the workplace do you need to sit down and take a timed test for an hour without getting up, and not being able to look up anything you don't remember? The skills involved in that have NEVER come up in my professional career.

[Anonymous]

In terms of the workplace. My boyfriend has ADD. I actually think private sector is better for him than the government will be. He works tons of hours for a law firm, but he is allowed to pretty much keep his own hours and work wherever he wants. So he can get up in the morning, concentrate on something for half an hour, then go to gym. Come back, work for an hour to get home, then going to office. Work in office for a couple hours, then go outside and get lunch. Come home work for a few more hours, then go run errands. Go back into office for a couple hours. Come home, eat dinner. Then work for another hour or two. As opposed the government, or he would have to come in at a set time, take half an hour for lunch, work on afternoon, and then go home. Although he'll be working less hours for the government, I don't think he could handle doing all those hours in one stretch in the same location with no breaks other than lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In terms of the workplace. My boyfriend has ADD. I actually think private sector is better for him than the government will be. He works tons of hours for a law firm, but he is allowed to pretty much keep his own hours and work wherever he wants. So he can get up in the morning, concentrate on something for half an hour, then go to gym. Come back, work for an hour to get home, then going to office. Work in office for a couple hours, then go outside and get lunch. Come home work for a few more hours, then go run errands. Go back into office for a couple hours. Come home, eat dinner. Then work for another hour or two. As opposed the government, or he would have to come in at a set time, take half an hour for lunch, work on afternoon, and then go home. Although he'll be working less hours for the government, I don't think he could handle doing all those hours in one stretch in the same location with no breaks other than lunch.

and then on the weekends he is constantly doing work throughout the day but he will take random breaks where he does something for an hour too. Or maybe email for five or 10 minutes while out for a couple hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In terms of the workplace. My boyfriend has ADD. I actually think private sector is better for him than the government will be. He works tons of hours for a law firm, but he is allowed to pretty much keep his own hours and work wherever he wants. So he can get up in the morning, concentrate on something for half an hour, then go to gym. Come back, work for an hour to get home, then going to office. Work in office for a couple hours, then go outside and get lunch. Come home work for a few more hours, then go run errands. Go back into office for a couple hours. Come home, eat dinner. Then work for another hour or two. As opposed the government, or he would have to come in at a set time, take half an hour for lunch, work on afternoon, and then go home. Although he'll be working less hours for the government, I don't think he could handle doing all those hours in one stretch in the same location with no breaks other than lunch.

and then on the weekends he is constantly doing work throughout the day but he will take random breaks where he does something for an hour too. Or maybe email for five or 10 minutes while out for a couple hours.

This actually sounds miserable to me. And if I were the partner on the case he's working on, it would drive me bonkers.

[Anonymous]

My oldest graduates from college in the spring. He is ADHD and has been medicated since fifth grade. He used accommodations in elementary, middle and his first year of high school. We strongly encouraged him not to accept any accommodations after that. He had to work hard, but he got into a great school and is graduating with honors in a few months. I hate to be blunt, but no one in the real world will care about his ADHD. I wanted him to learn to manage without accommodations in college so that someday he could be successful in a career where no one really cared about his ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In terms of the workplace. My boyfriend has ADD. I actually think private sector is better for him than the government will be. He works tons of hours for a law firm, but he is allowed to pretty much keep his own hours and work wherever he wants. So he can get up in the morning, concentrate on something for half an hour, then go to gym. Come back, work for an hour to get home, then going to office. Work in office for a couple hours, then go outside and get lunch. Come home work for a few more hours, then go run errands. Go back into office for a couple hours. Come home, eat dinner. Then work for another hour or two. As opposed the government, or he would have to come in at a set time, take half an hour for lunch, work on afternoon, and then go home. Although he'll be working less hours for the government, I don't think he could handle doing all those hours in one stretch in the same location with no breaks other than lunch.

and then on the weekends he is constantly doing work throughout the day but he will take random breaks where he does something for an hour too. Or maybe email for five or 10 minutes while out for a couple hours.

This actually sounds miserable to me. And if I were the partner on the case he's working on, it would drive me bonkers.

I actually had an employee like this and it was fabulous. Clients would email at 8pm and get an answer almost immediately. They would send a question at midnight and get an answer by 6am. They asked me if he ever went home. It appeared to the client that he worked 24/7 but it worked for him and worked for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest graduates from college in the spring. He is ADHD and has been medicated since fifth grade. He used accommodations in elementary, middle and his first year of high school. We strongly encouraged him not to accept any accommodations after that. He had to work hard, but he got into a great school and is graduating with honors in a few months. I hate to be blunt, but no one in the real world will care about his ADHD. I wanted him to learn to manage without accommodations in college so that someday he could be successful in a career where no one really cared about his ADHD.

I agree with this post, as an ADD adult diagnosed way past college, I must say that the ability to cope, channel the hyper focus and understand and manage your strengths and weaknesses is he key to a happy and successful life and career.

[Anonymous]

My oldest graduates from college in the spring. He is ADHD and has been medicated since fifth grade. He used accommodations in elementary, middle and his first year of high school. We strongly encouraged him not to accept any accommodations after that. He had to work hard, but he got into a great school and is graduating with honors in a few months. I hate to be blunt, but no one in the real world will care about his ADHD. I wanted him to learn to manage without accommodations in college so that someday he could be successful in a career where no one really cared about his ADHD.

If your son hasn't already expressed gratitude, he will someday recognize what awesome parents you were for encouraging this path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worry about the ADD meds at college--others hitting them up for their drugs.

My DC needs them so isn't about to give them up! As you know you can't accelerate filling the prescription as the pharmacy won't allow it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest graduates from college in the spring. He is ADHD and has been medicated since fifth grade. He used accommodations in elementary, middle and his first year of high school. We strongly encouraged him not to accept any accommodations after that. He had to work hard, but he got into a great school and is graduating with honors in a few months. I hate to be blunt, but no one in the real world will care about his ADHD. I wanted him to learn to manage without accommodations in college so that someday he could be successful in a career where no one really cared about his ADHD.

I agree with this post, as an ADD adult diagnosed way past college, I must say that the ability to cope, channel the hyper focus and understand and manage your strengths and weaknesses is he key to a happy and successful life and career.

This has been my thinking but several pps (some ADD adults) suggest that the real world is not like college. So they urge to continue the accommodations that you can during college and then work towards a career that suits your strengths. My worry is whether my ADD kid can make it through college but I feel rather confident that she'll be able to navigate the real world after graduation.

[Anonymous]

I have a question regarding accommodations--what happens in the instance of a group project? When the ADHDs timely performance is required to complete the project as a whole for the other students.

How is one student within a group given extra time? If the rest of the class has to complete the activity within the 50 min time block, what happens?