<p>Spend money on getting that kid into the sun over Christmas. It will be money well spent. </p>
<p>We found that my d's grades were function of whether or not she spent a week in the sun midwinter.</p>
<p>This sounds like my son. He is very smart, got excellent SAT scores, but CANNOT manage his time or understand why he needs to learn how to, is very oppositional to us and refuses counseling. Can anyone give me a list of colleges that caters to kids with Executive Function Disorder?</p>
<p>Have you found any colleges that help these kids succeed? If so, how did you find them?
Thanks!</p>
<p>If he cannot yet understand why he needs to learn how to manage his time, perhaps he has yet to suffer any serious consequences for his non-management. Why don’t you encourage him to take a gap year so that he can have more opportunities to fail/succeed on his own before he faces the challenge of dealing with the college environment?</p>
<p>Dear Concerned Parents-</p>
<p>For all of you concerned with your sons and daughters with ADD/Executive Function Disorder and who are preparing to go to college, or are in college, please know that there is hope. After graduating high school, I thought I would be headed out on my own for college that very fall. However, some unfortunate things caused me not to be able to go to the college that I had planned on going to. This threw me for a loop and I could not figure out what to do. I eventually found a job; my boss was the one who gave me the outside motivation I needed to apply for a couple more colleges and get my head on straight again. I was accepted into a college and headed out on my own for the first time. My first year was a disaster. I went from having a 3.75 GPA in high school to less then a 2.0. I couldn’t manage my money, my time, or my social life well. I went back home determined never to go back to that school again. I found a job halfway through my off semester which paid well. However, 2 months later I was laid off, and my mom mentioned that I go back to school. I didn’t want to, but followed my mom’s advice. When I got back up there, I found a job doing early morning janitorial and carried 16 credits for one semester and 14 another. While things have not been perfect and have been really hard, I have been able to pull my GPA up to a 2.6(and its steadily getting better), manage my money a little bit better then last year, and have made some wonderful friends. I decided to stay at college on my off semester, have successfully found a job and am also taking a night class. I am still not the best at managing my money, and I my ADD gets in the way a lot still, but I am slowly but surely learning how to be a productive adult. </p>
<p>I attribute my success to the guidance and coaching of my wonderful parents. They didn’t force me to do anything(for the most part), but taught me how to make good choices and let natural consequences punish me when I made bad ones. They didn’t hover over me, but watched carefully from the sidelines as I struggled, and sometimes still do, with life as an adult. Sometimes they rescue me when things get too overwhelming, but is decreasing as time goes by.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that you are all wonderful parents, and I just wanted to share my story to give you hope in your children, just as my parents have hope and faith in me. </p>
<p>About Seasonal Affective Disorder- From what I’ve read, this is a form of depression, and ADD often has a co-morbidity with other disorders such as depression.</p>
<p>Hi I have a son he’s been struggling for yrs with adhd/odd and I’m trying to get executive function disorder added my struggle with is getting anyone to listen. I myself have sever dyslexia so doing this research has been hard. I worry my son will never be able to be on his own or even make it to HS the way the school is going with him :(. I found this site I know it’s more about college but I’m looking for any help frdom students parents that I can get to help my son even be able to get even close to that. He’s on meds but they don’t seem to be helping much for some of his problems he is so disorganized scared to speak up when he needs help he doesn’t want people that he goes to school with know that he doesn’t understand missing so much in class he hasn’t passed since the 3rd grade and now he’s in the 7th with no one listening to me or him. They tell him to his face he knows the work that he’s just being lazy and choosing not to do the work when really he doesn’t either undetstand it but wont ask for help or he doe understand but can’t motivate himself to start the work and if he does start it finishing it usually wont happen he will either lose the work or struggle to get started again or forget all about it because he was destrated. There are so many key things to his disorder struggling this child and no one is listening there just blaming him making him feel worse. I don’t know what to do anymore or who to turn to. I am struggling to find a doctor that will listen to this child to me to help him to giv us information anything before it’s to late.
I’m sorry I babbled it’s part of my dyslexia and my add and I struggle with words getting acrossed the way I need them to or bouncing around from one thought to another. Thanks for reading and for any info advise that you can give …</p>
<p>Openspace55</p>
<p>Hi I have a son he’s 13 now but ever since he was a toddler I have struggled so with him. Unable to follow simple directions,brush his teeth, keep track of school work including homework among so many other things omg don’t get me started on personal hygiene or his room . I’ve been trying so hard to get people to understand listen to me to my son. He was diagnosed with sever adhd combined typed / odd at the age of 5 it took that long for me to get anyone to even listen to that much and life has been a major struggle. And not having his dad on board makes things even worse. </p>
<p>I read your comment and it made me cry it reminded me that I’m not alone there’s others out there just like us in so many ways. My son’s life as been in chaos for so many yrs 
Iv’e seen him a peace in happiness a few times but it’s been so long I barely remember them anymore. The first time was when his new doctor finally said he has adhd BABLY and we walked out with a scriipt for strattera Omg in just a few days I saw a difference things were going so well till a behavioral specialist scared me and told me that he heard a heart murmur and some other stuff to go with it but it was pretty much it could be caused by the meds and I needed to stop right away well instead of doing the right thing and that is get a second opinion I the mommy who has heart problems on her side as well as his dad’s side stopped the meds and saw a specialist right away. That doc had no idea what we were there for his heart was the best he’d seen in a long time. When we were cleared to start the meds again it DIDN’T work again :(. My son that was amazing to be around again was lost and the struggles began once again. This time we have not been able to find anything that works as well as that med did. The second time I saw that child was when his dad left for basic training money in the home is good again and I was able to work with my son full time with out daddy’s issues butting in. I was able to get him on concerta 54 and clodine 3mg for sleep. I was able to give him a stable home a VERY strict detailed schedule with a little room for change but still really detailed. Slowly in about 3 months he was starting to extremely improve not just at home but in school as well plus he had a really great teacher which has really made the difference for him. I finally had my son back the son I know in his heart he can and wants to be but not even a month after my husband came home did things go right back to the way there were. I still till this day struggle with my own disabilities my sons needs and trying DESPERATELY to get my husband to even listen and at the same time find doctors that are not just about the pills and ones that will listen to your thoughts as well. I’m still looking and every time I find one something happens and we either move or something goes wrong with the insurance :(. I’m still struggling to get us both disability … well I’m sorry for the rambling babble it’s part of my dyslexia and adhd. I hope you have found some help with your struggles I’d love to about any that you have found to work. Again thanks</p>
<p>The best thing we ever did for our son was to purchase apple/mac gear… Iphone, ipad, and macair. Still we run into all sorts of things that we feel he should have known… But didn’t given the add/exec function piece. There are lots of tools available in the high tech world, but your child must be ready to accept these tools AND make use of them. We have found some online distant learning classes to be helpful but as far as getting the work done well, and in a timely fashion… It takes time to learn the necessity of this… In particular if the student is highly intelligent but has the add or exec function piece. The answer at most public schools is to place the student in low instruction classes! Clearly the biggest sham of the century! If your child is still in the public schools, INSIST that the child be placed under IDEA… if they aren’t there already and INSIST that they be placed in classes that are challenging. We knew there was a problem once our child entered preschool… Not a word was uttered in elementary school… Then in middle school things went hugely wrong. This is a typical scenerio for LD students and in particular for add and exec function disorder. The next thing you learn is that your child is learning doing 2nd grade work in 8th grade and will being doing this same level of work for the remaining years in the public schools. Best thing a parent can do is to get placement outside of the public schools as quickly as possible. The public schools will even give the kids answers to test questions to see that they graduate on time… And fake SAT score! Under IDEA the school is responsible for educating the student until age of 20years. While you don’t want to keep your son or daughter in this environment, you can work toward an agreement to get the education elsewhere… I.e. A small community college perhaps. So, don’t be a bystander to this w/out taking action because it will only delay REAL HELP. Get help where ever you can… Take whatever a college will give for accommodations and work out the rest using technology… Along with reinforcers as well as some amount of tough love. It is not an easy thing to watch as your child struggles with this in their growth… But necessary to stick with it until you see for the most part that things are running more smoothly. My own parent tells me that kids really don’t have a brain until they are abt 25 years or so… My only hope is that this will hold for my son as well. Hope this helps someone along the road … My son is now in his 2nd year of college… We still have our ups and downs.</p>