I’m a freshman in college who was recently diagnosed with ADHD (inattentive subtype) . Over the years, I’ve managed to get good grades (I was a classic over-achiever in HS) but it always took me longer than everyone else to finish things and I could never seem to get everything that I wanted to do accomplished. Basically, HS was a long, sleepless hell for me where I put off work, scrambled at the last minute to finish things, couldn’t focus, felt like a zombie, always felt panicked…you get the idea. Fast forward four years and now I’m in college and the same thing is happening…only this time, it finally has a label.
The only problem is, I don’t know how to deal with it. I’ve talked to a therapist and a psychiatrist, and all I’ve gotten is a promise of a Ritalin prescription (which I still haven’t received yet!) and a referral to an academic counselor (who pretty much told me that I lacked willpower and should try just “pushing through” everything). So now I’m here, floundering about, trying to find ways to help myself but miserably failing (at self treatment, not in school…YET) because I have the attention span of a fly. Does anyone have suggestions on how to stay organized, stick to plans, study without quitting halfway through, etc? THANKS SO MUCH!!
First of all, meet with your college’s disability office, and see how to get accommodations. If it isn’t on paper from the college, you can’t get any help with classes.
Second of all, get one of the medical professionals you deal with to write you a note that says it is medically necessary for you to get extra time (generally 1.5x for ADHD) for exams, PLUS a non-distracting environment for exams.
An “academic counselor” is not useful. What is useful is the college’s office on disability services, usually associated with the Dean of Students’ office.
Get to them as soon as possible, and talk to your medical professionals as soon as possible about getting a note for accommodations.
You are better off with no Ritalin and getting accommodations.
(if you always felt panicked in HS, be especially careful with Ritalin, it can make you wired. I suggest getting screened for generalized anxiety disorder as well.).
@rhandco The accommodations might actually be an issue. I browsed the website to get a feel for the process, and it said “historical information regarding the individual’s academic and behavioral functioning in elementary and secondary education should be provided.” I did have some behavioral issues, but only in 1st grade (my parents literally tried to “beat” away my bad behavior and succeed in scaring me shitless, so I didn’t act up after that). So, all I have to show for that are a few spotty marks in self-control when I was 6 and math grades that were consistently lower than my grades in other subjects. Will it be enough? I have no idea, but I’ll definitely ask…
@bodangles Thank you! Doing well came at a high cost though (mainly my overall state of mind) but hopefully things will get better soon! Thanks again for the comment!
Diagnosing you NOW with ADHD is what matters, not whether you were diagnosed as a child. My son had an ADHD diagnosis, and though it was confirmed once, it was not found in subsequent years, so despite behavioral evidence from when he was a kid, he could not get accommodations on that basis. No doctor would look at what he did as a kid and say “oh, that’s enough to say you must still have ADHD”.
The college is not in the business of diagnosing your ADHD, they must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The note will come from your doctor or counselor, and they will sign a note for you only if they think you have ADHD now.
The question you have for the college’s office on disability services is “what is the timeline to get accommodations for ADHD next semester?” Then you can have enough information to figure out how soon you need the note from your doctor.
@rhandco Thanks, I’ll ask them! It just seems like they really want to give you a hard time with the process, as there are multiple tests required, third-party interviews, elementary and secondary school transcripts and the like. I’m just worried that it won’t work out for me in my case (because most of the “evidence” was masked by my high achievement in school-- everyone except my mom only saw the results, not the hours of agony and self-hatred that went into producing them). I will definitely try, though!
My experience with trying to get accommodations for my ADHD son is that the college wanted not only a diagnosis from an MD but also a recent educational evaluation (done by a psychologist). These can be quite expensive and time consuming to schedule. You can ask your college if they are able to perform such an evaluation or whether you would need to have it done privately. In these evaluations, they evaluate not only your strengths but determine whether you suffer from a decreased processing speed that would warrant extra time for assignments. They run a battery of tests and the whole evaluation can cost several thousand dollars.
I would push for the Ritalin, because if it works for you (not guaranteed) it could basically up your productivity from 10% (off meds) to 90%. Ritalin can be a miracle for some people. Unfortunately due to fears of Ritalin abuse, many legitimate ADHDers are finding it difficult to find practitioners that will provide them with medication.
Aside from that- there are a few things that you can try. 1- Does coffee help? I have inattentive ADD and cannot function without coffee. 2- Try doing homework immediately after the assignment is given. Like the lecture ends and you start the homework THAT DAY when the material is fresh in your head. 3- You need to create an academic management calendar. If you have a gmail account, I can share my son’s with you. Do you know MS Excel?
I’m 38 yr. Old. Us Marine vet…I have only now accepted ADHD. I all makes sense now…I’ve been a misunderstood kid all my life. Thoughts of my Dr. FATHER. BEATING Homewook into me… I don’t think he had a clue about ADD,ADHD back in the early 80s… I know if I want to complete a task…I need to do Now…or I will forget. And scramble to find time…FB is destroying my attention span. .I log off. disconnect it. To be productive.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to stay organized, stick to plans, study without quitting halfway through, etc? THANKS SO MUCH!!
