When we bought our house just over a year ago all I wanted to do was start a garden. Having been a chef for over a decade, I love food and have always wanted to grow my own. Of course being the pain in the a$$ that I am, I wanted to grow all sorts of specific varieties. I had big ideas.  But, as ADHDers we often have big ideas that either don’t get launched or turn into serious boondoggles without the proper planning. I like to think I’m a pretty together cat at this point in my life. So I set to my garden dreams by planning, planning, and planning some more. I got two books on gardening, one specific to the North East. (We live just outside Boston in Milton.) The other was about vertical gardening which maximizes the yield per square foot of garden space. I read most of these books pretty thoroughly and realized that just plopping a garden down when we moved in would be a classic “rush into the doing stage” ADHD mistake. I learned three things that June. One, I needed to check my soil to see if it was right for what I wanted to grow. Two, I needed to understand where I could get full sun (at least 6 hours a day during the growing season.) And, three, it was too late to plant in June anyway. Maybe that last fact was a blessing? It forced me to delay my gratification until the next year at the earliest, and that gave me plenty of time to plan anyway. So, step one was a soil sample. I followed the instructions on the UMass Agriculture site and sent it off. It only took about a week to get the horrible news. Our soil…

I came across a very interesting tidbit at my monthly CHADD meeting early in June. One of the parents had noticed over the months that her 9-year-old son was seemingly under-medicated. Her suspicion was that the change had happened when he switched to longer acting formulation of Methylphenidate (Ritalin.) She wasn’t sure if it was that the dosing didn’t translate or if he just wasn’t responding as well.  Despite the doctor’s reluctance, she pushed to have her son put back on three times daily of short acting Methylphenidate. To the great surprise of many, this was much, much more effective. He seems like he is a whole new kid. (Of course the parents are doing a ton of behavioral stuff with him. But now that he’s appropriately medicated, they are really seeing results.) Pharmacologically, there is no difference in the active ingredient in Ritalin, Methylphenidate (generic name and the actual ingredient,) Metadate, Ritalin LR, SR, ER, Concerta, Daytrana, and even Focalin. But most patients will tell you that they respond better to one or more than others. The conventional wisdom is that the longer lasting more sophisticated delivery systems are more beneficial. Clearly, as in this boy’s case, that is not always true. I think the take away here is that it is important to think outside the box and not assume anything when it comes to trying stimulants. It really is trial and error. But, when we get it right, it can be life changing. More on meds coming up.

When we get overwhelmed our functioning becomes radically diminished. I would imagine that is the same for most people. Maybe it is just that as ADHD’rs we are more prone to overwhelm? When I was going through coaching school I developed a coaching model about the many different causes of overwhelm. I think there were 12 or 13. However, my experience working with clients since then has taught me that there are three main causes. The first main cause is our lack of effective executive function as it relates to decision making. But that is a whole other post. More on that later. The second is anxiety which is usually rooted in negative thought patterns, projecting negative outcomes. I think I’ll tackle that in another post too. The third, which I want to write about today it the idea of missing information. This is also a way in which our negative thought patterns can effect us. Often we become overwhelmed when we are missing a key piece of information that then doesn’t allow us to proceed. Add in the fact that our tendency is to project the worst possible outcome when mentally filling in the blank, and we can become paralyzed and not even seek an answer to our question. For example, I have a client who is working toward getting in to a very specific grad school program for a specific career. She became overwhelmed by the process of getting accommodation for taking the GRE’s. She expressed anxiety about getting a formal diagnosis, what would be accepted, how to find this out, does she even need to take the GRE’s to get in to this specific program, will she be qualified to get into this program anyway…  I think you get the picture. She had lots of blanks to…

I think that it’s important to know that as ADHD’rs we need to live in what I call the “Sweet Spot” between being understimulated and overwhelmed. If we are bored or understimulated our brain doesn’t produce the dopamine necessary to pay attention and we effectively shut down. If we are overwhelmed our brain becomes overstimulated, goes into panic mode… and we shut down in a different way. More on being overwhelmed in the next post.

I had a question from a client today. She wanted to know what to tell her nine year old daughter about why she was going to neuropsych testing. My response was atypically brief, so I thought I would just post it too. I would point out that you know she is struggling with lots of stuff. The testing is to see if you she has ADHD just like mom and aunt –––. If she does, that’s actually a good thing, because it can be dealt with and her life can get easier and less stressful.

I talk a lot about not doing a daily list. But a daily schedule is a great tool. I’ll post again soon with more detail on the difference between the two and the rationale. For now, here’s a list I did a few weeks ago. Client names have been redacted. The idea is to illustrate how tasks are put in to time. You’ll notice that there are two things that I didn’t get to. And that constitutes a really good day. Other things came up, and I’m okay with that. I put those things on my schedule for the following day and got them done. Set the bar at a reasonable level, but high enough that you have to push a little and don’t let yourself fall in to the abyss of (perceived) “free” time.

Many of the mundane tasks of life bore us ADHDers to the point that we avoid them, rush through them, or hate them in a way that is totally out of proportion to how much of a bummer they should actually be.   Listening to the radio is one thing that I have found really helps me get though those daily and weekly tasks. I guess it began in high school. I got one of those shower radios and listened to music mostly while I was getting ready in the morning. I found it easier to get out of bed and get in to the bathroom and get on with my day. I started doing it again at some point in my adult life. I listen to the radio, mostly sports now or NPR when I’m in the bathroom in the morning, or when I’m in the kitchen.  Podcasts are also a great thing to take advantage of. I might not survive my hour or two in the kitchen every weekend without NPR podcasts, the Moth, and Risk. They are entertaining enough that I can get anything done without it seeming like a total chore.

I’m back after a few weeks off for the birth of our beautiful baby girl, Delia. There’s nothing like bringing a life in to this world to get you thinking about the big picture.  Life is a funny thing in that we all have our own joys, pains, triumphs, and tragedies. Especially in todays social media world of faux-friends and pretend social interaction, it can be far too easy to forget what lies beyond the walls of our own little world. Not to say that our worlds are insignificant.  On the contrary.  The beauty is that they are all significant.  It has been my experience that, even if we struggle in social situations, most of us with ADHD have a need to be social.  We need to find balance in our lives. This struck me as I looked out the window of our hospital room while my daughter was “on her way.”  I was struck by how seminal that moment was for me.  Yet there were thousands of people out my window who knew nothing of it.  In fact, they all had their own seminal moments: births, deaths, weddings, divorces, accidents, close calls, stunning achievements, bitter disappointments. I guess, looking out that window could make anyone feel small and isolated. But, the love of my wife and my children makes me feel connected to something bigger. The good thoughts and well wishes of friends and family that streamed in that night by text and email, the flowers that waited at the house when we got home a few days later, the gifts that have come in the mail, the offers of help from neighbors, the meals brought over, the love we have received from others has made me feel more connected than ever. We can only make our lives richer by…

I alway considered my self lucky that I’m only dealing with ADHD.  There is no prescription for ignorance.  I get a weekly special ed newsletter from  It is impressively presented.  But about 40% of the articles/links are totally bogus and downright damaging to those of us with ADHD. Last week there was a link to a Jacksonville local new report about parents treating their eight year old’s ADHD with coffee.  Do I even need to say what’s wrong with that? This really just underscores the importance of knowing where you information comes from.  I don’t think that there could possibly be a topic in the American popular consciousness right now that is more often or more thoroughly misrepresented than is ADHD.  You can’t believe how careful you have to be.  Places you would go for reliable information on any other topic may be suspect when it come to ADHD.  We all know we can’t trust the New York Times anymore.  Their bias is appalling.   That brings me to todays special ed post.  There is a link to an OPINION piece by an actual doctor who is clearly against the diagnosis and treatment of young mothers.  In Dr. Gold’s own words: I have concerns about this trend of diagnosing and treating ADHD, particularly in this population of young mothers. If we label this behavior as a disorder and prescribe a pill, we are not placing responsibility (blame) squarely on the mother?  It was always my understanding of the hippocratic oath the the first rule was do no harm.  Is the second rule to judge and blame the patient? Why does so much of our society (including many in the medical field,) insist on punishing instead of treating?  Disturbing!

This is an update to an older post.  I’m not sure the old one was easy to find being an older post and filed under “World’s Yummies Protein Shake.” ADHD kids are often hit with a substantial appetite suppression when on stimulants.  This is a challenging but manageable side effect.  Recent research suggests that kids on long term stimulant therapy eventually reach their ultimate hight and are only a few percentile points behind in ultimate weight.  This is provided their basic nutritional needs are met and you are willing to be patient.  (It can be with as much as a two year lag that they eventually get where they were going.) Here’s the updated recipe: 8 oz Whole Milk (I’m trying not to gain weight, so I use Almond Milk) 1 sm squeeze real chocolate syrup* 1 heaping scoop Vanilla flavored Whey Protein powder** 1/2 a banana, fresh or frozen*** 10-15 Blueberries, depending on size, fresh or frozen 2-3 Strawberries, quartered, fresh or frozen*** Method:  Put it all in a blender until it is smooth! *I like Alaskah organic that I get at Whole Foods.  Good flavor, consistency, ingredients. **I like the Whole Foods 365 brand.  Dissolves well, subtle vanilla flavor, and you can’t beat the price. ****Don’t think you need a $500 Vita Prep to make a shake.  That’s one of the biggest scams going.  I have a retro model Waring 2 speed with a class caraffe that will always do my bidding and is silly easy to clean.  (They run about $100)  I’m sure you could do even better if making a shake is your only criterion. HAPPY SHAKING! Upload Photos

I was glancing at an article in attention by Dr. Hallowell.  It was about “Atentiv.”  Apparently it is a new brain training system.  I don’t know.  LIke I said… I was glancing at it.  The first line was something to the affect of “Not your father’s brain training.  And, yes it is missing the “e” and one of the “t”s…”   I literally started at it for at least a minute trying to figure out how it was missing a “t.”  If not for spell check, I would still be in my sophomore year in high school.

ADHD, when examined through a particular lens can be said to be a disorder of under-stimulation.  As ADHDers we often wander around the world seeking stimulation.  Unfortunately, stimulation can be found in many places that are unhealthy.  I think it is particularly important to be aware of this tendency and to teach our kids to be aware of it as they grow in to teens and adults. I divide stimulation seeking behaviors in to two catagories; 1.  Things that we do not need to do and can effectively manage by not having in our lives at all. Drugs Alcohol Nicotine Gambling Video Games 2.  Thing that we have to do in our lives but need to learn how to do in moderation: Sex  (In all forms including porn.) Shopping Being online/ Using electronic devices Food Interpersonal relationships All of these things occupy a place in our lives that is necessary and important.  But they can all become problems if they are not managed in appropriate ways.