Center of Attention
Newsletter of CHADD of Northern California
Also at: http://www.chaddnorcal.org/newsletter
3 March 2003

CHADD Works to Improve the Lives of People with
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder through Education, Advocacy,
and Support

The Center of Attention is CHADD of Northern California's bi-weekly
newsletter, designed to keep you up to date with CHADD of Northern
California's activities and updates in the field.

===== In This Issue =====

Calendar of Events
Announcements: Women's Reading/Support Group Forming in San Francisco
Feature Article: The Four S's: A Comprehensive Program for ADD Coaching
Please Tell Us

===== About the Newsletter =====

The Center of Attention is CHADD of Northern California's bi-weekly
newsletter. The newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with
CHADD of Northern California's activities and updates in the field.
It's a step toward bringing the members closer together.

======== Calendar of Events ==========

============================
San Francisco - 3/1/2003, Sat. 9:00a.m.-12:30p.m
Eileen Marzola - Becoming a Strategic Reader: Linking Assessment to
Reading Comprehension Instruction -- Sponsored by the International
Dyslexia Association.
UCSF Conference Center, Laurel Heights, San Francisco - Contact:
International Dyslexia Association: 650-328-7667 or visit
www.dyslexia-ncbida.org
============================
Contra Costa - 3/5/2003, Wed. 7-9 pm
Walnut Creek Adult Topical Meeting: TBA --
Kaiser Mental Health, Walnut Creek - Contact: Donna Love: 925-687-4324
============================
San Francisco - 3/5/2003, Wed. 7:30pm
Women's ADD Support Group -- Please Call Lynn to confirm times and
locations before attending.
CPMC Davies Campus, San Francisco - Contact: Lynn: 415-621-1078
============================
Santa Clara - 3/5/2003, Wed. Reg: 7pm, Meet 7:30pm
ADD 101 -- Dr. Stubblefield of the Amen Clinic will speak.
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Silicon Valley Warmline:
650-949-5472
============================
Marin - 3/11/2003, Tues. 7-9pm
Procrastination. Deborah Lancaster, ADDult. -- Learn practical,
useful solutions and techniques to overcome our natural tendencies to
procrastinate and disorganize.
Town Center Corte Madera Community Room, Corte Madera - Contact:
Beverlee: 415-789-9464
============================
Alameda - 3/12/2003, Wed. 7 - 9 pm
Tri-Valley Parent Support Meeting --
Thomas J. Hart Middle School, Pleasanton - Contact: JoAnn Matone: 925-484-2173
============================
San Francisco - 3/17/2003, Mon. 7:00 - 9pm
Adult Success Group -- Share skills and strategies for success at
home, in the workplace, in relationships, etc.
CPMC Pacific Campus, San Francisco - Contact: Rachel Rosenfeld: 415-362-7227
============================
Marin - 3/18/2003, Tues. 7-9pm
Drop in Support Group -- for Adults with ADHD and Significant Others
Marin Community Mental Health, Greenbrae - Contact: Beverlee: 415-789-9464
============================
Contra Costa - 3/19/2003, Wed. 7-9 pm
Walnut Creek Adult General Support Meeting -- Ongoing, confidential
support groups for Adults with ADHD
Kaiser Mental Health, Walnut Creek - Contact: Donna Love: 925-687-4324
============================
Santa Clara - 3/19/2003, Wed. Reg: 7pm, Meet 7:30pm
Silicon Valley Adult, Parent and Spouse Support Groups -- Separate
peer-facilitated groups let you share struggles and strategies with
each other. Includes video.
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Silicon Valley Warmline:
650-949-5472
============================
Yolo - 3/20/2003, Thu. Lending Library 7:00 pm; 7:15 pm to 8:30 pm
County Meeting -- CHADD welcomes all with interest or concerns
regarding attention deficit disorder.
Davis Branch, Yolo County Library, Davis - Contact: Yolo County
CHADD: 530-750-3929
============================
Santa Clara - 3/26/2003, Wed. 7:15 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Don't Let Your Schooling Get In The Way of Your Education - Higher
Learning for ADHD/LD Adults -- Lew Mills, PhD, MFT is a Bay Area
psychotherapist who works with Adults with ADHD. Trying to write a
dissertation was his own wake-up call to ADHD and LDs in higher
education. He concludes that it is possible, and probably worth
attempting, but that you need to learn how to make school fit your
needs. He will talk about the official and unofficial strategies to
get through school and actually learn something too!
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Kitty Petty ADD/LD
Institute: 650-329-9443 or visit www.kpinst.org
============================
San Francisco - 3/29/2003, Sat. 9:00 am - Noon
Support for Families of Children with Disabilities' Annual
Information & Resource Fair -- Workshops * Exhibitors * Presentations
John O'Connell High School, San Francisco - Contact: See Website:
415.469.4518 for more information or visit www.supportforfamilies.org
============================
Marin - 3/31/2003, Mon. 9:30-11:30am
Parent Resource Group -- Call First...
30 Catalpa Ave., Mill Valley - Contact: Victoria Vogel & Holly
Seerly: 415-383-6048
============================
Contra Costa - 4/2/2003, Wed. 7-9 pm
Walnut Creek Adult Topical Meeting: TBA --
Kaiser Mental Health, Walnut Creek - Contact: Donna Love: 925-687-4324
============================
Santa Clara - 4/2/2003, Wed. Reg: 7pm, Meet 7:30pm
Social Skills, Relationships and Getting Along at Work with AD/HD --
Dr. Lew Mills will speak.
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Silicon Valley Warmline:
650-949-5472
============================

======== Announcements ==========

Women's Reading/Support Group Forming in San Francisco

(There are still openings)

Using Sari Solden's first book, "Women with Attention Deficit
Disorder" and excerpts from other reading material as a basis for
discussion and self-exploration, our goal is to learn how to respect
our limits and build on our strengths. We will meet the 2nd and 4th
Tuesdays of the month for 8-10 sessions with a minimum of 6 and
maximum of 9 participants. A small fee (to $5) for room rental may be
charged. Please contact Kali Grosberg for more information.
415-673-6416 or kali.g@...."

===== Feature Article ======

The Four S's: A Comprehensive Program for Coaching People With ADD
By Sue Coleman, MCC, and Susan Sussman, M.Ed.

A comprehensive approach towards coaching people with ADD can be
summarized in four words: structure, support, skills and strategies.
Each is a focal point at various times in the coaching relationship;
and sometimes all are provided or worked on simultaneously.
Structure, support, skills and strategies are the building blocks
used in providing an ADD client with a complete coaching experience.

STRUCTURE:

Structure is a framework within which the ADD client can live his
life. It provides the means by which an ADD client can be proactive
(not reactive) in the face of chaos, paradox and change.
_Structure consists of the following components:
1. Clearly defined vision, goals, and values. These concepts are
central to a life with direction, purpose and fulfillment. To
illustrate this, in his book First Things First, Stephen Covey
defines them as the "compass for our lives." Goals, vision, and
values are clarified in the early phases of the coaching relationship
and inform the client's basic and true sense of identity, purpose,
and fulfillment.

2. Systems for managing daily life. Systems are developed for things
like decluttering on a regular basis, handling mail and bills, doing
the grocery shopping, and handling financial affairs.

3. The essential structure of a time management system. A time
management system is created that works for the client (it could be a
Franklin Planner or Daytimer, or something totally personal and
original). The coach helps the client identify priorities, break them
into manageable steps, and schedule them into a calendar.

4. Daily or weekly appointments that are scheduled, reliable and
consistent. An integral part of consistency is the accountability the
coach requires from the client for designated priorities.

5. A single daily action (SDA) taken every day, no matter what. The
SDA, identified in the initial coaching session, gives the client a
sense of accomplishment and forward momentum and raises self-esteem.

6. Daily habits which are small constructive actions done on a daily
or routine basis. These daily habits form the foundation upon which
major change takes place. Habits can be developed in a client's
professional and/or personal life.


SUPPORT:

For ADD'ers who have spent their lives feeling blamed, criticized,
and misunderstood, support is essential. In a support role a coach
can serve a number of functions. First, clients need an opportunity
to tell their story. Here the coach serves the role of witness and
empathizer, someone who understands and has empathy for the client's
journey - his past, current struggles and victories, and his future
hopes and dreams.

Coaches also offer support in other ways as the coaching relationship
unfolds: Feedback and support involve telling the client what you see
them doing. For example, "It seems to me you are really efforting in
your life right now. How can you make it easier for yourself?"

The coach can support the client and acknowledge their wins. Clients
can start the check-in call with a list of wins accomplished since
the last call. Coaches need to acknowledge clients' wins and
encourage clients to acknowledge themselves. During this process the
coach must be sure that the acknowledgement "lands," i.e., that the
client really gets the message.

Coaches can also offer support by holding their client's vision -
especially when the client forgets. Individuals with ADD can forget
their vision when the going gets tough. At these times coaches can
remind clients of their vision and help them get back on a
forward-moving track.

Coaches can also champion their clients. This is the skill of
standing for the client when they doubt or question their abilities.
Championing occurs when the coach really knows the client. The coach
can act as the client's memory, reminding them of their basic values,
the path they have chosen, and their inventory of strengths.

Celebrating is another support-based coaching skill. The coach uses
this skill to deepen the client's appreciation of their failures and
successes. Celebration serves to deepen the client's experiences and
appreciation of their lives at any given moment.

Clearing: When a client is preoccupied with a situation or mental
state which gets in the way of resourcefulness or being proactive,
the coach assists by being an active listener while the client vents
or complains, helping the client clear the situation out of the way.

Creating trust: The coaching relationship rests on a foundation of
safety and trust. To create trust, the coach discusses both
confidentiality and safety. The coach offers the client the
opportunity to verbalize the various ways the coach can be most
helpful, and is specific about what the client can count on from him.

Finally in the area of support, the ADD coach can track progress and
provide specific information and guidance each step along the way.

SKILLS:

When individuals with ADD work on skill building, their worlds become
more consistent and predictable.

The first step in the process of skill building occurs when the coach
helps the client identify their strengths and weaknesses. Coaches
help clients with the process of skill building and support clients
in working from their strengths. Coaches can help ADD clients build
the following skills:

Time management: Most ADD clients have difficulty managing time.
There are many helpful tools available. Often ADD clients need
information about these tools and help putting them in place and
using them.

Goal setting: Includes educating clients about the characteristics of
a goal (establishing the who, what, when, where, and why) and
teaching clients how to break goals into manageable steps.

Setting boundaries: Includes recognizing that one's time has limits
and being able to say "no" when appropriate. Clients can be given a
written description of healthy boundaries that can be referred to
throughout the coaching relationship.

Dealing with transitions: Consists of teaching the client about the
nature of transition. Clients can be referred to the book
_Transitions_ by William Bridges when dealing with big life
transitions. (One such transition is the process of ADD diagnosis and
learning to understand and manage it.) Transition skill building also
includes developing strategies to move smoothly from task to task.

Dealing with the inner critic: The ADD client often has a strong
inner critic who gives negative feedback on an ongoing basis. Helping
the client track the voice, identify its messages, and learn to
detach from it is an important part of skill building.

Other areas in which ADD coaches work with clients include developing
listening skills, social skills, and organizational skills.

STRATEGIES:

Strategies are creative tools coaches use to help clients navigate
their daily lives efficiently and achieve their goals. Lists of
strategies can be as extensive as the creativity, skill and knowledge
of the individual coach allow.

1. Corralling energy: The coach can help the client identify
high-energy times for engaging in tasks requiring concentration and
stamina.

2. Pattern learning: This strategy enables clients to remember to do
tasks because they are "piggybacked" on top of other tasks. For
example, "When I finish brushing my teeth I will take my medication."

3. Setting realistic start and stop times for each action: A project
with a defined ending is much less daunting than one that seems
endless. An effective strategy is to chunk down tasks into 15 minutes
or 30-minute segments. Teach clients to set a timer s so that when
the time is up, they can give themselves permission to quit.

4. Identifying blocks and resistances before the beginning of a
project as well as each step of the way. With this approach,
obstacles can be defused before they sabotage the job. Also clients
become familiar with their resistance patterns and can develop
strategies for avoiding them in the future.

5. Establishing markers to identify the completion of each step of a
project: For example: "When I'm finished labeling my file folders,
I'm done with the second step of reorganizing my office."

6. Setting up rewards: "If I declutter my office on Saturday, I can
treat myself to dinner at my favorite restaurant or buy myself the
computer game I've been dreaming about."

Although there is no one "right" way to coach clients with ADD,
coaching that carefully examines how structure, support, skills and
strategies can benefit each unique client will help immeasurably in
creating a relationship between coach and client that fosters growth,
learning, and change over time.

(Sue Coleman can be reached at (510) 339-6197 or scoleman@...)

===== Please Tell Us! =====

We thank members for their responses to the Newsletter. Any comments,
suggestions, or criticisms will be greatly appreciated. Please
continue to help us make this newsletter more beneficial to you all.

We also invite readers to share their experiences with us and other
members. Please feel free to write to us about anything that you
would like to see published.

You can e-mail your comments to us at CHADD_Dimples@....
Simply replying to this e-mail will also send your message to the
right place.