Smart But Stuck by Thomas E. Brown, PhD
I love how this book focuses on a series of true stories. My students remind me of the students in this book - smart and capable and needing some guidance on how to accomplish their goals and build they life they want to have.
ADHD 2.0 by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., and John. J. Ratey, M.D.
An excellent and current guide to ADHD from the same authors who published one of the trailblazing books about ADHD/ADD over 20 years ago. From environment to medication to brain anatomy, this book provides a great overview about the science around ADHD.
Smart but Scattered - and Stalled by Richard Guare, PhD, Colin Guare, BCBA and Peg Dawson, EdD
With a practical focus including tools and tips you can use in your own family, this book is helpful for many of my clients’ parents as they work towards their students independence in adulthood.
For parents who want to dive in to the clinical side of ADHD, this is an excellent, technical read. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has some of the strongest outcomes in working with college students with ADHD and this book provides a great guide.
“I would describe Lynn as someone who entirely cares about her clients and tries to go above and beyond to help them meet their goals. Lynn always has a positive attitude and good energy when doing sessions. She is the best support system that keeps you motivated and focused. She always has great advice and tools that help you see things in a new way.”
Resources for Students with ADHD
Tide Focus Timer and White Noise
The Pomodoro method helps many of my clients find focus in their studies. This timer makes it easy to set periods of focus followed by brief breaks. It’s a simple plug in to your browser and lets clients see how much time they are spending on certain websites so they can make intentional choices about how they focus during study sessions.
BRAIN HACKS: Life-Changing Strategies to Improve Executive Functioning by Lara Honos-Webb PhD
This book takes theory and puts it into practice with real world ways for college student with ADHD to improve their EF skills. The author also wrote the Gift of ADHD series for parents of younger children.
Organizational Tools
Anything that makes the running mental to do list external and visible can be helpful. I especially like small white boards, a reminders app and this bungee keeper to keep all of those cords and pens from falling to the bottom of the backpack.
For clients with sleep regulation issues, a sleep watch called Pavlok can be useful. This tool emits a gradually increasing wave of light, sound, and electric pulse to help students wake up on time and establish healthy habits.
Smart Watches
ADHD clients have success with smart watches because students seldom get sucked into their watches - it’s just not as engaging as a smart phone (which is a good thing!) Watches provide a multi-sensory experience - sound, visual, and haptic- when we turn on notifications for Calendar, Zoom, and Reminders and Google Task, but NOT notifications for texts or social media. This tool can really help with task initiation.