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Ever wondered how disability laws like the ADA, Section 504, and IDEA actually impact individuals with ADHD? Or how to navigate accommodations in school, work, and daily life? We've got you covered!
We recently sat down with Benjamin Lyons, LCSW, from Purple Wellness for an eye-opening conversation about the complexities of disability legislation, self-advocacy, and setting up a structure for success as neurodivergent individuals transition into adulthood.
🔍 Key Takeaways from the Discussion:
✅ Understanding the differences between ADA, Section 504, and IDEA is crucial for getting the right support.
✅ Self-awareness is the first step to identifying personal challenges and accommodations.
✅ Not all accommodations require formal documentation — you can self-initiate many strategies to set yourself up for success!
✅ Structure and routine are game-changers — especially when navigating independence.
✅ A strong support network can boost motivation and accountability.
✅ Body doubling, engaging multiple senses, and other learning strategies can make a huge difference.
✅ Parents play a key role in guiding young adults through transitions.
✅ Public libraries and community colleges offer valuable (and often free!) resources.
✅ Trust, flexibility, and self-advocacy are essential when facing challenges.
This is a must-watch for parents and anyone looking to better understand the rights, resources, and strategies that help neurodivergent individuals thrive.
Neurodivergent Adulting Resource Sheet
Summary:
This conversation explores the complexities of disability legislation, particularly focusing on the ADA, Section 504, and IDEA, and how they impact individuals with ADHD. It emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, accommodations, and the need for structure in navigating transitions to independence. The discussion also highlights the significance of building a support network, effective learning strategies, and the process of seeking formal accommodations in educational and workplace settings. Parental guidance during these transitions is also addressed, along with available resources and community engagement opportunities.
Takeaways:
Understanding the differences between ADA, Section 504, and IDEA is crucial for supporting individuals with disabilities.
Self-awareness is the first step in identifying personal challenges and needs.
Accommodations can be self-initiated and do not always require formal support.
Structure is essential for success, especially during transitions to independence.
Building a support network can enhance accountability and motivation.
Effective learning strategies can include engaging multiple senses and body doubling.
Formal accommodations require proactive communication and documentation of needs.
Parents play a vital role in guiding young adults through transitions to independence.
Community colleges and public libraries offer valuable resources for support and learning.
Trust and adaptability are key components in navigating challenges and changes.
Chapters
00:00Understanding Disability Laws and Their Implications
03:53Self-Awareness and Personal Accommodations
06:42The Importance of Structure in Transitioning to Adulthood
12:49Navigating Formal Accommodations and Responsibilities
18:56Supporting Young Adults with ADHD: Parental Guidance and Transitioning Roles
24:52Navigating Transitions: The Importance of Communication
31:06Building Trust and Responsibility in Relationships
36:26Utilizing Community Resources for Support
39:24Leveraging Technology and Tools for ADHD Management
Transcript
Initial slides were not recorded, but included prior to the start of the recorded session.
federal funding, so public schools. Similarly, for post-secondary institutions, both colleges, universities, but also some like trades training organizations or facilities, if those take federal funding, then they are bound under the ADA and Section 504. And then the ADA itself applies to everything, employers, educational institutions, all of it, regardless of federal funding.
1:20
So we can think of it as kind of a foundation and that the others apply in particular circumstances or situations. IDEA, what many people may be used to working with, we can think of this as adding supports in order to support somebody's success to try to help prepare a student for the best outcomes we can.
1:38
And so formal accommodations can be part of that, but it's also things like specialized instruction, potentially like physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, all other things that we might pull in and incorporate in order to support a student's success. So often it's about adding supports. ADA and Section 504 accommodations under those acts are more about removing
2:01
barriers than adding supports. And so we talked a minute ago, I mentioned, you know, if you've ever had an injured foot and needed one of those scooty things, that's an example of attempting to remove a barrier such that you can still get around and able to do the things that you need to do.
2:17
Other examples of removing barriers might be ergonomic adjustments, things like working from home, either temporarily or long-term, depending on if you're navigating a long-term illness, perhaps, or an injury. Or speaking of injuries, again, one of those scooty things, being able to use the elevator,
2:34
stuff like that can be a way to deal with temporary mismatch between our ability and our context. How we define disability is different for each one of those acts. ADHD qualifies under all three, although how we refer to it or how we use that act may differ. Most important, though, is, again,
2:52
for us to consider what is disabling for us, what is disabling for me. So, for example, this woman here, the fact that she is using a wheelchair is not actually disabling, it's enabling, right? In most contexts, it allows her to get around. In this particular context, it's a mismatch between, okay,
3:09
she got wheels and she needs to go upstairs to get into a building, right? And so maybe there is a ramp or something else that would let her to get around that. But what is disabling is the mismatch between where she is now and needing to get into the building,
3:22
not the fact that she needs to use a wheelchair. It's important to call out, too, that there is a lot of change happening at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the two government entities that oversee and enforce IDEA, Section 504, and the ADA. So a lot of change going on right now.
3:43
Enforcement and oversight is kind of uncertain. So this is a story in progress that we all need to keep up on. But we're going to work from the understanding that we have right now. Starting with stuff that, um, the young people preparing for this transition, those of us with the ADHD,
4:02
things we can do to try to take care of ourselves. First and foremost, accommodations. I like to start with self accommodations. What are the things that we can do for ourselves that don't require us to get formal support from somebody else? This is stuff within our control that hopefully then we can make something,
4:16
we can do something about to make something better. That starts though with awareness, with awareness of what is challenging for us, awareness of what we would like to be doing, um, of what is going on with our bodies and our brains. Once we have awareness, then we can make a decision, right?
4:35
If we're aware of what's going on, then we can do something about it. So purposefully engaging our awareness takes practice and effort. What it let us do, though, is it lets us become the expert on our own experience. Nobody knows you better than you do. Nobody can see inside your head.
4:50
And so if we can build on our awareness of that, then we can become, again, our own expert on our own needs, our priorities, what's going on with us. And we have to check in with ourselves to do that. So first of all, let's think of awareness in the context of priorities and needs.
5:06
What are your priorities or goals? How are you defining those? How are you defining success or progress towards those goals or priorities? And are the goals or priorities reasonable? So for example, my doctorate is in business administration. Maybe there's some business folk either out there or people wanting to go into business out in the audience this evening.
5:29
And so maybe a goal going into business would be, okay, I want to be a C-suite executive making at least six figures for a Fortune 500 company, which sounds cool, right? And is a pretty quick and short explanation of, okay, here's what it is that I want. But we wanna pause and think about that reasonableness thing, right?
5:51
Because part of a Fortune 500, there's only 500 of them, right? Whereas there are estimated over 62,000 companies operating here in the United States with an annual revenue of $25 million or more. So thousands and thousands and thousands of companies that are big employers in their area are often or likely important in their industry.
6:17
And so thinking here about is it the priority that you want to work for a particular company or is it a particular lifestyle you're pursuing? Is it a particular experience of maybe validation or having an opportunity to be philanthropic? Or what is it that you want out of that experience?
6:34
And then how does that awareness open our options? Because there are lots of places that might, you know, if you're interested in this business direction and kind of our hypothetical, there are lots of places that might need or use your talents. So being thoughtful about, okay,
6:49
what is it I really want out of something helps us find things that we can achieve and figure out, okay, how do we actually get to the things that we want? One of the things we have to prioritize in that process is our physical wellness.
7:01
Often wellness can be kind of dismissed as kind of this frou-frou thing that you do on the weekends, maybe when you can. When we really need to reframe wellness, particularly, and when we're talking about wellness, brain and body here, is our wellness is our capacity.
7:15
Our wellness is our capacity to do the things that we want to do. And so when we are taking care of our wellness, we are doing what we can to ensure we have capacity for the things that we want to do so that we have the capacity to be the kind of person that we want to be.
7:30
Because life will kind of dictate a lot of that for us automatically. If we're not planning, life will happen anyway. And so how are we prioritizing the things we want out of our lives so that we can make sure we're working towards them? Speaking of one awareness, again, thinking about, okay, so what are my priorities or needs?
7:48
And then what am I finding disabling about achieving those? So for example, if a need is to complete your reading, Is it that you're dyslexic or that you can't keep up with the reading, right? Like there's a lot of comorbidity between ADHD and dyslexia. But the problem is you can't keep up with your reading, right?
8:07
Like the dyslexia may help us understand why, but that we can't really fix. What we can do though is help you find ways to finish your reading. So we can explain. This is this idea I'm really big on with clients that we can explain something and
8:22
that can help us like a diagnosis can help us understand what's going on, why something is challenging. But it doesn't excuse us from the stuff that we got to do. Right. Like you still got to do the reading. So we got to become articulate about like, OK, I'm struggling to get X done, not I struggle to read.
8:43
What is your objective? And then we can figure out, okay, how do we help you get there? Third here, thinking about structure. Some of the things that, again, we talked a minute ago about how IDEA tries to create all of this structure and how
8:59
parents and adults in a young person's life often create all of this structure to support somebody's success. And one of the biggest things that we don't talk about enough in the transition from K-12 to a college environment for anybody is is the shift in structure. Because at that point,
9:13
the individual becomes a lot more responsible for their own structure, right? And whether you're going on to college, going on to trade school, going into the work environment, you're gonna have more responsibility for your structure. So things like, okay, how am I planning to feed myself? Get real basic. I'm 40 years old.
9:31
A few years ago, I took a job where I would travel between Kansas City and Chicago. And in Chicago, I had this little tiny studio apartment that very quickly, Devolved to like that stereotypical single guys fridge where there's like a couple of condiments and like maybe half a pizza.
9:48
I have taken for granted the structure that my husband provided in enjoying to cook and taking care of that. So it's not something that is unique necessarily to an age, but it is you. It is something to consider of like, OK, who in my life is providing what structure?
10:02
And is that something I need to take on for myself? Additional things to consider of what am I doing to get up or get to work on time? Where am I keeping my keys or my ID? This relates to this idea of what are we doing to try to make our priorities and
10:15
needs as easy as possible to do. So if you need to get out the door on time, I don't know about you, but one of the biggest challenges to that might be losing my keys, not knowing where they are. So if I create a spot where they go and my spouse helps me use it,
10:31
helps me remind it, helps me build that pattern, then that makes it easier for me to get out the door on time. So we got to think about what are the things we can do to structure ourselves to be able to do the things we want to do. And maybe that involves including somebody around us to help.
10:46
We'll talk more about that in a minute. This idea, though, again, of like life will structure itself if we don't do it purposefully. So what in our lives are we doing on purpose? Let's go through a quick example here. Again, maybe the priority or need is to get to work on time.
11:03
So what is disabling, what the challenge you're having is I'm sleeping through my alarm. So what are the things we could do about that? One of the things, maybe it's adding if you have access to a smartwatch, maybe you can set an alarm on that so you get vibration and the sound. For ADHDers,
11:17
if we can engage two senses, we are far more likely to pay attention to that information. Our brain has trouble selecting sometimes. And so if we can give two senses that we're engaging, that's much more likely for us to engage with. Same thing with a timer light. It could be maybe something you do on a device.
11:35
It could be, you know, a kitchen timer that you plug into a lamp. There are lots of different ways you might use this tool. But again, gauge multiple senses. Is there an alarm clock that you can go across the room to? Something where it takes more effort.
11:51
We can be really dependent on our devices because it's easy to do lots of different things with them. And so it's easy to maybe use that in place of like an alarm clock. But then that also means it's easy to hit snooze or to do something else rather than paying attention to the alarm.
12:04
So what do we do that maybe encourages us to pay attention to that thing for one purpose? Does that help us get out of bed? Similarly, maybe some unpleasant music, right? People will sometimes try to use nice music as something to kind of wake themselves up in the morning
12:19
But if your struggle is you're not getting up to your alarm, then we got to try something else. And sometimes using some jarring music can be something that our brain will pay attention to and helps get us out of, OK, whatever sleep cycle, whatever it is that we're in. So, you know,
12:34
if speed metal is not your favorite thing, maybe that's what to put on to help you wake up. If it helps you, again, kind of break that cycle, get aware of what it is that's going on. Or maybe you need to recruit some help. We are social creatures, evolved, designed, however you want to take that.
12:54
We are better with other people. And so one of the things we should do is think about, OK, who is around us that we could maybe engage? So, for example, I work with or did work rather with a college student who had ADHD.
13:05
And one of the things that he negotiated with his roommate when he was going to school was, OK, hey, if you notice that I'm like sleeping through my alarm or if I'm hitting snooze all the time and not getting up, if you're like heading out the way to go to class, kick my bed or something,
13:19
shake the bed or something, and that'll help me wake up. And it turns out the roommate also had ADHD. And so the two of them mutually made an agreement of like, OK, if you're not waking up, then I will shake the bed and I will know that you're going to do that for me.
13:33
So I'm not going to get mad at you. We have negotiated and agreed on this thing, which is important when the person that you are shaking their bed, like they know where you sleep, right? So negotiation is important here. But it became an opportunity, one, for the two of them to get to class on time,
13:49
but also for a chance for the two of them to connect, right? So a little bit of vulnerability about what's going on can be a chance to connect with other people. Whatever it is that you do, anticipate that you're going to need to iterate and adapt over time. Remember, context is what makes something disabling,
14:06
and our context changes over time, as do we, right? Our needs, our situation all change over time. And so if we build a tool set that we can use a toolkit, then we can still pull on those tools, but how we use them, what they look like is gonna change over time, right?
14:21
That unpleasant music tactic, we're gonna get used to the speed metal. So now maybe we need to switch to yodeling or whatever it is that doesn't work for you. We're gonna need to adapt over time. So this is where awareness continues to be important. We gotta pay attention to our tools and if they're working for us.
14:35
One of the things we have to do as well is get this information out of your head ADHDers, we love to have lots of different ideas, things going on up here. And we very much often believe that we're going to hold on to that information because we are so interested or concerned about it.
14:49
And then we see our cat go by or we walk through a door and it's all gone, right? So we have to know that that's part of how our brain works. So whatever we think we might do in that moment, one of the things our structure that we can do for ourselves is to get it out of
15:04
our heads. So how are we going to get it out? Where is it going to live? For time's sake, we won't go all the way through this second example, other than to call out that you'll notice the structure and the tools are the same. And that's the point, right?
15:17
That if we can build a broad enough tool set that we can use the tools for multiple circumstances. And if we have success with a tool in one setting, maybe that tells us the tool to start with in another. So again, the goal is to develop a tool set that we can use in multiple contexts.
15:35
That said, sometimes there are going to be contexts that require for some very specific things. So let's go back to our reading example. So there could be a couple of things going in here, like maybe there's a struggle to understand due to some dyslexia, or maybe it's a struggle to care, right? Like ADHDers,
15:48
if it's not something that we're interested in, then task initiation and selective focus are really, really hard. So we still got to get the reading done though, right? So what are things that we could do with that? So maybe we have some kind of structured timing technique. That's what Pomodoro is. A plain English translator.
16:05
We'll talk about one of those more here in a moment. Do you maybe read to a person or a pet? Again, engaging multiple senses, both seeing something and then speaking it out loud can often be helpful. ADHDers, we've got to be careful with this one.
16:20
We can get into kind of performance mode where we're maybe reading and reciting what it is that we're reading, but there's not a lot going on in between. So we got to have our awareness again, right? And if we're aware, if we become aware that we're not retaining anything, then our casting's got to shift.
16:36
So maybe instead of reading to our cat or whatever, maybe it's at the end of a chapter, we're going to summarize to our parakeet. what we learned about some particular thing, right? So adjust the tactic and engaging two senses is still useful. Having to explain something to someone is a great way to learn it.
16:58
So how do we adapt this tactic to be more functional for you? Body doubling or having parallel work, right? We're better together, right? We are designed or evolved to be social creatures. We are better with other people. And it is often a cue to our nervous system that if somebody else is calmly or quietly working on something,
17:15
that it is safe for us to do so as well. And so it can help us to kind of calm down and focus in on whatever it is we're doing. And that could be a roommate, that could be a family member, that could be a complete stranger at the library.
17:26
Think about, okay, who do I have access to? Where can I go to make use of a particular tool? Or perhaps it's appropriate if you're in an educational setting to talk to the reading center and get some maybe more formal accommodation,
17:38
maybe like an expansion of test time so that you have extra time to read what it is that you're dealing with on an exam or something like that, or maybe that you get a note taker. But it's important to call out that of the stuff we've talked about so far,
17:52
this is the first time we got to something where you would need to do a formal accommodation. This is the first time you would need to formally ask or document something. So a lot of this stuff is stuff we can do for ourselves, and we have to take that agency when we can get it.
18:05
It's also important to call out that a lot of the stuff we've talked about could technically be used by anybody, right? Like ADHDers, we're more prone to to sleeping through our alarm and struggling with time awareness, but anybody could have that happen. And so these tools could be useful for a lot of people.
18:21
And I think that's something important to remember about neurodivergence. It is often not that our experience is fundamentally different than somebody else's. It is more about, okay, what are we vulnerable to? Or what are the types of things that we commonly challenge with or have challenges with rather because of the way our brain is structured and functions?
18:39
So it's not, again, we're not completely different from everybody. It's more what are any of us more vulnerable or not vulnerable to. When seeking formal accommodations, whether in education or workplace, you're going to have to ask, affirmatively assert that you need support rather than in the K-12 setting where
18:58
it's on the responsibility of the adults in a young person's life to kind of pay attention and try to identify if somebody needs supports or resources. As an adult, it's on our responsibility to communicate to an institution or organization that we need help. We have to do that ahead of when we want support. We can't get
19:16
you know, kind of retroactive credit for a class we failed or work assignment we weren't able to get done if we only told folks after the fact that we needed help. Now, in an educational context, the federal funding piece allows for more specific requirements.
19:32
And so that you may have to disclose your ADHD diagnosis to an educational institution, and they may even be able to dictate particular requirements. diagnostic information to kind of verify depending on the type of support or resource or accommodation rather than you're seeking. In the workplace, you don't generally have to disclose that.
19:48
All you need to do is have a healthcare provider, a relevant healthcare provider, document that something is disabling about your experience and that there are things that could be done to remove that barrier. And that could be a primary care provider. That could be a therapist like me. It could be a
20:04
A medication management person, it could be an occupational therapist or a physical therapist. It depends on what you are finding disabling and then identifying, okay, so what's the right provider to help identify or help deal with this? It's important to note that employers can refuse to provide an accommodation if it
20:19
is unreasonable or an undue burden on the organization. In my experience doing workplace accommodations, most of the time employers don't want to just outright refuse stuff. And so there is often a place for compromise where you, your provider, and your employer can work together to try to identify something that's going to be workable for everybody.
20:37
Because when we ask for accommodations in post-secondary or workplace settings, we're not due our preferred accommodation. We're just due an accommodation. And so can we negotiate and find an option that works for everybody? If folks do straight up refuse, again, that is within the rights of the business.
20:55
And there are times where that is a justifiable and understandable decision. And so at that point, if you don't agree that it is a justifiable or understandable decision, then our options are largely in the legal space. Okay, so talking with parents now a little bit.
21:10
Part of this for young folk with ADHD and making going into this transition is taking on responsibility. And for adults, parents in somebody's life, it's about letting go of that responsibility. So first and foremost, one of the things that you can do to be supportive is to refer your young person to the stuff we've already talked about.
21:29
Right. They're going to need help in creating the structure that you have been providing up to this point. They're going to need reminders, things that they can do to help make that transition. And so reminding them of their resources, of their tools is a big part of that. Also part of wrestling with this change in role.
21:50
So you may be familiar with a Latin term that shows up in the law. called in loco parentis. What that means is in place of the parent or instead of a parent. K through 12 institutions, particularly publicly funded ones, that school is functioning in place of the parent when your child is at the school, right?
22:08
So they have the same obligation to make sure your kid is safe that you do when you release that child to their care. When we're at a post-secondary or a workplace setting and we're over the age of 18, that person is no longer a child, right?
22:22
And so the transition goes from the parent or adult in that person's life being legally responsible for their well-being, for their education, to that person, that individual's responsibility. And that happens as soon as that person turns 18. So there is this, you know, even if nothing else shifts,
22:42
there is this legal reality that once that person turns 18, there are certain things that they're simply accountable for on their own at this point that they have to carry primary responsibility. And so for the adults in their lives, that often means that we transition into a role of offering our experience, our guidance of offering mentorship,
23:00
because there are certain things that we simply can't take on. Least of all the responsibility legally for certain things. So in that sense, there's a lot of things that we can't do for somebody, but we can do it with somebody. the people that we care about.
23:15
And so this is that idea again of like, okay, how can we refer and provide supports? How can we help people keep in mind the things that they have access to and help them access them? Because this is a lot of transitions that we're thinking about. There's a lot of structure that you've likely been providing.
23:32
So we're looking at transitions in decision making, right? Because with that accountability, if you're not fully legally accountable for certain decisions, then you need to think about how you're making those decisions, right? There is this transition in structure that we've talked about of who's providing what structure. How are we determining that?
23:50
There's often a transition in finances, right? Financial expectations, maybe who's paying for what, how long that's going to happen. This is a major rite of passage as we transition from legally being a minor into legal adulthood and accountability for our own actions. And that's a major rite of passage that we all go through.
24:11
And so it's something that we can learn from and support our young person through based on our own experiences. Part of that is going to be creating explicit expectations. So what do you want out of the relationship from your young person? What do you expect from them in terms of keeping touch,
24:27
in terms of spending holidays or time off? Who's going to keep important documents like birth certificate or social security number? Often stuff that you're going to need if like going into an employment situation or applying for school. Or are we tracking expenses and who's responsible for what? When is that going to transition?
24:46
All of this stuff is stuff that we should work out ahead of time. And to jump ahead a little bit here, we need to get it out of our heads. This is, again, information that should not live in our heads. It should be down somewhere where we can refer to it because we're going to need to
24:59
update it and change it over time. You know, if I remember when I went off to college, I was really anxious and nervous about being on my own for the first time because I was living alone for the first time. And so I called my dad every night to kind of talk through and talk about how
25:16
anxious I was and try to get through it. And then once I settled in. I went a full week without checking in with him. And then he called me and he's like, did you realize it was this long? He didn't mean that as a bad thing.
25:27
It was a humorous thing to him that I got into a place where I didn't need that same engagement every day. And it also make it tough for him to know if he needed to put time aside in the evening to talk to me. So being clear about what our expectations and needs were would have made that
25:41
easier for both of us. Also, that's the issue of reasonability. Right. If we have to be willing to adapt and change over time, because in that first week, I really needed my dad. Right. Like I was still very much a teenager needing to lean on my dad. And then as I slowly got more comfortable.
25:58
OK, now I was showing up differently. as an adult, more responsible for my own needs. And so the reason that I would engage with my father and the things I would hope for out of that conversation became different. It became more about engaging with him, that relationship, than needing him to take responsibility for me. This is also,
26:18
though, a really important opportunity to not to set specific expectations, but to kind of talk about life, right? This is a big transition that you also went through. So is this an opportunity, like, Have you had a real explicit conversation about your values and what your priorities are?
26:37
What struggles or challenges that you faced at this similar time in your life? What are the things that you wish you had known that if you could go tell a younger self, what would you say? You know, most importantly, what makes a life meaningful? What have you learned about that?
26:55
And what can you impart that onto your young person as they now start making meaning for their lives? This is a tremendous opportunity for us to be the kind of parent or adult in somebody's life that we really want to be, to be the best self.
27:09
And also a chance to hopefully set up our young person for success while also sharing the things that are really important to us. One of the things we have to wrestle with here, I've talked a lot about like this legal reality that happens. And I think that can be really heard for a lot of us,
27:23
particularly if like the living situation doesn't change, if nobody's moved out, if there haven't been any other substantive changes, then it doesn't really feel any different. And yet a legal reality has changed because your young person is getting older and there are legal consequences of that, right? You know, as my grandmother would have said,
27:41
with God's grace and a sharp stick, you know, your young person is going to grow up and grow older whenever we do. Right. That's the goal. That's the hope that someone is well and can take care of themselves and the people they care about to live a long and full life. Right.
27:56
And so we can't go through the challenges of life for our young person. But again, we can't do for, but we can do with. For a time. And so part of wrestling with this for many of us. As adults, seeing somebody go through this transition is recognizing that this is a change and
28:16
that there is a limit to how much time we have with somebody in a particular phase of life. And I think it can also be a really important time for us to be thoughtful about what do we want to do with the time that we have.
28:30
Because as we talked about, like life will make that decision for us, right? If we're not purposeful, then life and circumstance will take over. And so being aware of what we want out of that time, what our priorities are, allows us to be more purposeful in our decision making and the structure we set up for ourselves.
28:49
So quick example here, we talked a minute ago about a challenge for, you know, a young person who's sleeping through their alarm, can't get to work or class on time. So parent, the same thing is happening, right? And this person comes to talk to you about this challenge they're having.
29:03
What are things as an adult in this person's life that we can do? We can offer validation here. That's one of the most important things that we can do for somebody struggling is to validate, like, even if we don't understand or even maybe agree with their struggling or why they're struggling.
29:20
If someone is struggling, they just are, right? And so, yeah, I can see you're struggling or I can tell maybe why you might struggle with that. Or, yeah, that is really upsetting when you can't get to class. There's an experience gap here, right? Like there's a learning curve that people have to be given time to figure out
29:39
because there's one thing to know something and then there's another to live it. And people need time to get through that learning curve. And so offering validation and patience is really important. We can also hold curiosity about somebody's experience. Again, that important part here is figuring out what's disabling.
29:55
And that may not be readily apparent to us all the time. We may just be frustrated about the situation. And so sometimes we need some help piecing out what is going on. And so someone holding some curiosity and asking some thoughtful questions about like, OK, so what's going on for you? Are you not setting an alarm?
30:12
No, you are setting an alarm. OK. So is it what's not working for you or about what is not working about it for you, brother? That could be a chance to remind of structures, supports, resources, tools that you've developed. Like, OK, what now that we've hopefully collaboratively identified what's going on, let's refer back to those tools. Right.
30:32
And then ultimately, the most important thing that we have to be able to hold both for a young person and for ourselves is trust. Because there's only so much. There are certain things that, again, we can't take on for them. And so we can provide tools. We can provide resources. We have to provide trust.
30:51
And where people are inevitably going to make mistakes, where inevitably stuff that we had hoped wouldn't happen happens, then we have to trust that people are going to learn from that, both us and the people we care about. So trust is key here, and it's a practice. It's something we actively do. It's not just an emotion.
31:12
It's an action. And so this is something for us all to practice in this transition. A couple of recommended resources and stuff for everybody to consider here. I am a big believer and supporter of community colleges. So these are three here in the Kansas City metro area.
31:32
Many folks may have taken like dual credit programs in high school, and many of them are through the community college here. If you did that, you are already a college student at that institution. If you took a fitness class or maybe parents, grandparents, other adults and somebody else, if you took like a fitness class,
31:50
it was common when I worked at Johnson County Community College that community members would just take a class to get access to the gym, right? So if you're doing something like that, you are already a student at that institution. You qualify to take advantage of the resources.
32:04
If you're not a student yet, community colleges by definition are free to apply to. So become a student, even if you don't plan to attend. These are publicly locally funded institutions. You're already paying for it. So there are a lot of things that you can probably access without becoming a student or signing up for anything.
32:22
Community events, public education opportunities, things like FAFSA events. If you're looking for help filling out your financial aid application, a lot of that stuff, you don't have you just a community member. You're welcome to it. Right. Because, again, you're already paying for it. But if you do need to become a student, that's fairly quick and easy.
32:40
And that gives you access to all of the resources at that institution, even if you don't go there. So things like talking to a transfer advisor, talking to the access services office. OK, how would I practice or talk about this situation where I do plan to go to school or where I do plan to work?
32:57
So community colleges can be a tremendous resource, even if you don't plan to attend there as kind of like a traditional college student. Similarly, an important resources are public libraries, just like the community college they're locally funded and paid for you were already paying for it and so part of how we can ensure these institutions are
33:17
available is to use them. We're paying for them let's use them. Some things that people may not be aware of that are available at the local library that can be particularly helpful for those of us who are ADHDers, but for a lot of people too.
33:31
Many of the institutions that you see on your page offer free resume and employment support. So if you're having trouble looking for a job, you're not sure how to brush up your resume, there is free help available. Often one-on-one services with another professional to help you brush up that
33:45
resume or figure out where am I looking for work and how can I be more effective doing that? There are financial literacy resources, so a piece of structure. We talked a little bit about finances, right? As we take more responsibility for our finances, having some additional supports, having some information about financial literacy, financial planning,
34:04
all really useful and, again, available for free. And many of these libraries will have financial services librarians, that that's what they do. And so we can go take advantage of those people and their expertise. Even for just basic stuff like remote printing, you know, that's available. There are free study rooms or event space.
34:24
So if you wanted to get together with a group, you know, you're pulling together a campus group and you need to meet off campus or would like to for some reason, or you're getting a study event together with other students, particularly if you don't live on campus,
34:35
this can be an opportunity to kind of create something like that communal experience. And even if you don't live within the area that these libraries are funded in, many of them have virtual programs. Or if you're in the region, you're still eligible to use the resources and get a library card there.
34:54
So wherever you are, look into your public library, see what's available there. Speaking of which, these are some recommended resources. There's a resource page that hopefully, or a sheet rather, that hopefully can get shared out here with everybody that includes all of this. But just some examples here.
35:12
At Johnson County Community College, they have a tremendous access services office. Some of you folks may remember Megan Kissel. She is rather an access services advisor with them. She came and presented a few months ago, I understand. The community colleges in general, in part because they tend to serve a lot more students seeking accommodations,
35:32
are generally the best at them. And so one, that may be something to consider as you're considering where to go to school or where you might advise your young person to go. But also, even if you're not, again, that's an opportunity to go talk to those offices and say, OK,
35:46
how would you advise me to talk to this school? Or who do you know at this institution that might be good for me to connect with? So Kansas Community College, again, also really good with access services and student support. Alex Twitty is someone I've worked with there before who is outstanding.
36:04
Metropolitan Community College, it's going to depend on which campus you're on. So think about the campus that you're going to or plan to go to look up the services there. Johnson County Library, Marty Johannes. She is both the career and the finance librarian. So there are folks like this at all of these different institutions who can offer
36:21
free support and help. So take advantage of it. I also like to call out some resources and tools people can use without going anywhere. One of my favorites is Goblin Tools. So we talked a minute ago about something like a plain English translator. This is an example of one where let's say that we're struggling to kind of,
36:41
again, figure out this text is really dense, or maybe somebody is using really clinical language or $5 words that are tough to piece out because it's not our field. Well, dropping a paragraph or that abstract into Goblin Tools, it will be able to kind of translate it for you.
37:01
And you can even tell it kind of how complex or how simple you want it to try to get. It's not big enough where you could dump an entire article or an entire chapter in there. It's not for that. But you can drop in smaller pieces of text to kind of help provide context and help
37:15
get you going. There are also things like if you're trying to write like a cover letter or communication to a professor that you want to make sure sounds really professional, you can put that in and the tool will help you come up with options to make sure it sounds professional.
37:28
If you're not sure of the tone of something you're sending, ADHDers, we can struggle with this a lot, where sometimes we communicate things through our tone that we don't realize. And so having something that can check our tone can be really useful. Also, we talked about like, how are you going to feed yourself?
37:45
This can be a great tool if I have these things in the fridge or in my apartment. What can I make with them? Only so much you can do with ketchup and mustard. But beyond that, it can hopefully come up with something that you can do.
37:58
Even if like, okay, you've got a bunch of things you're working on. We talked about how do you get stuff out of your head? You don't have to know how to get it into a list. This is a tool. It is admittedly an AI tool, right? Goblin Tools is an AI tool.
38:11
But it has a pretty good tool to help. Okay, I've got all these jumble of ideas. I'm going to put them all down together, kind of stream of consciousness, and then it'll help you organize it into something you could do with it. Another great tool that I think is really important for folks to think about is
38:28
time estimation. Time blindness is huge for ADHDers. And so if nothing else, using the tool here to help estimate how long it might take you to do something can be really useful, particularly as you try to figure out how to create a new structure for yourself
38:43
and figure out how long you're going to need to do certain tasks. Two other resources here real quick. These are both YouTube channels, How to ADHD with Jessa McCabe. She herself has ADHD, just put out an excellent book that summarizes a lot of stuff that's available on that YouTube channel, rather.
39:03
But lots of resources available there for free. Also really like Dr. Tracy Marks and her channel. She's a psychiatrist who does a lot of stuff related to ADHD. It's not the only thing she does, but it is a specialty. And she also often incorporates the latest and greatest in medication for different things.
39:18
So that's an important lens to keep in mind as we consider our supports. That was the short, short version. So thank you all for, let me kind of try to fly through that. I hope that was still, wasn't talking too fast or anything there. Do we have time for any questions or anything?
39:46
Can you put back up the slide with, I don't know what the rest of it says.
39:51
Sorry, yeah, that one right there.
39:56
And you guys, I apologize. I am Kristen. I'm the one that sends out all the messages. For whatever reason, I was locked out of the Zoom account. And so I couldn't log in and start the meeting. I don't know how you guys started. I got let in a little bit later from whoever was letting people in.
40:11
I very much apologize. Benjamin, you did an amazing job from the parts that I saw, and I'm sure it did not get your adrenaline going in the right way when everybody had problems at the beginning. So I very much apologize for that.
40:25
And I did have some slides to share if you can share or allow me to share. And then if anybody else has questions, we can let them do the questions first. Okay.
40:41
How do I...
40:44
Someone is asking if you talk a little more on Goblin tools.
40:48
Sure. So, I mean, I would say the biggest thing is go explore it. It's free. And the biggest things that I use it for personally are, again, estimating that time management piece and also tone. So in writing in particular, we can sometimes misunderstand our tone. And so I would really encourage folks to use it for that.
41:11
in particular. Are there specific questions about the tool that I could maybe speak to?
41:18
No, I had heard the name before, but didn't know what it really was. And so you've shed a little bit more light on to what it is. So it was just curious.
41:30
Absolutely. And it was designed with ADHD folk in mind. So again, it can be used by a lot of people, but it was built by and for neurodivergent folk, which is one of the things I like about the tool. But yeah, not readily something that would come through based on the name though.
41:47
Okay. Another one I had heard about was called cleft notes. Have you heard of that one at all? I heard that at the same time. So that's why I got a little confused.
41:59
I'm not as familiar with that one, to be honest. We're probably going to see a lot of these, though, as AI becomes more prevalent. I mean, it's already seems like it's everywhere. So that can be one of those things as people think about the iteration of tools and resources, something to keep an eye on.
42:18
And also another reason to stay connected to like ADHD, social media and community and groups is it is consistently the community who calls out the best resources and tools. So finding ways to stay connected to other neurodivergent folk is a really good way to take care of ourselves. I'm taking a look here.
42:35
Somebody said, Sherry, ADHD and autism, do you disclose? So my advice generally is no, because many folks, particularly folks who are not in this space, they're not familiar with neurodivergence. They have some sometimes really intense preconceived notions about ADHD and autism look like. So when many of us don't reflect that stereotype.
43:02
And so what we wanna do is focus on what are the things that we can do for them? What are the things that we can speak to about our strengths? And it's okay to reference the things like hyper-focus, if you can bring that in purposefully, if you can bring that in on something related professionally or on school,
43:19
that's really powerful. And so if we can talk about, you know, yeah, when I really get focused, I can really knock out a project in short time. Many ADHD years were, you know, we're good at putting out fires. That can be a strength we can talk about without directly disclosing the ADHD or the autism.
43:36
And depending on the workspace, some places are very open and clearly have some awareness and competence around that, in which case it probably would be OK to share. Other places, mental health is not a thing that's really talked about. And so that might be a place where if you do need accommodations,
43:52
working with a good health care provider who can find ways to phrase that without having to disclose the disability, that may be worth doing. And it really is kind of like we talked about all night. It is going to be context specific in terms of like what's the culture and kind of
44:07
norms where that where you're working or applying to kind of guide how or if do we disclose.
44:21
That's great. Does anybody have any other questions? If not, thank you guys for staying a minute later. Oh, there's something in the chat now. Just thank you.
44:35
Thank you, Julie.
44:38
Thanks. All right. I put up, I hope you guys can see my slide now. Save the date. The huge international ADHD conference on annual, I can't even talk tonight. I'm all flustered. Sorry. The huge annual international conference for ADHD is going to be in Kansas City, November 13th through 15th. We have an RSVP on our website currently,
45:02
just so that you can see the date there, but it is not the signup. The official signup will be through Chad and that will be to come. And then I usually do the disclaimer at the beginning. I'm not going to read the whole thing, but Benjamin didn't really endorse any products or services.
45:21
So we do not do that. One thing that I did send out today, we're encouraging everyone to officially join Chad in part because you get a lot of great things when you are part of the official organization. But during the month of February, there is a contest going on.
45:38
So if you officially join and you named ADHD Casey as your chapter, we get credit for your joining and whoever wins will get two free memberships that we can share with someone who can't afford the membership. So if you can't afford the membership,
45:54
you can do that and then help us win and get a discount to that big conference that I just mentioned. Later this week, we are going to be at the Blue Valley Resource Fair, Special Needs Resource Fair. They have a ton of information including things about, um, service providers for transitional services, um, health wellness, and more.
46:21
A lot of this is directed towards kids with significant special needs, but it does include things that would be helpful for all kinds of neurodivergent type behaviors as well. Um, we've started a new community and connect where Fridays, every other Friday, um, There is a support group that people are just talking and sharing.
46:44
And then our next parent group event will be a month from now, Tuesday, March 11th. And it will be about exploring the links between ADHD and environmental factors. So I apologize for getting on so late and keeping guys late. Benjamin, you did an awesome job. Thank you very much. Are there any other questions?
47:13
Benjamin did share all those resources with me, and I can send those up. I do know how to send out messages, so I will be sending those out and posting them to the group board so you can see those tonight. All right.
47:29
Bob, just real quick, say thanks again for the opportunity to be here. And yeah, thanks for folks who hung out with a little bit late with us. Stuff happens. And so, yeah, we rolled with it. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here. So thanks, everybody.
47:42
Thank you. Thanks again for doing it. We appreciate it.
47:47
Absolutely. Have a lovely evening, everybody.
47:49
You too.
47:51
Thanks.