I am at the Council for Exceptional Children Conference (CEC) in Denver and listening to Dr. Ellen Arnold discussing females with ADD and ADHD. Due to the way it often times manifests itself in females, many will go undiagnosed for many years of a young ladies’ life. Females account for only around 25% of diagnosed cases. Dr. Arnold identifies these items below as typical symptoms for girls with ADHD…
- Wandering thoughts…lacking focus
- Forgetting important documents like permission slips and assignments
- Difficulty completing assignments
- Gets upset more often than boys as a girl hits adolescence
- Lacks feelings of being good at anything
- Running late
- Distracted by stimuli in the environment
- Told by teachers/parents/coaches to try harder
- Come across as spacey
- Feel different than her peers
- Bedroom is a disaster
- Regularly use boredom as an excuse
- Disorganization isn’t always visible
- Are pleasers as opposed to advocators
- Regularly fail or struggle on tests
- Reading presents challenges
Dr. Arnold suggests these following success strategies. These include…
- Identify strategies to overcome boredom
- Need to highlight an individual’s strengths
- Identify the best ways to listen
- Doodling
- Toe tapping
- Repeating back information to check for comprehension
- Find the best way to maximize performance through one’s own strategies
- Become one’s own best advocate
- If something works, USE IT!!!
- Finding movements that minimalize distractions
- Stay positive…avoid negative language of self and others
- Use stickers or Post-It notes to write down thoughts…compensates for a lack of working memory (blurt book…a separate notebook to write down thoughts)
- Identifying how a behavior helps meet a goal
- Becoming one’s best self-advocate
- Use differing manipulatives for stimulation and movement
- Better to read aloud as opposed to reading to one’s self
- Helps with comprehension and drifting
- Learn differing test-taking strategies
- Use physical activitity
If you feel that a female in your life meets some of these concepts, I would strongly recommend exploring the possibility of ADHD. Also keep in mind that this can also apply to males as well. For more information on ADD and ADHD in girls, please visit The Center…A Resource for For Women and Girls with ADHD.
Please enjoy my video on ADD/ADHD and Females.
For more information on my ADD, ADHD and Executive Functioning coaching, please visit www.adhdefcoach.com. In addition to working with clients in-person, I also work with clients all over the United States and World online, please visit www.onlineadhdcoach.com for more information. To learn more about my other services, please visit www.carrolleducationalgroup.com & www.iepexperts.com. I can be found on Twitter at ADHDGuru. You can also find me on Facebook, Google Plus and Tumblr. Feel free to email me at [email protected] or call 877.398.ADHD (2343) with any additional questions.