Q: “Can a 504 Plan Help My Son Remember to Turn in His Homework?”

“Our journey is not about changing into the person we want to become. It’s about letting go of all we are not.” ~Nikki van Schyndel, Becoming Wild

Q: “How can I get my teen to buy into the importance of using an academic planner or at least writing things down? She thinks it is a waste of time and won’t listen to me when I suggest it.” — ProPlannerMomHi ProPlannerMom:One of the most frequent questions I hear from parents is how to get their students to use a daily planner. And as an academic/life coach who works daily with students with ADHD and executive functioning challenges (as well as the creator of an academic planner that teaches time management), my answer may surprise you.Using an academic planner is a terrific strategy for knowing what we need to do and when we have the time to do it.

About 30 million people in the U.S. will develop an eating disorder during their lifetime.1 The most common eating disorders – anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge-eating disorder (BED) – are characterized by unhealthy behaviors and thoughts around food, eating, and body image.Eating disorders often occur alongside other conditions.

January 10, 2023Psychiatrist, ADHD expert, and ADDitude contributor Joseph Biederman, M.D., passed away late last week, just days before he was scheduled to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD), which he co-founded, honoring his decades of groundbreaking ADHD research and advocacy.Biederman, age 75, served as Chief of the Clinical and Research Programs in Pediatric Psychopharmacology and Adult ADHD at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Director of the Alan and Lorraine Bressler Clinical and Research Program for Autism Spectrum Disorders at MGH, and Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.Considered the father of pediatric psychopharmacology, Biederman dedicated his career to examining the causes, diagnosis, and ADHD treatment across the lifespan.“He was truly a giant in our field with a brilliant mind and compelling personality,” wrote APSARD president Ann Childress, M.D., on the organization’s website. “As one of the most highly cited child and adolescent psychiatrists in the world, he changed the course of pediatric psychopharmacology.

Routines unravel with great frequency and frustration thanks to a very Catch-22 truth about ADHD: Daily habits make ADHD easier to manage; at the same time, ADHD symptoms and executive function challenges make it inordinately difficult to establish and consistently follow routines. Not to mention the common ADHD pitfalls of perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking that derail great intentions every day.The bottom line: Routines are supposed to simplify your life, not complicate it.