internal medicine

Unfortunately
Attention Deficit Disorder does not necessarily fade with age. Many people that suffer as a child will continue to suffer as a teen
as well as into adulthood. However
this disorder may affect people differently at different stages in their life.

College can be a difficult time for some students. For many
this represents a time of breaking free and starting their new uninhibited lives. This may be an exciting and emotional time. How does a college student with ADD face such a time?

For a person with Attention Deficit Disorder
this may prove to be a harsh time of transformation. Typically coming from families that were especially doting and accommodating to their situation
they are thrown in to a new environment to fend for themselves. One of the basic behavior modification techniques in training an ADD child is through structure
routine
and habit. At once
all of this is taken and it becomes the student’s responsibility to recreate this structured life they once had. Of course
a person with ADD is typically disorganized and unstructured. So
they may have a difficult time having the discipline to enact such stringent requirements for themselves.

Another aspect to consider is the increased difficulty in the academic load in college as compared to high school and the additional responsibility put on the students. Not only will the student be responsible for their own organization and structure
they will do so under more stress and academic pressure. This increasingly more difficult schoolwork is not made easier by the student’s general inattentive nature
distractibility
and impulsiveness. The very core of ADD makes college more difficult. With any luck
the student has spent enough time over the last few years regulating their own behavior that they will easily be able to in this new environment.

For the most part
the same steps should be taken in college to deal with ADD as was necessary in high school and other grades. To be effective
a student should carry some type of organizational calendaring system or digital organizer. In college
they do not hold the students’ hands like they do in high school – once an assignment is made
it is expected to be turned in on time
without reminders. Therefore
it becomes imperative to keep up with deadlines and dates. Students should also create structure and organization in their dorm or apartment and utilize the same skills they have been developing for years.