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For some families, a medical diagnosis for their child puts things in perspective. Parents understand the problems, and start to address them. Clarity about the challenges offers hope for improvement, and parents embrace treatment as a step toward a "cure."

That was not my experience as a young parent. My daughter's life was...

"Hi. My name is Joyce. I make a lot of mistakes. But don't worry, you'll get used to it." For 30 years that was who I thought I was. Not surprisingly, my life was filled with guilt and anger.

As adults with ADHD, we make excuses, blame others, and get defensive. We hope that giving unsolicited information will make people...

How Would You Feel If...

ages 6 and up (iOS, $1.99)

How Would You Feel If... poses that question in 56 different life situations designed to lead to discussions of a child's reaction and feelings. Each illustrated "card" asks a question, such as, "How would you feel if your favorite football team lost?" The appropriate and...

ADDitude asked readers to share their dreams for the future.

I would love to open a charter school that helps ADHD kids function at their best. — Gina, Comment posted online

That I live to see my two sons grow up into positive, well-mannered, well-educated, financially stable, hard-working men who are in beautiful, healthy, and...

Bobby is smart and sneaky. He knows how to get into locked-up computers. It's easy. When the computer owner — me — steps away from the machine, he rushes over and hits "control panel." From there, he can set up what we around here call the "guest account."

Our Bobby has ADHD, but this isn't ADHD behavior. This is something...

"It's all about the kids," says Bill Feaver, resource specialist and head baseball coach at Fowler High School, in Fowler, California. "It should always be about the kids."

During the 15 years he has taught special education, Feaver has taken a team approach. Working with students, parents, teachers, and administrators, he's...

ADDitude asked: "What would you put on your to-do list to make yourself happy?"

I try to stop taking things personally and remind myself that I'm not the reason people around me are upset. — Francesca, Germany

Find a therapist who understands adult ADD and the repercussions of a late-in-life diagnosis! — Beth, Massachusetts

Smil...

Taking notes should be more than writing down information as a teacher is lecturing. A student needs to pay attention and try to understand what the teacher is teaching. He should be able to distinguish the big picture from insignificant details. A student should admit it when the lecture material is going over his head and...

Listastic

(iOS, free)

Lists are an ADHD adult's best friend. Going without them often means disaster. Listastic is an app no ADHD adult should be without. It's the simplest app that I have found, with the fewest steps, to keep checklists in order.

From a grocery list to the day's tasks at work, Listastic organizes your...

My son's doctor got it all wrong. I didn't think so at the time. He was a highly regarded ADHD specialist, and I hung on every word he said. At the end of our visit, he made the solemn pronouncement: "Your son has ADHD."

Except that he didn't. But back then, even as a doctor, I was credulous. I wanted a diagnosis and a...

If something minor is irritating you, shouldn't you be able to carry on and not let it bother you?

Most grownups can ignore what bugs them, but adults with ADHD aren't as lucky. One of the side effects of living with ADHD is hypersensitivity. If you're hypersensitive, there are times when you can't block out what's bothering...

ADDitude asked: "If your ADHD keeps you up, how do you get yourself to sleep?"

Aromatherapy oils help me get sound sleep.-Aviva, New York

I listen to music from the '70s. Because I know the songs, it takes my mind off of my worries and I go to sleep almost immediately. -Walter, Alaska

Read a nonfiction book. It is less likely to...

When your main goal is to get control over a defiant teen's behavior, learning to pay attention, spending some positive time together, ignoring minor misbehavior, and offering praise may seem like digressions. But these are essential elements to putting your relationship with your teen on positive footing. Praise and quality...

Now that I've found a career that suits my ADD brain — writing fiction — the biggest challenge left to me is the physical clutter that follows me everywhere I go. That and the hours spent every week looking for my keys, wallet, books, shirts, shoes, and the saltshaker. The list goes on and on, but the worst of it has always b...

I've always known about the ability of music to focus the ADHD brain since I started writing seriously in high school. Whenever I had a paper, essay, or story to write, I'd do it while listening to music. Not just any music: The music couldn't have words, had to have a certain tempo, had to last a while, and couldn't stop and...