ADD and College Students - How Does It Affect Them?
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.