I am an ADHD coach that works with ages 11-college. I help kids, teens, and young adults create strategies that use their strengths to cope with their ADHD challenges. I am currently a paid speaker for the Douglas Country School District in Colorado, and have helped with teacher and counselor training sessions regarding ADHD.
I also work with families to create useful 504's for their children and participate in 504 and IEP meetings to advocate for my client's accommodations. I teach parent classes through the Parker Recreation Center that focus on ADHD education and parenting.
Business Name:
ADHD Navigator
Coaching Focus:
Children/Teens/Parents College FamilyLanguages
EnglishMethod of Coaching:
Video Conferencing, In-PersonClient Testimonial
Cary is great! “Navigator” is a perfect description. She has been helping us figure out how to work with school officials and guiding us through the IEP/504 processes. She is also working with us to discover how we learn best and encouraging us to appreciate and maximize our strengths. Also, she’s a very warm, fun person to be around!
I am a coach. I look for strengths in these kids. I look for what works for them and help them use those things for what is hard. I never give them an idea that I expect them to use, because ADHD people will push back and say no when told what to do. I give ideas to get them started thinking. I give ideas to get the ball rolling. How can we turn this into a “you” thing? I listen to what their learning styles are, to where their success comes from. I help them organize their out of the box ideas and figure out how to use them. I look at the now. Where are they now? Where do they want to go? How can we get them there? Therapists help to look back. I take them where they are and help find ways to where they want to be. I am a cheerleader. I cheer from two steps behind, never from the finish line.
As a coach, I also share who I am. I’ve been the college kid, spacing out and missing the important information. I know how it feels to be afraid to ask, because I know the information was given and I missed it. I know that feeling of thinking something would be so funny, only to do it and realize straight away that it was inappropriate. I’ve thought long and hard about how many things I said that I wish I could take back, or worrying about feelings I may have hurt. Usually, I look up and it is 1:00 am and I’m obsessing on either my behavior, or a useless piece of information that means nothing to me, until I’m trying to fall asleep. I can relate to reading the same paragraph 5 times, and knowing that I’m reading the words, but having no idea what they mean because deep down I just don’t care. I understand what it feels like to start wondering if I’m just not capable.
Coaches and clients are equals. We work together. I do teach. I teach about ADHD along the way because it is important to understand how our brains work. It is important to learn why we do things differently and accept that it is ok. Other than that, we laugh, we talk, and we throw things out on the table, and we start looking at them through an ADHD lens rather than the neuro-typical microscope that we’ve been put under. I help people learn to use their ADHD, rather than fighting it every step of the way. Once we accept our brains and embrace how they work, we can really start to make things happen.
