Future FOCUS+ Topics: October 12....and beyond...

Hi all,

Our next FOCUS+ meeting will be on Tuesday, October 12. While the agenda is still being tweaked, here are the ideas/activities we're trying to pull together:

• A follow-up review and discussion about Dr. Mason's presentation on ADHD & Executive Function (see the 9/21 blog entry for a summary if you missed it). Both Ruth and I (Ed, your humble webmaster) were particularly intrigued by Dr. Mason's remarks about the challenges of "emotional engagement" in a task to help get and sustain focus on an activity. Maybe you were particularly interested in one of the other aspects of his presentation??
• Our usual open, all-ADHD-related-things-considered group discussion of whatever issues, questions or concerns you might want to share with the group regarding your personal experiences.

We're also looking at the following ideas for subsequent meetings. As always, your input regarding these ideas, and any other ideas you may have, is strongly encouraged.

• November: Activity & Movement for ADHD (Spoiler Alert: Exercise really helps with managing ADHD symptoms! But there's a lot more to this topic as well.)
• December: ADHD and the Processing Disorders

Two other quick notes:

• The Parent to Parent (P2P) classes originally scheduled for this fall have been cancelled due to the low # of people who signed up this time. P2P will be offered again in the spring (March/April 2011).
• Please note the survey that I just added to the upper right portion of the Blog page. Are you a Facebook Fanatic? A Twitter, um, Twanatic? Would you be more likely to track and participate in the FOCUS+ blog if it was based in Facebook? Would you be more likely to track and participate in the FOCUS+ blog if new blog postings were announced via Twitter and/or Facebook?

What are the topics you're most interested in discussing or learning more about? What was your reaction to Dr. Mason's presentation? Do you have any questions you'd like us to pass along to the scheduled November and December presenters you'd like to pass along prior to the meetings?

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FOCUS+ 9/14/10 Meeting Notes

The FOCUS+ Group celebrated its 5th anniversary and National ADHD Awareness Week at our 9/14/10 meeting.

In addition to door prizes, a review of past FOCUS+ presenters and a terrific spread of food *and* custom coffee drinks, the group listened to Dr. Oren Mason discuss ADHD and Executive Brain Function.

• There are a broad range of "executive functions" of the human brain, but eight of them are the ones most frequently and profoundly impacted by ADHD:
o Activation
o Timeliness
o Planning
o Attention
o Effort
o Emotional Control
o Memory and
o Action.

• When describing impairments to executive functions of the brain, there are six terms that are frequently use:
o Absent - When the executive function is simply missing; this does not occur with ADHD
o Diminished - Happens in people with ADHD, but not consistently, e.g. difficulty with Attention in some situations but not others.
o Crescendo - Where the effect on an executive function increases as the day goes on
o Decrescendo - Executive function actually improves with sustained use (rare)
o Erratic - Shows no logic or pattern; with ADHD a pattern can usually be identified
o Infuriating but Predictable? -- That's ADHD!

The following is a *very* abridged summary of Dr. Mason's remarks...he was able to get into far greater detail than we can relate here. Hopefully this will generate some questions and new thinking within our group, however.

Dr. Mason made the following analogy to describe the impact of altered executive function in people with ADHD in comparison to people without ADHD:

A "normal" person who needs to run errands has a brain that works like a Vespa scooter...he/she can easily stop, start again, regulate their speed and change directions at will.

A person with ADHD is trying to run those same errands on a rocket-sled; it's extremely fast from Point A to Point B, but it's very difficult to stop/turn/restart/speed up/slow down.

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Special 5th Anniversary FOCUS+ Meeting Tuesday, September 14

The 7th Annual NATIONAL ADHD Awareness Week is September 13-17!

Come and Celebrate with us!!

The next FOCUS+ meeting on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, will be fun and informative!! We will be celebrating FOCUS+ 5th anniversary (WOW! ), as well as National ADHD Awareness Week.

Mark you calendar, so you won't FORGET!! SEPTEMBER 14!!

Our special guest will be the author of the recently published book,

Reaching for a New Potential : a Life Guide for Adults with ADD, From a Fellow Traveler.

Dr. Oren Mason, of Attention MD, will present ADHD and Executive Function.

We will be looking for YOU!! Help us launch the beginning of our sixth year with a bang! Let me know if you would like to bring some goodies!!