Course Description:
ADHD isn’t about deficits—it’s about differences in energy, self-regulation, and executive functioning across a person’s lifetime. This training goes beyond theory to provide clinicians with concrete, neurodiversity-affirming strategies for supporting clients of all ages in managing school, work, and daily life more effectively.
Participants will explore evidence-based interventions tailored to an individual’s natural energy patterns and cognitive needs, challenging outdated misconceptions about ADHD. The course will cover practical approaches to structuring tasks, improving motivation, and fostering executive function skills, all while emphasizing the importance of self-advocacy.
Through interactive discussion and case-based learning, attendees will gain a toolkit for real-world ADHD support that helps clients create sustainable routines, manage attention and task initiation, and navigate educational and workplace environments successfully.
Course Rationale:
Despite increased awareness of ADHD, misconceptions and stigma continue to impact the way individuals receive support. Common myths—such as the belief that ADHD is simply a lack of effort, that people will outgrow it, or that medication alone can “fix” it—create barriers to effective interventions and self-advocacy.
A neurodiversity-affirming approach reframes ADHD as a difference rather than a disorder, recognizing the unique strengths and challenges of individuals with ADHD. Rather than focusing on "fixing" deficits, effective interventions align with an individual's natural cognitive processing, emphasizing strategies that work with their executive functioning profile rather than against it.
This course equips mental health professionals with the knowledge and tools necessary to create individualized, strengths-based support plans. By addressing the reality of ADHD across the lifespan and developing practical strategies for managing energy levels, structuring tasks, and promoting self-advocacy, clinicians will be better prepared to help clients navigate daily life with confidence and autonomy.
Course Objectives:
- Debunk common myths about ADHD and recognize how misconceptions impact clinical interventions across different age groups.
- Develop practical, neurodiversity-affirming interventions that align with a client’s natural energy patterns and cognitive needs.
- Implement strategies for structuring homework, work tasks, and daily responsibilities to support attention, motivation, and task initiation.
- Support clients in developing self-advocacy skills to navigate educational and workplace environments more effectively.
Course Outline
About the Presenter:
Dr. Andrew Kahn is a licensed psychologist and the Associate Director of Expertise and Strategic Design at Understood.org. With over two decades of experience, he specializes in ADHD, learning differences, anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, behavior, executive function, and emotional regulation. Dr. Kahn has provided training, evaluations, and therapeutic support in public schools, working closely with underserved communities facing challenges like poverty and limited educational resources. He has also contributed to policy development on mental health and suicide prevention for school committees. Beyond his clinical work, Dr. Kahn has served as a clinical director at a community mental health agency, presented for Summit Professional Education, and taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Maine. Identifying as a person with learning and thinking differences, he earned his BA in psychology from Syracuse University and his MS and PsyD from Nova Southeastern University.