Attention problems for college freshman

[jpinal205]

I was going to post this in the college board but hope it's okay here. My dd start college this fall. She has a heavy workload and is having a lot of trouble keeping up. She has had problems paying attention for the last year or so. Her mind wanders during conversation and she loses time while doing homework. She;s also exhausted by 8 pm and can barely read after that time.  She's seen her doctor and her iron and vit D levels were low. She's been on a vitamin regime for the last 6 months and physically feels better. However, her concentration has gotten much worse. I think some of it stress. She has full-ride scholarship to maintain. Her doctor mentioned ADD at one point but the testing isn't covered by insurance. Any suggestions would appreciated. Should she see someone at the school or her own doctor? Any strategies for studying? She's not opposed to meds but it isn't her first choice. She never showed the classic signs of ADD when she young. My oldest was on Adderall for a few years when he was younger but his issues were clear. She is literally doing homework most of her waking hours. She lives on campus but has been home on weekends and I have watched her struggle. I think she needs to talk to someone at school but she doesn't know who. Thank you

[Chris in VA]

I would definitely have her go to your Dr or the health center. You do not have to diagnose this yourself or figure it out. ❤

[sheryl]

Could it be a processing issue? This, btw, has nothing to do with intelligence.  She could be an A student but one who derives at her answers more slowly.  It just takes some people longer to process all of the information than others, but both could be A students. If it is processing, it sounds like to heavy of a workload. 

Or, maybe an emotional issue.  Did something happen in a relationship (family, friend)?  Maybe she didn't tell you?

[fairfarmhand]

Also a b vitamin complex capsule helps me with focus. 

How is she sleeping?

[jpinal205]

She's sleeping well and taking Vit b-complex. She's happy at school and her twin brother is 10 rooms down the hall. I think she puts a lot of pressure on herself.  I saw a change in her after she had her tonsils out a year ago. She became more scattered and I asked about maladaptive daydreaming as this was mentioned by her doctor. I'm wondering if the college may better equipped to help her than her primary care. Thank you

[sheryl]

7 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

Also a b vitamin complex capsule helps me with focus. 

How is she sleeping?

ok, thanks for sharing that.  my daughter would benefit.

 

[unsinkable]

2 hours ago, jpinal205 said:

I was going to post this in the college board but hope it's okay here. My dd start college this fall. She has a heavy workload and is having a lot of trouble keeping up. She has had problems paying attention for the last year or so. Her mind wanders during conversation and she loses time while doing homework. She;s also exhausted by 8 pm and can barely read after that time.  She's seen her doctor and her iron and vit D levels were low. She's been on a vitamin regime for the last 6 months and physically feels better. However, her concentration has gotten much worse. I think some of it stress. She has full-ride scholarship to maintain. Her doctor mentioned ADD at one point but the testing isn't covered by insurance. Any suggestions would appreciated. Should she see someone at the school or her own doctor? Any strategies for studying? She's not opposed to meds but it isn't her first choice. She never showed the classic signs of ADD when she young. My oldest was on Adderall for a few years when he was younger but his issues were clear. She is literally doing homework most of her waking hours. She lives on campus but has been home on weekends and I have watched her struggle. I think she needs to talk to someone at school but she doesn't know who. Thank you

 

Go back to her doctor who mentioned possible ADD. She will have better luck with him than with someone new, who doesn't know her and who might think she is looking for meds to sell (depending on the type and dose, some ADD meds sell for $5 to $10 a pill, a nice income for a college student!) Get a referral and or Start the process for testing. Talk to doctor about a possible sleep study.

Meanwhile: She should go to every professor, tell them she is struggling and how, and ask their advice. Then follow it.

She should go to her advisor and do the same thing. She should ask about the disability office and how to make an appointment to find out about accommodation s. Talk with the advisor about lessening her course load by dropping a class of taking a course Pass-Fail. Also find out last days for withdrawal. 

If she is in enough trouble that her scholarship is in jeopardy, she might be better off with less credits for a higher GPA.

Have her sign a FERPA release so you can talk with her advisor about the situation.

She should sit as close as.possible to professor during class. Try to actively engage with prof and materi al. Ask questions, answer questions. Figure out if she does better simply listening rather than taking notes at same time. Re cord lecture if permitted and take notes after.

when she is working on her own, studying, doing homework: Do not work longer than 50 minutes without a break. Work 50, take a 10 minute break. On break, do something physical...stretch, take a walk, run the stairs. Wash her face, brush her hair or teeth. Massage her own feet of hands.

If she is in weed out classes and struggling, other kids are, too. Find the kid who is working hard and getting great grades. See if that kid wants a study partner. Even if she is sitting with him/her and not actively engaging, she will learn what it takes to do well.

HTH

 

[unsinkable]

Some more:

Improvement will most likely need a multi-pronged approach, and it won't be instant. She has a lot of steps to take in a short period of time (semesters are 15 or 16 weeks long, and most are close to a third or so gone).

IMO, this isn't a sink or swim moment in which she needs to do this all on her own. Help her prioritize what she can do immediately. Which is making appt with advisor, then speaking with each professor, IMO. Concurrently, adjust her study habits. Work 50, break 10. And move to front of class.

Also, you can find out what the tutoring center hours are and if there are particular hours for particular subjects and relay that to her.

Meanwhile, you can help by setting up appt with her doctor. Also researching relevant college policies re scholarship renewal requirements, deadlines for withdrawls and pass-fails, etc.

You can also look into active note taking strategies and relay any that you think fit her personality.

https://dennislearningcenter.osu.edu/active-note-taking-strategies/

There are tons of different styles beyond the fill up the page, straight down the page strategy.

https://www.thoughtco.com/note-taking-research-1691352

Edit to add:

You can't study for her or do her work but you can be a kind of assistant or Secretary to free up her time so she can study, rest, exercise, etc. Just bc she might need type of assistance now doesn't mean she will always need it or that she isn't ready for college, which I know can be a fear.

Edited September 15, 2018 by unsinkable

[jpinal205]

She's taking Calc 1, a computer science lab course, an honor's seminar on the brain and honors eng comp. 14 credits. She's having trouble understanding what she's reading (this is new and concerning). She is going to meet with each professor next week. She currently has A's and high B's but I'm seeing a swift decline in her the last week or so. I'll get her a doctor app't asap. Again thank you

[PeterPan]

4 hours ago, jpinal205 said:

She has full-ride scholarship to maintain.

Her scholarship is significantly more than the cost of even the swankiest evals. You would be VERY WISE to get good psych evals run pronto. Does she feel ok with her current load or does she need to drop some credits? She probably has some room to decrease her load and still keep her scholarship.

4 hours ago, jpinal205 said:

My oldest was on Adderall for a few years when he was younger but his issues were clear.

Girl and boy ADHD won't look the same.

4 hours ago, jpinal205 said:

. She is literally doing homework most of her waking hours.

If she has low processing speed, she's probably flat wearing her brain out. It takes a psych eval to quantify processing speed, and yes taking a decreased load is a normal accommodation. My dd has her school's top scholarship and she has ADHD. She was told by her psych to stay at 14 credits, which is almost as low as she can go and keep her scholarship. I think she's taking 15 credits this semester (sophomore year). She went in with DE credits and has done stuff online during the summer to keep on track with her program. Keeping her load reasonable allows her to participate in student gov't and various activities. 

If you get the documentation, they can also help her with things like early course enrollment (to make sure she gets hours that work well for her), an academic advisor to help her problem solve, limited distraction testing environment, etc. etc. My dd uses all these at her university. She's a great student, but she definitely needs it!

Starting ADHD meds mid-semester? I don't know. Definitely you'd like to line up evals and get that sorted out over Christmas. Some people start them and are like boom, amazing, first dose, everything is great. And some people need to go through a few meds.

When are her classes? My dd tries to spread her load over the day and not have hard things back to back. She needs that break time to recover, and she preps in those breaks. At her school they can get all the lecture powerpoint notes ahead, so she downloads them and previews before class. Anything you can preload means less processing when you're actually in the class and less fatigue. She may also benefit from techniques like SKLAR or 360 Thinking or using study groups.

If she wants to talk with someone on campus, start with their academic resource center. If she goes to the clinic, that is so in and out. I don't know if a doc would prescribe meds just based on that. To get services with the academic resource center, she doesn't need documentation, but to get ACCOMMODATIONS she will need documentation. They may have someone on staff who could do the evals who would just get her in. Depends on the size of the school and who they have. But that's a place to start asking, because they'll be able to tell her what they could do for her and what documentation they would need. 

[PeterPan]

3 minutes ago, jpinal205 said:

She's taking Calc 1, a computer science lab course, an honor's seminar on the brain and honors eng comp. 14 credits. She's having trouble understanding what she's reading (this is new and concerning). She is going to meet with each professor next week. She currently has A's and high B's but I'm seeing a swift decline in her the last week or so. I'll get her a doctor app't asap. Again thank you

Yeah, that doesn't seem like a bad load. I assume it's all stuff she was strong in, yes? Like she had already done some calc and is now doing it for credit? Her load seems good.

Is there anything funky going on like a roomate doing drugs, noise, not sleeping well because of the surgery, uncontrolled asthma, food not agreeing with you, candida overgrowth, brain fog, etc.? 

Did she do any DE prior to going to college? How did she do with that? Does she have the skills to break her assignments into chunks, enter her syllabii into her planner, use her tech to keep track of things, etc.?

[PeterPan]

6 minutes ago, jpinal205 said:

She is going to meet with each professor next week.

I would definitely go meet with the academic resource center, whatever they call it at her school. Whatever can be done, they'll have those connections. Like for my dd, who has ADHD and uses accommodations, when she got a concussion the last week of classes (yes, for real), her person there took care of everything, rescheduling stuff, etc. 

I think you're wise to be getting a doctor eval too. If she has been under a similar load of stress before (by doing DE, whatever) and these symptoms are NEW, that's really concerning. What prompted the tonsil surgery? 

[PeterPan]

Does she use any caffeine? Too much can make a person with ADHD more tired, but a low dose can have a stimulant effect and help her focus. It might be a patch till she gets things sorted out.

I'm assuming her biggest brain drain class is the calc. Maybe the academic resource center can set her up with a study group. Structure helps ADHD, so even if she doesn't need the help to study, maybe just having the structure will be good.

Is she getting adequate sleep? We fought to get my dd a limited number of roomates. They often put 3-4 in a room at her school, and we got it down to 1. Took a ton of documentation, but we got it and then kept it for this 2nd year. If the living situation is causing her problems, it's something to look into.

The other thing you can do to help her pronto is look for a certified educational therapist. There is such a thing, and there's certification in it. They can help her on almost every level (scheduling, keeping track of assignments, realizing her symptoms and her medication needs, etc. etc.), and the money would be well-spent if it helps her keep her scholarship. 

https://www.aetonline.org/index.php/parents/find-an-educational

[PeterPan]

1 minute ago, HeighHo said:

if she has methyl processing issues

This is HUGE!!! We ran genetics on my dd after her first semester at the university. Methylation issues would cause these kinds of symptoms, yes. Again, totally worth the $99 if you have to pay full price even, if it helps you keep your scholarship. We did our testing with 23andme and then uploaded the raw data to search engines. If you just want it done NOW, Yasko's site can do it and give the report https://www.holisticheal.com/health-tests/nutrigenomic-testing  But you can do the cheaper test on 23andme and then upload the data yourself and run it for free. I don't know if Yasko's testing service is faster.

My dd turned out to be an undermethylator, and she perked up when we got her onto the right kind and amount of methyl-folate. Now, if you want to hear the irony, the ADHD stimulant meds are, drum roll, methyl donors... 

[PeterPan]

52 minutes ago, HeighHo said:

I now have methly B12, the right form for my genetics

I'm curious, what brand are you taking? 

[jpinal205]

Thank you so much for the suggestions and support. Someone asked about DE classes. She hasn't taken any as we are very rural but she did take AP Computer Science and Derek Owens Precalc. Honestly, the writing is what she's having the most problem with. She's a very good writer but slow.  I'm afraid I may have dropped the ball with her. My oldest is an Aspie was a handful. Dd issues are much more subtle and and recent.

[PeterPan]

14 minutes ago, jpinal205 said:

Honestly, the writing is what she's having the most problem with. She's a very good writer but slow.  I'm afraid I may have dropped the ball with her. My oldest is an Aspie was a handful. Dd issues are much more subtle and and recent.

The hard thing is that once a kid gets overwhelmed, they can shut down and stop problem solving. So when she's "working on it all day" it might be that she's not getting any forward momentum. If she connects with their academic resource center (get her the number, the location, whatever), they will know how to help her without it being too much help. She may need help to unfreeze, to break the projects into tasks, to find a less distracting place to work, to know whether her thesis is on-track, etc. It's OK to use these services!!!

Yes, the slow writing would fit with the low processing speed and the overall fatigue she is having. Meds can bump processing speed, but you still have the anxiety and the shut down and needing some help to unfreeze and figure out the steps and get back on track. My dd's university has a service students can submit papers to for feedback, even if it's just a partial paper or the outline. Maybe they have something like that to get her on track. 

Another thing she can do that will help right now (besides obviously SLEEP), is mindfulness. This link shows how to do a body scan. https://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-meditation-guided-practices/  Also https://www.shambhala.com/sittingstilllikeafrog/  has free tracks that she can just turn on and do, no prep needed. Just 10 minutes of this can give a 30% bump in EF (executive function), helping her feel calmer and more ready to chunk her work and tackle it. She can even do this 3-4 or more times a day, more is more better. It may give her noticeable improvement and be worth the small effort. 

[Pen]

15 hours ago, jpinal205 said:

She's sleeping well and taking Vit b-complex. She's happy at school and her twin brother is 10 rooms down the hall. I think she puts a lot of pressure on herself.  I saw a change in her after she had her tonsils out a year ago. She became more scattered and I asked about maladaptive daydreaming as this was mentioned by her doctor. I'm wondering if the college may better equipped to help her than her primary care. Thank you

 

Possibly relevant:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28189740/

anesthesia causes long term cognitive issues in some people