I was renewing my membership at the ADD Resources website.  Afterward I decided to check out those nifty podcasts in their Members Only section that they keep mentioning in their newsletter emails.  Podcasts of all of the cool speakers that I keep missing because I haven’t figured out how to be in two (or three or four) places at once.  So there’s this really great long list of podcasts, sooo long that I have a hard time deciding which one I want to check out first, but for some reason, as I click on the titles one by one, I can get descriptions of the speaker and the talk, but the illusory podcasts seem to prevail and I can only guess that since I have just paid online for my renewal within minutes, maybe my access is limited until the bank opens on Monday morning.  While I’m reading the description of a podcast, I see an interesting website, GiftOfGabConversation.com and BEHOLD! I have stumbled on to a GREAT FIND!  And I’m anxious to share this with those of you who might be interested in learning more about working with ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome. 

Karen L. Roe writes the Gift of Gab website to address the needs of people who experience ADHD and AS.  Karen states she got her undergraduate degree at UW, then went on to take extensive Coaching Training at Coach University, specializing in ADHD Coaching.   Karen’s experience includes having a son with AS, being a past-Board member of the Autism Society of Washington, and she has founded and leads an AS support group which is also open to parents, educators and professionals. 

You know, for quite a while, many professionals would have said that ADHD could not occur in conjunction with Asperger’s Syndrome.  I suspected something like that was happening in a young client in 2006 and was delighted to go to the ADD Resources Parents of Children with ADHD Support Group that meets on Mercer Island; and to hear a couple parents introduce themselves as parents of children diagnosed with ADD and Asperger’s Syndrome.  Finally it is being recognized that these two can co-occur!  It’s out in the open and that is good news for some parents who have been pulling their hair out and unable to figure out how to help their children.  As these conditions become recognized and acknowledged, then people start finding strategies to better work with and help their children, and THAT IS exciting!

 You’ll find information about Karen Roe’s AS Support Group that meets in Greenwood at her website.  The “schedule” link takes you to a list of the fine speakers that have or will be speaking there.  I’m looking forward to the August meeting when Lindsey Sterling and Jen Varley of the UW Autism Center will be discussing current research.  I hope that I’ll see some of YOU there!

Exciting news!

Now you can come to New Hope Counseling and Services in the Bellevue area at a new location!  Since the last building was scheduled for demolition to make room for upcoming improvements by the D.O.T., I am pleased to announce the new address:

In Forest Office Park

14535 Bell-Red Rd. Bldg B.Suite 202

Bellevue 98007

This is a delightful wooded park-like setting, centrally located off of 148th Ave. NE and easy to find.  The building is fresh and inviting, and filled with charm.  Parking is fair and looks like it could be a challenge on a busy day.  

I’m including a link for Mapquest showing the new location.

I have GREAT NEWS! 

The PowerPoint presentation titled “How To Help Our Kids Get on the Right Track With Communication and Social Skills” given at the Issaquah Middle School Seminar is now available online.  (Just click the title above, and another box will open up with the presentation.) 

I’m so glad because I’ve included so much information that I frequently give in parenting classes and counseling sessions that often gets forgotten quickly because there is SO MUCH TO LEARN! 

It’s hard to change our style of relating when there is so much to remember. 

This is the nuts and bolts information that offers alternatives to reacting and opens up opportunities for connection, modeling, and developing skills for you with anyone.  With the open-ended questions, we can help others with processing difficult situations and feelings, or help with learning from their mistakes.  (Mistakes are SUCH GREAT opportunities to LEARN!)  And we can model respectful communication instead of reinforcing with our behavior the very behaviors that we want others to stop doing.  We can foster deeper relationships which is the greatest protection we can give against promiscuous sex, addictions, and the rise of crime.  (A blog about connecting and the positive effects on self-esteem will follow on another day.)

By contributing to our little community, which could be our family or our workplace or our team, we help others find the importance of communication (connecting), of working together (cooperation), of being open to trying new ideas or focusing on solutions instead of problems (creativity), and of giving to benefit others (contributing), and this is a GREAT way to counteract our culture of self-centeredness (propelled by low self-esteem) which leads to unhealthy competitiveness and materialism (and probably many other negative outcomes.)

One might think – what is so special about THIS information? 

But these very basic principles are applied by communicators throughout many different settings, from homes, to schools, to the workplace, and even in the efforts toward global reconciliation.  These simple-appearing skills have phenomenal possibilities.

So take a look at that PowerPoint presentation and please feel free to let me know what you think of it.  You can email me at skosh@skosh.org or leave a comment below.  I’ll look forward to hearing from you!  And thanks for coming to Hard Wired!