<p>( HA!- I also thought the same things when I heard about fibromyalgia- then it turned around and bit me )</p>
<p>I think I have always had EFD, although for years it was assumed that depression was the cause of my memory problems. Despite my claims I wasn’t depressed - although not being listened to * did make me depressed* .</p>
<p>However, it is getting worse not better, I had to stop going back to school, because I just couldn’t get it together, which is very frustrating.</p>
<p>My D in college has this ( well they both do & both are in college - but one is more severe) & I feel like I should be helping her in some way- but I can’t even make a list of things to do.
I want to learn guitar, now that I have time, but I can’t remember simple chords
I can’t remember what I have told people , I never can remember anyones name & often I can’t even recognize people I met last week. :o</p>
<p>I am open to any ideas- online support groups- books- ipad applications.
( which I actually have for my ipod- but I don’t actually use them). It reminds me of when I started taking meds for ADD & people would ask if I was afraid of getting addicted- " Well, it is pretty hard to get addicted to something, if you don’t remember to take it, or even to fill the prescription!" </p>
<p>If there are support that students have been able to ask for or find at college- especially ones that might be offered at a public college with budget cuts- I would love to hear those as well.</p>
<p>Yep…lots of us have students who have done poorly in college due to EFD. I’m starting to see more press on it, but if I see one more article identifying the problem without suggesting a solution, I’m going to scream.</p>
<p>Hiring a coach would be great- if we could afford it.
My oldest attended a private college & she had a coach that was included with tuition.
( however, when he went on sabbatical, they took their time hiring another one & she flunked a critical class)</p>
<p>Trying to find affordable resources is hard though- it’s not something ins covers. ( neither is testing)</p>
<p>I understand about the cost. I think for children, it really is not very time consuming. Running through a backpack and daily, and making students sort their papers and put them in their proper place, and then reviewing long and short term homework assignments (this has gotten easier now that teachers post assignments online at many schools). That could take as little as 5 minutes per day, or as long as 30 minutes each day depending upon the classes, grade, and issues with organization.</p>
<p>FWIW, my son has some type of application on his I-phone (I think) that he uses to map out his day. I know that he likes it and he has sent a few emails of copies of a “sample day” to me. The idea was to show me how busy his is at school ;). It just looks like an old fashioned list that is typed up, but he seems to find it handy.</p>
<p>Private coaching adds up fast if your budget isn’t ample. I don’t know your area, but looking into places with various types of LD expertise in nearest city may yield group education/support experiences for people with EFD, as well as relevant literature. This might include tutoring centers, learning disability research organizations, colleges, even sophisticated high school guidance offices. Also, if there is a nearby graduate school of education, a prof. might be able to recommend a grad student focusing on this area. Managing EFD as an adult also could be an adult/community ed.topic, offered by someone who knows the terrain and is interested in helping groups of adults and possibly cultivating further individual support opportunities. Any of these experiences may pay off in the long run if it allows for skill development and the learning of strategies that generalize to many aspects of life. EFD is real and more challenging when accompanied by ADD.</p>
<p>What credentials do they have that make them so pricey? Couldn’t one find a super organized person (no degree in psych or special ed required) to coach? One would think that with the high unemployment rate, plenty of organized people would be standing in line for the money ;).</p>
<p>My mom had EFD toward the end of her life, and it was pretty much impossible to get the medical community to understand that it was not normal for her. I feel for you ek, because I know how frustrating it was for my mom. She may or may not have had EFD to some extent earlier in life … it’s possible she did & she had learned to cope with it. Sometimes when I look back on things, I wonder if that is not the case.</p>
<p>I also sympathize about the depression diagnosis. The “solution” the medical community came up with for my mom was depression meds, which did not work (because I don’t think she actually was depressed). </p>
<p>If my mom did have EFD, I think the other health issues she had toward the end of her life made is such that she couldn’t use her coping mechanisms to manage it (she had chronic pain, which is a bite). However, as I said, I do think she may have struggled with it successfully in earlier years. I recall that she used lists a lot. She had a calendar before it became the rage to have a calendar to track activities (remember when we all used to just remember everything?!). When sticky notes came out, Mom had sticky notes all over the place. She had a birthday book with dates. She always put addresses in an address book (wish I were so organized - it would save me from having to search every time I need addresses!). She kept Christmas cards & noted on the envelopes when she had sent a card to them the following year. She enlisted us to help her remember stuff: Kelsmom, make sure you remind me to … She always planned meals on the weekend, wrote a grocery list that broke things down by various stores, cooked ahead, left notes about what needed to be taken out of the freezer & how to heat it up. We used to laugh about how Mom couldn’t remember how to use the video camera or the television remote. All of these things were Mom-quirks, but now I see that they may have been more than that.</p>
<p>I don’t know what is out there, but I would bet that there are EFD support forums online, and I am sure there are books. Hopefully, some of our wonderful CC friends will offer some resources for you.</p>
<p>I think the biggest help is acknowledging the problem and being willing to tackle it creatively!</p>
<p>Some suggestions: use the highly paid professional, such as a psychologist who knows how to help, or coach, as a consultant for ideas or the overall structure. Use other students either for pay, barter or just as friendly support to enact the plan. We all have strengths and weaknesses… barter cooking dinner/runnin an errand/painting a wall etc… for being called nightly to for “schedule review” or help with something else.</p>
<p>Smart phones and pda’s and notebooks and index cards and colored markers and highlighters and copy machines are lifesavers. Using only one purse or backpack or messenger bag that is organized well (someone can help once, and check in on once in a while).</p>
<p>Clocks in every room. It is very easy to loose track of time. (Me: “I intended to do x as soon as I went upstairs. I just never went upstairs until I was ready to fall into bed!” Instead: I try and remember, when the clock says 8pm every night, go through your mental or written list of what needs to get done. Better yet, at 8pm go upstairs and check to make sure everything is done.")</p>
<p>Tell people what you need: Can you send me an email asking me for that so i don’t forget? Can you call me in two days and check on the status? </p>
<p>I’ve had EF issues and ADHD my whole life, mostly undiagnosed, until about 10 years ago. I am finding the added challenges of aging as I move through my 50’s to be very, very difficult, and add on subtle side effects of meds for chronic conditions and the conditions themselves… and oy! The professionals say that younger folks rely on memory to substitute for executive functioning if they have deficits and that they get a slew of panicked professionals coming in around age 50-60 thinking they have dementia, and it is normal age related memory deficits unmasking often significant executive functioning and adhd the person had previous compensated for.</p>
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