Reposted for some reason..
Yes, or at least for a short period of time. I used to struggle academically after I stopped receiving extra support in classes during middle school. Around the same time I was having family problems.
During that point I was at the phase of where I completely gave up on everything, and didn’t try to improve or live as I used to. Which made me struggle in some classes (more with math). I had minor suicidal thoughts but never acted on it. I had that mindset of “why try if there’s nothing waiting for me? Why try to live if I don’t feel like continuing anymore?”
But the lack of direction/goal has always been an issue for me, even if I was doing better in hs. It was always a concern I had in the back of my mind before I graduated. Something I dreaded to face since day one
Funny. My daughter just started her career as a SLP two weeks ago. But as you know It’s a masters program and one that can be competitive. One thing that was a very common thread though was some experience with children or it seemed. This became being a nanny and babysitting for my daughter but she also worked as a preschool teacher for a few year’s after getting her undergrad. She graduated during the pandemic when no one was hiring so she pivoted and then went back to school to get the requirements to become a SLP. Very windy road.
But you need to figure out the “why “in your situation. That is where I would put the effort with your families help. Once you do that everything will open up for you and your decisions going forward might be easier.b
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What kind if extra support did you receive? This isn’t typically provided unless you were assessed and found to have a disability that warranted an accommodation. Please look into this.
It is possible to make money with art - it just might not be the art that you want to make. If you’re great at portraiture, people want art featuring their children, their pets, their loved ones. If you’re great at scenes, and have access to a beloved vacation locale, people want a souvenir to take home of their favorite place - it has to be recognizable, so has to include landmarks of the place. I’m curious, have you taken art classes at the community college, and were you able to complete the assignments?
Failure to be able to complete and hand in work makes me think ADHD (and since you had extra help in school when you were younger, you probably know whether or not this was part of the diagnosis). People who have ADHD often have the ability to hyper-focus on what they are interested in, what they love doing, and can do it very intensively and productively. They can’t stay organized enough to clean up the house or pay the bills, but they can spend many hours on their special interest. The trick is to figure out a way to make a living with that special interest.
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@Dawn_MO you might want to try being a behavioral technician in a center/school/program for autistic children. One of my kids is doing that while deciding whether to pursue SLP. Many SLP’s end up working with this population, it seems. There is a huge need for behavioral technicians. My kid got a job without a degree but now has a BA in psychology.
Also here is a reputable UMass online 3 month certificate for being a therapeutic mentor, no degree required Community Health Worker Therapeutic Mentoring Certificate - UMass Boston
Red Cross has a certificate for nursing assistant jobs CNA Classes & Certification | How to Become a CNA | Red Cross
There are many options depending on your interests. You could also look into volunteering with an art therapist at a senior community or psychiatric program. Lesley has a great degree in expressive arts/art therapy. As well as an adult learner program where you can take one class at a time (This is how my kid finished at 32! They have academic challenges, registered with Office of Disabilities and had a lot of support).
I sent you a private message (upper right of this page, green envelope) with some info on ADHD questionnaires.
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You have described a number of coexisting issues. I would strongly encourage you to talk to your therapist about the interaction of numerous potential coexisting issues. Mood issues, learning differences, etc can present as attentional problems. I strongly encourage you not to try to self diagnose. Please leave that to the professionals. Let them help you. You can certainly try an online screening questionnaire, but please don’t take that as authoritative or diagnostic as it is not.
eta: I do agree with suggestions about job opportunities as you work towards finding your goals and direction. Given your interest in the arts, you might also consider helping with individuals who do art therapy. A friend’s daughter currently works in a school with autistic children, and she has been enjoying it, but she has completed her undergraduate degree. Do you have an associates degree?
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OP, behavioral technician and CNA are low paying jobs (about 40K/yr in high cost of living areas), plus you need to go to school to get a certificate to qualify for these jobs, not to mention that this may not be the kind of work that you want to do.
Please think twice and be more considerate about how you refer to jobs that some forum members (or their family members) might actually do and enjoy. Or that some do because, for them, there is no $60K/yr job offered to them and they have taken the best job available to them.
Not to mention that many people take jobs as a first step, then after realizing they like the field, they pursue more education in that field to qualify for a more advanced positions in that field they have discovered they like and enjoy
College Confidential forums should be a non-judgemental non-shaming safe space for all who visit
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Doctors use the screening questionnaire for diagnosis. There is no test for ADHD. Looking at the questionnaire may motivate making an appointment but of course you should not self-diagnose. And there are many reasons for not feeling interested or motivated. I think I made it clear that you need an evaluation for a complete and thorough idea on what may help.
and @EconPop thank you so much for that post. My kid worked hard to get a BA in psychology over 14 years. Bipolar 1, ADHD, slow processing etc. and I am so proud of them for their empathetic care of kids with autism. I certainly hope this work leads to something but achieving a master’s may not be possible. In the meantime, perpetual roommates.
I have a friend who has been a CNA for 50 years and has sat by innumberable clients while sick and dying. It is heroic work.
And yes both these jobs can be clarifying and motivating as first steps. Many CNA’s go to nursing school and behavioral technicians go on to ABA, SLP or MSW.
ps Red Cross CNA is one month. Behavioral technicians are trained on the job. No school.
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My middle child was slow to speak clearly. When she was about 4year old, I had a speech/behavioral therapist visit the house twice a week for a few months to work with my daughter.
The young woman was amazing with my shy daughter. She made my daughter very comfortable in her presence, and her speech improved to normal in no time at all. My daughter went on to speak and read very well, and was reading on a college level in 5th grade.
The young speech therapist clearly enjoyed her job very much and was very good at it. She provided an immeasurable service to my daughter. I am forever in her debt and have nothing but the utmost respect for speech therapists and behavior therapists.
EDIT: This may be of extra interest to the OP.
I have a friend who, as a 22 year old college student on a 6yr graduation path, worked as a paid mentor (think Big Brother) slash behavorial therapist for children in unfortunate life situations. It was a relatively low-paid job with zero benefits. But he liked it so much, he continued to do it after earning his degree. Later, he got his MSW and founded a company that did the same work, and he was making an upper middle class income. None of that would have happened if someone talked him out of that job when he was 22 years old. Today he’s an executive at a non-profit that works in the same field.
No one knows where any experience might lead. I always vote “try something new”
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You said THIS, which is an approach I strongly disagree with. “But ADHD is generally diagnosed with a questionnaire and an session with a psychiatrist or even PCP.” That is, as you said, a screening and a component of an evaluation, but it is fraught with problems if a patient simply fills out a self report (very biased tool) a physician speaks with them briefly and then perhaps prescribes a stimulant.
The reality is there are many, MANY causes of attentional problems, and far more female young adults have depression (16-19%), anxiety (22-25%), sleep disorders (17-22%) or trauma issues (5-8%), than ADHD (4-6%) per the CDC. The frequency of ADHD identified in the young adult female population is as low as many high reach college admissions numbers! It is beyond the scope of this student’s questions, so no need to go into more detail here, but if the student uses a self-report screening tool to move forward to exploring with healthcare professionals what may be contributing to her difficulties I am ALL for and would strongly encourage that. She may have co-existing issues, and she mentioned that she had some support (accommodations?) in middle school, so there a likely several issues at play. She may have had a diagnosed learning disability. Agree that she should see if she can get more information from her school or family if they have kept those records. Consultations and evaluations can help rule in and/or rule out contributing factors, so she can pursue the best course of treatment and academic/vocational planning to help her achieve academic, vocational and emotional success.
The OP is welcome to PM me if she has questions. (OP is a new poster- not sure when new posters get PM privileges)
I have tried to be careful in how I post about this OP’s possible issues.
In our experience, a questionnaire and interview is the only way ADHD is diagnosed. Even at an ADHD clinic at a major teaching hospital. Agree to disagree, no debate. (I actually agree there can be problems with this way to evaluate, but it is what we have seen at several different facilities including a full neuro-psych. which uses a questionnaire for the ADHD component.)
In no way was I suggesting any diagnosis.
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Sorry for the late response. But by extra support I meant like getting extra times in quizzes/exams, and being taken out of classes during certain lessons, like reading time and math. So more accommodations basically. I would be separated from the class along with another kid or two to work with another adult up-in personal. Since based on the progress reports I’ve been able to read, I struggled to be focused on my own assignments and simple tasks on my own. For example, one of them reported that when I was instructed to read a page, I would start fine but slowly my mind would drift off somewhere else. Any little thing would make me go off-track to something else entirely. Where I would be entirely distracted from the book, so the teacher would tell me to stay focused on the task again and again until I understood. I also struggled with pronouncing certain words/letter, as my first language is Spanish. Since my writing/spelling in English wasn’t good at the time during elementary school. I would also receive extra time in trying to understand the material at my own pace, since the regular lessons moved too quick for me and they would help me learn at a slower pace than usual. It’s been years since I’ve read the documents, but I believe they never classified anything specific, except for only calling it as a learning disability.
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If you are still interested in speech language pathology, this thread might help you gain more info.
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You sound a bit like me when i was your age. I was at CC for 3 years, put on academic probation, finally had enough credits to transfer to a 4 year, and spent another three years doing that.
You don’t have to have life totally figured out right now. Just let life happen. Keep going and get your degree. That was my only goal for a long time, and I at least did that. Then I got a job with an airline, had a nice life, got married, had kids, and finally started doing what I was truly interested in when I was 50.
I don’t necessarily think there’s anything “wrong” with you. It’s okay not to have life totally figured out right now. Just plug away and get the degree because it will improve your chances of getting better jobs. You might just bumble along until you work things out. That’s what I did, and it’s ok. I still use my degree everyday, in some form or other. Keep going.
P.S. I do think it’s a good idea to meet with an academic advisor at your college and come up with a plan to at least pass your classes. Even if you don’t feel very motivated to do so, which I get, remind yourself that the hard work you have done so far doesn’t have to be for nothing.
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Were you in public school growing up? If you had a learning disability and had accommodations, it sounds like they did diagnose you with some sort of LD, and perhaps also ADHD- inattentive type (there are several subtypes). If you can get an updated evaluation (it sounds like the previous one was done quite a while ago) you should be able to request appropriate accommodations/support services.
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