Why belong to the ACO?

Why I belong:

This website and the professional image it portrays makes me proud and renewed to call myself an AD/HD coach and very proud to be a member of this organization. I know how much effort, perserverance and belief went into getting off the ground. I appreciate all of you who stuck it out. I'm looking forward to making meaningful contributions to the ACO.

Help us spread the word about the ACO:
Please forward this newsletter to appropriate friends who might not otherwise know about the ACO.

ACO Round Table Calls

The topic of the ACO Round Table calls always match the theme of the current issue of Circle. Check calendar of events for the dates, the call in info and the topics we'll be discussing. If you missed last month's call, which was about depression in clients with ADHD, you can find out how to listen to the recording on the same calendar listing.

Get involved with coaching research

Esra Ozkan is an anthropologist pursuing a doctorate degree at MIT. Her dissertation is on the history and culture of coaching in America. She has been interviewing coaches and coaching clients as well as attending seminars and workshops since June 2005. Her long-term goal is to collect oral histories from coaches to create an archive for the future.

She is particularly interested in the emergence and development of subspecialties in coaching, gathering specific histories of each as well as how they remain culturally linked. She is interested in speaking with us about our perspectives on AD/HD coaching and how that fits in the coaching field in general.

The ACO has agree to publicize two meetings for ADHD coaches that Esra is hosting.

• Monday, August 7, at 2 PM EST (641) 696-6699; access code 80548
• Monday, August 21, at 9 PM EST (641) 696-6699; access code 46213

Please mark your calendar for one or the other of these meetings. We’ll appreciate your RSVP to teleclass@adhdcoaches.org so we know how many people to expect.

This is a great opportunity to participate in research about coaching. Please try to attend one of these meetings.

Getting your office systems in order

CoachTrack: An ACO member benefit since 2005

Full story by Sarah Wright, MS, ACT

Change happens. Growth comes and brings along its friend, complication.

So when member coach Sarah Wright went looking for new technology to keep track of her records, she discovered CoachTrack. The software runs on PCs (sorry Mac friends) and was developed by Dave Poitras about six years ago to support coaches and our specific record keeping needs. "It met my definition of a good solution," says Sarah.

You can get a fully functional 30-day test copy of CoachTrack on their website. When you've tried it and love it, use the 15% discount ACO member discount to buy it. That's been a benefit of membership since the organization began last year!

If you have information about this or other great systems, please share them at the Round Table Discussion on Tuesday, August 15th or September 5. (The bridge information is posted on the the ACO calendar.)

Read more on line.

Introduce yourself to medical professionals for a great impact

Full story by Gayla Wilson

Gayla Wilson is an ADHD coach in Idaho. There aren’t many ADHD coaches out there. So in order to build her business she sent 50 letters to docs in her area. In three days she got six phone calls asking for appointments to talk about what she does. That’s better than a 10% response in just a few days! What she really calls amazing is the quality of response.

Everyone that has contacted her is referring clients. She says, "This snowball is still rolling as I begin my follow-up calls to the contacts that I haven't heard back from directly." But what she’s really "getting" is the huge need for ADHD coaches.

The doctors and therapists are happy to have someone on their team to help clients learn to manage the everyday challenges of life with ADHD. "One psychiatrist has asked me to speak to his Bi-Polar group regarding ADHD as a co-morbid condition of bi-polar. The synergy here is amazing," says Gayla.

If you are a member you can get a sample of Gayla’s sample letter in the ACO Tool Box.
           Or -- Join now!

Liars and Visionaries

Full story by Ken Zaretzky, MCC

There are fine lines between liars, delusional people and visionaries. Just what is the difference between making something up and making something up?

A liar conjures an image he knows is false. The delusional person believes the image in his mind, but others don’t. The visionary believes what he know does not yet exist and works to make that happen. How can you be a visionary?

If you are a member you can read more on line.
           Or -- Join now!

Tech tips and blog blips

Full story by Kerch McConlogue, CPCC, PCC

If you have a blog you should post to it often – regularly even. Check out some ideas on how to keep up with your blog without letting your fingers leave your hand.

And if you want to watch other blogs and haven't figured out the RSS feed thing, go sign up at FeedBlitz.com. You just put in the web addresses of the blogs you're watching and when they change, you get an email! ONE email with all the blogs you read... all in one email. How very very simple. And I like simple.

Read more on line.

Thanks for reading

The topic of the next issue is support groups.
          How to start one, how to run one.

It would be great if you'd contribute. What is your particular expertise? Drop me a note and let's talk about it.

At this time we can't pay writers who submit articles to this newsletter, but we'll give you credit and links as appropriate. Articles received by the 15th of the month will be considered for the upcoming issue. Sometimes we'll elect to hold an article for later publication. Writers' guidelines are available on line at this minute at newsletter.adhdcoaches.org/writersguidelines.html

I'm looking forward to making this publication top notch. So if you've got any questions, comments, concerns or gripes, please drop me a note. It does no good to grumble alone!

Onward and upward!