Welcome to the first issue of the newsletter of
the AD/HD Coaches Organization, Inc.

The ACO is accepting members now!
Be the first on your block to join the organization. Dues are just $55 a year, renewable annually on your subscription date. And, yep! We'll send you a reminder. Click on the Join the ACO in the left navigational pane on the home page of the organization www.adhdcoaches.org.

Articles of Incorporation were filed December 16, 2005 in the state of New Mexico. Officers and the first of the board members were elected at the board meeting on December 21. See that full list with bios on our website at www.adhdcoaches.org/content/boardofdirectors.html

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

First annual meeting

Plans are being made to schedule the ACO's first annual meeting early evening on Thursday, May 4, 2006 during the ADDA conference in Orlando, FL. As more information is available, you'll read about it right here.

Name the baby

We need a name for this publication. If you have an idea, please send it to editor@adhdcoaches.org. We can't promise anything more than bragging rights to it. But we'll give you credit the first time we use it!

Message Boards

That's where you'll be able to participate in conversations important (or at least interesting) to the profession.

If you haven't seen it before, there's a thread called "Medical Field Challenges AD/HD Coaches" under the "AD/HD Discussion" forum. It's likely the topic will keep coming up in public conversations. So check out what your peers are saying and contribute to the discourse.

You can get to the message boards from the left navigation bar on the home page or using this direct link.
First you'll need to log in. Use the link under the ACO logo (In the screen shot below, you'll see that I'm already logged in -- The link (1) now says Log Out.)
When the login process is complete, use the User Menu (2) link in that same navigation row.
Then click Forum Subscription in the left navigational bar (shown below)

Then just check off the boxes for the forums you'd like to be automatically updated about. (That's the same screen you'll use to unsubscribe to a forum.)
Then at midnight on each day that there is activity in that forum, you'll get an email to let you know what new posts have been made.

Please note: At this time, use the back button that is part of the ACO site.

About the publication

My mission for this newsletter is to make it useful -- above all else. Articles will be about coaching practices and tips, and about building and managing your practice. We'll have reviews of books useful to the industry. We'll include calendar listings, training opportunities, workshops and other presentations by and for AD/HD coaches.

The style will be conversational -- easy to read. But we are committed to the highest standards of professionalism. We will consistently use the term AD/HD. We will NEVER use the terms "ADDer" or "ADHDer." People have AD/HD; they are not AD/HD.

We're all busy, so we want you to be able to get the gist of the article right up front. The version you get by email will have a short synopsis of each article. Members who want to read a more in depth version, can click through to the website to see the whole piece. Nonmembers will be invited to join in order to get the rest of the story. (Or at least that's the plan for now.)

This publication is planned to be a monthly one -- unless there is breaking news we think you need to know about. You can expect to see it about the first of each month.

We need your input and your ideas and your questions.

Please let us know what you'd like to learn more about: We're looking for topics, themes and interview ideas. We need your input to make the best choices at the right time.

Volunteering is a great opportunity to learn more about the organization, but it's also an opportunity to try out something you'd like to know more about. I think it's my responsibility as editor to help volunteers learn about writing so that we can publish, with the talent we have, the best information for the membership.

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 www.adhdcoaches.org/content/newsletter/writersguidelines.htm

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!