ADHD/Aspergers Coaching

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Sorry if my reaction was too strong, everyone.

I just have had a life of people misunderstanding me and I get so frustrated. I guess for me, the reaction to people misperceiving what coaching is about would be similar to how you guys would feel to people misperceiving what AS is all about and judging you based on false information.

Anyway, I think you guys are great, and just wanted to apologise if I overreacted.

Hi, all--

I posted a question about a Jeeves in the employment section of the discussion boards.

I'm now combing the rest of the WrongPlanet boards making sure that the question I have asked hasn't been answered already.

To the person who suggested that the Jeeves might be a Life Coach, I'm pretty sure that this does not fall under that category. It would be more like someone riding shotgun on a stagecoach run.

Still surfing....

I too think that coaching could be very helpful to me, but am wondering how to go about finding somebody who is a good fit (I have been warned that pretty much anybody can hang up a shingle as a coach, and some of them are... perhaps in need of help themselves).

Most of my problems are with executive function. I.e. I am looking for somebody who can help me learn how to:
• manage my finances
• manage my time
• prioritize
• not be overwhelmed by decision-making and time-management
• stay on top of things in general (returning library books, doing paperwork on time, things like that)
• complete long, complex projects that have many steps that are by necessity spaced far apart in time
and in general feel like a responsible adult.

(In response to some of the comments on this thread: I don't want to be cured; I just want help learning certain crucial skills that I have somehow not yet picked up in my 39 years on the planet.)

So how does one go about finding such a person?

I am now in this coaching ball game myself. I believe I can help autistic individuals in this arena. I say that because I went from being a quiet and introverted guy 5 years ago to someone who is on top of the social scene in a profession filled with social butterflies in occupational therapy. I have learned some nuances of socializing while maintaining most of my originality. It was really a lot of hard work. But, I felt that now I have the skills to help others achieve similar successes socially.

Life coach doesnt have to be a professional. It can be someone you know and trust.

It doesn't have to be a professional or a certified person, but my argument for a professional is that they are more equipped to handle difficult situations that might come up during a session or when their clients give them very difficult problems to work with.

One example why I think someone a professional background is better- There's this reply I saw on Asperger Experts Facebook page. (Don't get me wrong, they are great at what they do.) However, because they don't have the education and/or training like I do as a health professional, I see that they made a poor quality reply on their fan page to someone who asked them a question. The question was about a parent asking what their advices were for her child who are pretty poor at ball sports and she wanted to know what sports would be good for her child. They said that practice can make better. To a certain extent, this is true. However, this is NOT the best answer because they have failed to discuss about possible factors why her child might be struggling with ball sports- which I later added about gross and visual motor skills and told the parent to try to see if there were previous gross and visual motor evaluations done on her child and if not... then she has to be a keen observer of what is really going on with her child whenever he engaged such ball sports to see if there are particular areas of deficits in common.

So, I would say if an autism life coach has a solid professional background (not just with their personal experiences as autistic individuals or caregivers) are safer bets.