ADHD College Readiness Workshops
A College Transition Intensive for Students with ADHD and Executive-Function Challenges
College asks students to manage far more than classes.
They have to track assignments, manage time, organize materials, communicate with professors, study independently, handle stress, make decisions, use support services, and recover when plans fall apart.
For students with ADHD, these demands can become overwhelming quickly, especially when the familiar structure of home and high school begins to fade.
Our ADHD College Readiness Workshop helps students prepare for that transition with greater self-awareness, practical strategies, and a realistic plan for success.
Each student begins with the SignalWorks™ Life Alignment System, our assessment-based process for identifying strengths, executive-function challenges, learning patterns, motivation profile, pressure points, and likely areas of friction in the transition to college.
From there, students build a personalized roadmap for managing college life with more clarity, confidence, and independence.
The Foundation of the Workshop
The tools and strategies taught in this workshop draw from Dr. Jon L. Thomas’s work with students with ADHD, including his books:
Thriving at the Edge of Chaos: Making ADHD a Superpower in College and Career and Beyond the Edge of Chaos: ADHD Identity and the New Science of Thriving
Students also use a companion workbook throughout the workshop. The workbook helps them apply the concepts directly to their own lives, goals, habits, challenges, and college transition plan.
Students keep the books and workbook so they can continue using them before, during, and after the workshop. Together, these materials provide a practical framework for understanding ADHD, building self-awareness, developing stronger executive-function systems, and preparing for the demands of college and early adulthood.
What Makes This Workshop Different
Many students with ADHD already know what adults keep telling them to do.
Use a calendar.
Start earlier.
Email the professor.
Break assignments into smaller steps.
Study before the night before the test.
Stay organized.
Follow through.
Those are good ideas. The real challenge is helping students build systems they can actually use when motivation drops, pressure rises, distractions multiply, and daily structure becomes their responsibility.
Our workshop helps students understand:
where they get stuck
what kind of support helps them function best
how to create systems that fit the way they actually work
how to recover after falling behind
how to communicate before problems grow
how to use their strengths more intentionally
how to build a realistic plan for college success
The workshop helps students prepare, build self-direction, and leave with a clearer path forward.
The SignalWorks™ Life Alignment System
Before the workshop, each student completes the SignalWorks™ Life Alignment System and college transition overlay.
This assessment helps identify the student’s individual operating pattern, including:
motivation and task initiation
organization and follow-through
time awareness and planning
emotional pressure and reset needs
writing and study habits
learning preferences
communication patterns
independence and transition readiness
areas of friction that may emerge in college
These results are used throughout the workshop to personalize the student’s experience.
Each student comes away with a clearer understanding of how college is likely to challenge them and what kind of plan they need to meet that challenge.
The Workshop Experience
Once students arrive in the retreat environment, they enter a focused, supportive, and practical learning experience.
Students work both individually and as part of a small community. They share experiences, identify common challenges, and begin to see their struggles through a more useful lens. Many begin to recognize that the difficulties they have faced are patterns that can be understood, supported, and worked with more effectively.
The retreat setting gives students space to step away from daily distractions and focus on the transition ahead.
Throughout the workshop, students work with facilitators to identify academic, personal, and career goals. They test those goals through discussion, exercises, planning tools, and real-world scenarios. As the workshop progresses, students continue to refine their goals and develop strategies that are specific, practical, and achievable.
Students build plans, practice skills, complete workbook exercises, develop strategies, and learn how to monitor their own progress.
Skills Students Develop
During the workshop, students receive training and guided practice in areas essential for college success, including:
time management
organization
task initiation
planning and prioritizing
study strategies
note-taking and review
writing preparation
professor communication
emotional regulation under pressure
managing distractions
recovering after setbacks
using campus support systems
building routines that are realistic and sustainable
Students also learn how to recognize when they are drifting out of their success zone and what steps can help them reset before a problem becomes a crisis.
New: The SignalWorks™ AI Day
We are adding a dedicated training day focused on the ethical and effective use of AI in college.
AI tools such as ChatGPT are already becoming part of college life. Students are using them to summarize, brainstorm, study, write, organize, plan, and solve problems. Colleges are also paying close attention to academic integrity, authentic student work, and how AI affects learning.
Students need guidance before they arrive on campus.
The SignalWorks™ AI Day teaches students how to use AI as an executive-function and learning-access support tool while preserving their own thinking, voice, judgment, and responsibility.
This is especially important for students with ADHD.
AI can help students:
get started when they feel stuck
clarify confusing assignments
break large projects into smaller steps
organize scattered ideas before writing
create study questions and self-quizzes
prepare for office hours
draft respectful emails to professors
build weekly academic plans
recover after missed work or shutdown
reduce overwhelm while staying responsible for the work
Students also learn the ethical boundaries of AI use.
They are taught to ask:
What does this professor allow?
What does this assignment require?
Am I using AI to support my thinking?
Am I preserving my own voice?
Do I need to disclose AI use?
Am I able to stand behind the work I submit?
Students learn to use AI as a responsible academic scaffold — a tool that helps them organize, plan, study, communicate, and follow through more effectively.
What Students Leave With
Participants leave the workshop with a completed workbook and a personalized Plan of Action for Success.
This includes:
individualized academic, personal, and transition goals
a roadmap for meeting those goals
strategies for managing ADHD-related challenges
tools for planning, organization, studying, and follow-through
methods for handling distractions and setbacks
a personal SignalWorks-based understanding of their learning and executive-function profile
an ethical AI-use plan for college
practical AI prompts and tools they can use during the semester
methods for monitoring progress and recognizing when they need support
The workbook becomes a reference guide the student can return to as college demands increase
After the Workshop
The work continues after the workshop ends.
The transition becomes real when students return to daily life and eventually begin coursework. That is when distractions return, schedules become more complicated, and students begin applying what they have learned.
After the workshop, our academic coaches provide follow-up support to help students review their Plan of Action, prepare for college, and begin using their new strategies in real academic settings.
Many students benefit from continued coaching as they move through the first semester. Ongoing coaching can help students:
stay connected to their plan
prepare for weekly academic demands
follow through on assignments
communicate with professors
use campus resources
recover after setbacks
adjust routines as needed
continue developing independence
For students who need additional structure, we offer coaching options tailored to their goals, needs, and transition plan.
College Readiness Package
$1,850
The College Readiness Workshop Package helps students with ADHD prepare for the academic, emotional, organizational, and executive-function demands of college.
This package includes:
SignalWorks™ Life Alignment System Assessment
Each student completes the SignalWorks™ Life Alignment System and college transition overlay before the workshop. These results help identify the student’s strengths, challenges, learning patterns, and likely college transition needs.
Workshop Books and Companion Workbook
Students receive and use Thriving at the Edge of Chaos, Beyond the Edge of Chaos, and the companion workbook throughout the workshop. These materials support the workshop process and give students resources they can continue using after the program ends.
College Readiness Intensive
Students participate in an immersive workshop experience focused on college readiness, executive-function skills, self-awareness, planning, study strategies, organization, communication, and transition preparation.
SignalWorks™ AI Day
Students receive dedicated training in the ethical and effective use of AI as an executive-function and learning-access support tool. They learn how to use AI to plan, study, organize, communicate, and recover while preserving academic integrity and student ownership.
Workshop Materials and Personalized Plan
Each student completes a personalized workbook that includes goals, strategies, action steps, AI-use tools, and college-readiness plans.
Lodging and Meals
The workshop includes lodging and meals in a retreat-style setting designed to support focus, community, and meaningful preparation.
Parent Follow-Up Session
Parents are invited to a post-workshop session to learn more about what students have developed, how to support their goals, and how to encourage independence without over-functioning for them.
Follow-Up Support
Students receive follow-up contact after the workshop to help them begin applying their plan as they prepare for college.
College Readiness Package with Coaching
$2,100
This package includes everything in the College Readiness Workshop Package, plus individualized academic coaching support.
This package includes:
SignalWorks™ Life Alignment System Assessment
Each student completes the SignalWorks™ Life Alignment System and college transition overlay before the workshop. These results help identify the student’s strengths, challenges, learning patterns, and likely college transition needs.
Workshop Books and Companion Workbook
Students receive and use Thriving at the Edge of Chaos, Beyond the Edge of Chaos, and the companion workbook throughout the workshop. These materials support the workshop process and give students resources they can continue using after the program ends.
College Readiness Intensive
Students participate in an immersive workshop experience focused on college readiness, executive-function skills, self-awareness, planning, study strategies, organization, communication, and transition preparation.
SignalWorks™ AI Day
Students receive dedicated training in the ethical and effective use of AI as an executive-function and learning-access support tool. They learn how to use AI to plan, study, organize, communicate, and recover while preserving academic integrity and student ownership.
Workshop Materials and Personalized Plan
Each student completes a personalized workbook that includes goals, strategies, action steps, AI-use tools, and college-readiness plans.
Lodging and Meals
The workshop includes lodging and meals in a retreat-style setting designed to support focus, community, and meaningful preparation.
Parent Follow-Up Session
Parents are invited to a post-workshop session to learn more about what students have developed, how to support their goals, and how to encourage independence without over-functioning for them.
Follow-Up Support
Students receive follow-up contact after the workshop to help them begin applying their plan as they prepare for college.
Four Academic Coaching Sessions
Students receive four personalized 45-minute coaching sessions with an academic coach. These sessions help reinforce workshop learning, address new challenges, and support the student as they begin applying their Plan of Action for Success.
Coaching may be completed in person or virtually.
If continued coaching would be helpful, we can meet with the student and parent to discuss next steps for ongoing support.
Preparing Students for the College They Are Actually Entering
College has changed. The expectations are higher, the independence demands are greater, and AI is now part of the academic landscape.
Students need self-awareness, practical systems, ethical tools, and a plan they can return to when college becomes difficult.
Our ADHD College Readiness Workshop helps students understand themselves, prepare for the transition ahead, and develop the tools they need to move toward greater independence and success.
Upcoming Workshops
ADHD College & High School Workshop
A transformative 4-day residential workshop designed for college and high school juniors and seniors with ADHD. Empower your teen with practical strategies, confidence-building activities, and expert guidance to thrive in school and beyond.