Emma’s Path to Success

How a 10th Grader with ADHD Developed Executive Functioning Skills to Improve Her Grades & Self-Confidence

Emma was a sophomore in high school struggling with late assignments, forgetting papers, and understanding her recent ADHD diagnosis. To make matters worse, she and her parents were not getting along because she felt like her parents were constantly on her about her homework and handing in assignments. She felt like all they did was argue about the school, making her everyday life so much harder than her friends. Emma started to feel anxious, and her parents constantly disappointed her.  

A New Solution: The Referral From a Trusted Friend

Following another C- grade on a History exam, Emma’s parents noticed she fell further behind in school and quickly lost self-confidence. They decided they needed help from an expert. Emma’s parents contacted a family friend to learn more about their child’s success with Illuminos. After speaking with their friend and consulting with the owner of Illuminos, Emma’s parents felt confident their Executive Functioning skills program would be a good fit for Emma. Emma was willing to give it a try. Ashley from the Illuminos team met with Emma and her parents at their home for a comprehensive interview to ensure that Illuminos understood their concerns and goals and that Emma and her parents felt comfortable with how the program would be customized for Emma. Soon after, Emma was paired with the right coach for her.

When the sessions began, Emma and her coach met for an hour three times a week. During their sessions, they focused on Emma’s current school and life needs, creating a plan to help Emma earn back lost points related to missing assignments and low test scores, building an organizational and time management system, and digging in on subject matter support.

These initial sessions were also used to develop a relationship and establish trust between Emma and her new coach. At first, Emma was not sure how she felt about the new habits like using a binder, writing in a planner and adopting more effective test-taking strategies — she had several doubts that these new techniques would really work for her. However, Emma’s coach helped her overcome her hesitations by slowly introducing the new tools and techniques, allowing Emma to ask questions and see how each worked for her.

Making Strides Academically and Enjoying a Better Relationship with Mom & Dad

After a few weeks of working with her new coach, Emma and her coach decreased their meetings to two-hour sessions on Sundays and Wednesdays. At each session, they reviewed Emma’s planner to ensure all assignments were documented and checked her binder to make sure her papers were filed correctly so she could find what she needed to complete assignments.

One particular day, Emma told her coach she didn’t know her Math assignments because she didn’t write anything down in her planner. It was hard for Emma to admit that her way of doing things no longer allowed her to achieve her desired grades. However, she decided that she wanted to feel more successful at school and have a better relationship with her parents. She gave her coach’s proven methods of approaching school a chance. 

As sessions progressed, some days were spent focused on History and Math, the subjects Emma struggled most with, and building consistent routines. On other days, they prioritized short and long-term projects and implemented study strategies for upcoming exams.  

Emma’s new routines included writing in her planner daily, keeping an organized binder, and studying effectively for tests and quizzes. Over the next several months, Emma saw a significant improvement in her grades and felt much more self-confident. Most importantly, her anxiety had eased, and she felt like her parents finally understood her, and she was happy. 

Achieving Happiness & Success

After ten months of dedication to the program, Emma graduated from Illuminos and headed to college. She was so proud of herself for graduating from Illuminos and realized all her hard work had really paid off. She and her coach keep in contact, and everyone is confident in Emma’s success in the future!

To learn more about how Illuminos can help your child create a personalized, holistic program to support their needs, click here to schedule a complimentary consultation.