Individuals with ADD and ADHD are very sensitive to the environment. That includes sounds, smells, motions and temperature just to name a few. Keeping this in mind, it is important that individuals with ADD/ADHD understand how every environment impacts him or her and takes action to minimize the impact of outside stimuli.

Sounds simple enough, right? It should be on the surface, but there’s more to this than we think. Let me give you an example from my life (keeping in mind that I mentioned temperature earlier). When I settle down for the evening, depending on the temperature in my house, I will or won’t wear socks. Now, the obvious answer to this is how cold are my feet? But there’s more to this than just the surface idea of temperature. If my feet get too cold or too warm, I have trouble settling down the rest of my body. My body is so sensitive to outside stimuli that even something as small as the temperature of my feet can impact how well I sleep. This also applies to the rest of me as well.

With some of my clients, I will often ask questions about his or her environment. Is it noisy? How’s the temperature? Are colors around him or her bright? Does he or she work in an open area? All of these things have to be considered to impact how well one does work. Asking someone to work in an environment that has too many stimuli will impact the quality and quantity of work. Think about it from this standpoint; would you want to sit outside when it’s hot outside in a winter coat fully bundled up? Now imagine that multiplied and that is how it impacts someone with ADD/ADHD across many different areas. It doesn’t make life any easier.

For more information on my ADD, ADHD and Executive Functioning coaching, please visit www.adhdefcoach.com. In addition to working with clients in-person, I also work with clients all over the United States and World online, please visit www.onlineadhdcoach.com for more information. To learn more about my other services, please visit www.carrolleducationalgroup.com & www.iepexperts.com. I can be found on Twitter at ADHDGuru. You can also find me on Facebook, Google Plus and Tumblr. Feel free to email me at [email protected] or call 877.398.ADHD (2343) with any additional questions.