The Cologne Training Program for Young Adults with ADHD
The Cologne Training Program for Young Adults with ADHD at the University of Cologne aims to support affected students in managing their academic and personal daily tasks. The courses are held at regular intervals, approximately every 2–3 months (sometimes even during the break between semesters). Current dates are listed below.
Funding
The project is jointly conducted by the Cologne Student Services (Kölner Studentenwerk) and the departments of Prof. Lauth and Prof. Minsel. The program is funded by the University of Cologne’s Student Support Fund; participants are required to pay a fee of 50 euros for the entire training. Each course brings together approximately 6–10 participants, who complete the skills training as a group over the course of 6 sessions.
Training Concept
After making contact via the project’s website, you will receive a questionnaire that must be completed and returned. Based on this information, we will assess whether you belong to the group of people who can benefit from this ADHD project. This serves solely to determine whether and to what extent (if at all) an ADHD issue is present.
The course itself is divided into 6 sessions, each focusing on different aspects. A key focus of the entire project is not only to examine the problems associated with ADHD but also to identify areas that may not be problematic. Based on this understanding, we aim to reduce existing difficulties.
The exact structure of the training
The training consists of six sessions. The first five take place at weekly intervals; the sixth is held as a sort of refresher session approximately six weeks after the fifth session:
Training Session 1: Taking Stock
· What needs to change?
· What can stay the same?
· My three goals
Training Session 2: Getting Started and Taking
Action· Internal Barriers: The Movie in Your
Head· Taking Action, Clearing
the Mountain· Organizing Projects and Work Tasks
Training Session 3: Memory, Concentration, and More·
Side Note: Specific
Learning Disabilities·
Memory· Other Problems in Daily Life
Training Session 4: Setting Priorities and
Organizing· Important and
Urgent· Daily Routine and Time
Slots· Money Issues: Difficulties
Training Session 5: Understanding and Being
Understood· Difficulties in
Communicating· Understanding Others /
Paraphrasing· The Four Tools of Conversation
Training Session 6:
Refresher· Goals achieved? Actual vs. Target
Comparison· What was helpful?
· What was missing?
· Consolidating Useful Skills
(Source: http://www.ads-projekt.uni-koeln.de/index.php?id=172)