On-Demand Webinars

“How to Find Your Path: A Roadmap for Choosing a College, a Career, or Something Different” [Video Replay & Podcast #245]

In this hour long webinar on-demand, learn how to help teens with ADHD explore options after high school—and alternatives to college—with Rick Fiery, M.S., MBA.

Episode Description

The leap from high school to college is overwhelming. Newfound independence — combined with little or no parental control — leaves many students with ADHD feeling anxious and ultimately underperforming at college.

The likelihood of success multiplies when your teen truly understands “why” he or she is going to college. The ADHD mind always questions why it needs to do something. Without a reward or excitement waiting at the end, a mundane task like submitting college or job applications becomes hard to start — and even harder to complete. Simply following a guidance counselor’s career suggestions, or taking the college path because everyone else is doing it, is rarely incentive enough.

Begin relieving everyone’s anxiety by recognizing that college isn’t the only option after high school. Career success may very well follow a different path — so begin by learning about all the various post-graduate options that can leverage your student’s strengths.

In this webinar, you will learn:

  • Why “knowing why” is important if you are attending college
  • The critical role parents play by encouraging, supporting, and guiding (but not enabling) students
  • How to effectively explore your student’s passions — the foundation for any career
  • Potential options available after high school: gap year, career training, entrepreneurship, and others
  • Which careers are best for individuals with ADHD
  • How to participate in the latest career-training programs and where employers are looking for talent
  • Why entrepreneurship is an option for students with ADHD
  • How to build maturity before college.

Watch the Video Replay

Enter your email address in the box above labeled “Video Replay + Slide Access” to watch the video replay (closed captions available) and download the slide presentation.

Download or Stream the Podcast Audio

Click the play button below to listen to this episode directly in your browser, click the symbol to download to listen later, or open in your podcasts app: Apple Podcasts; Google Podcasts; Stitcher; Spotify; Overcast

This ADHD Experts webinar was first broadcast live on February 12, 2019.

Listener testimonials:

  • We listened to it with my ADD daughter. It was truly motivating. It helped to structure our thoughts about how to imagine a career for my daughter.
  • Very sound advice. This was exactly how I have been feeling — that my kids do not need to be pressured to go to a college unless they are passionate about it — but felt I was the oddball.
  • Rick did a great job of showing us, the audience, that our ADHD teens and young adults don’t work or think like the average person. ‘Cheetah’ was the perfect analogy.

Meet the Expert Speaker:

Rick Fiery, M.S., MBA, is the co-founder of InventiveLabs in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Rick, and co-founder Tom Bergeron, created InventiveLabs because of their passion for helping young adults with learning differences find alternative paths to success. They believe that with the right environment and supports, people with learning differences can achieve substantial success. Programs include gap year and entrepreneurship offerings designed to explore careers or create new businesses in an all-accepting environment. (Please watch Rick’s TEDx presentation for more details). Prior to InventiveLabs, Rick was the CEO of several startup companies that he created and grew before selling them to strategic buyers. One of his software companies grew to where it had subsidiaries in 6 countries and products sold in over 60 countries. He also ran the finance department for a large multinational software company generating over $330 million before departing to do another startup. Rick has a Bachelors and Masters in civil engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.


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