Help Your ADHD Teen Build Lasting Routines

Spencer Blasdale, Mike Goldstein, and Sean Geraghty have 86 combined years of experience: in the classroom; coaching young teachers; launching mentoring programs; and starting new charter and private schools.

We've tutored, coached, taught, and mentored several hundred teens and tweens, including several complex cases (involving medical, legal, criminal, behavioral, family, special education, immigration, and mental health issues).

Sean and Mike shared ADHD case studies in the book “I’ll Do It Later.”

We use all our extensive professional networks to find school leaders and teachers with 3 qualities: they have a proven track record of helping ADHD kids and those who struggle with executive functioning without a specific diagnosis; they are unusually kind and patient; they love working with teens and tweens.

Coaches help teens create real changes in their daily lives. The value proposition: the goal is that 1 hour per week of coach time helps the teen to cut out 5 to 10 wasted hours of procrastination.

First, we need to grasp what’s been happening. What are the typical habits now? What precisely are the executive functions that they lack? What has been tried (therapy, Mom and Dad, school-based interventions, tutoring, medication, another coach)? How did that go? What did we learn? When do they feel most energetic? When do they struggle? What helps them focus? What drains them?

Then we do “cheerful trial and error.” The coach is there to help them make small changes, one at a time. We're there with regular check-ins to support them through these changes and make sure they stick.

We find that this New York Times Magazine article,from 2025, is the best answer to a complex question. The headline? Experts disagree sharply on both these questions.

We complement existing therapeutic work rather than replace it. Having worked extensively in educational settings, we understand how different support systems operate - from school counselors to private therapists, from teachers to tutors. We focus on practical, day-to-day progress that aligns with and supports your current plans.

We have many clients who also see a therapist.

We're educators, not therapists. Their job is to address anxiety, depression, and so forth. Our job is getting teens and tweens back on track in school. Our practical approach often helps teens with these diagnoses:

• With ADHD: We break big tasks into smaller steps and create clear routines.

• With anxiety: We help create predictable schedules and build confidence through small wins.

• With depression: We focus on taking small actions rather than waiting to feel motivated.

We work best as part of a support team - often alongside therapists and other professionals.

Parents are central to everything we do. We believe in real partnership - giving you clear insights into what's working while respecting your deep understanding of your teen. You'll get weekly updates that actually tell you what's happening, not just generic feedback. Have a concern? Text us, call us, email us. Notice something working well? Let us know that, too. While we give teens space to build independence, we keep parents actively involved and informed.

You can’t force it. The buy-in needs to be there. The key message is to start coaching when your teen is ready to engage.

With that said:

Some teens respond well to conditioning Reset on the teen - in his or her sole opinion - LIKING the coach. Some teens understandably fear an irritating or boring coach, just like they’d fear an irritating or boring teacher.

Some teens respond well to the leverage. For an hour of coaching a week, a teen might save 5 to 10 hours per week (or more) on procrastination. That’s good value for a typical teen!