Frequently Asked Questions about A.C.T.

About this Document

Although all ACT Candidates are required to attend ACT ANSWERS, an Orientation session where individual questions can be responded to in a "real time" manner, we want you to have a written document so that you don't have to rely on your memory or hastily scribbled notes. In case you have only a few remaining questions or are looking for a specific piece of information, we've created a list of the questions listed below so that you can search quickly for the information you seek!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who hires an ADD COACH and why?
2. How is ADD coaching different from other types of coaching?
3. What do ADD Coaches charge?
4. What do you mean by systems development?
5. Why should I study with OFI?
6. Where are you located?
7. Why phone coaching?
8. Do phone bills add to the cost of the training?
9. How soon can I start? When does the training begin?
10. How often are classes offered?
11. How large are the classes?
12. How soon before I begin coaching?
13. How long does it take to graduate?
14. What about Certification?
15. Will I be certified as an ADD Coach?
16. What have other OFI Associates have done with their training?
17. What about OFI's faculty?
18. What am I paying for? What's included?
19. What's required to graduate?
20. What about homework?
21. How much time will this take each week?
22. Tell me about the exams -- what are they like?
23. What if I don't pass my exams?
24. Will you review what is available in the training?
25. What's my investment?
26. When is tuition due? Must it be paid all at once?
27. How do I register?
28. Are there charges for this PayPal account?
29. How do I use my PayPal account to pay my tuition?
30. What is a "verified" PayPal account?
31. How does PayPal verify my account?
32. What if I want to pay my entire tuition at registration but I don't have a verified account?
33. What if I want to enroll using one of the Payment Plans?
34. What's my next step?
35. What happens at ACT Answers/Orientation?
36. I want to talk to somebody before I commit to Orientation.
37. I still have some questions, what do I do now?

Answers to the Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who hires an ADD COACH and why?

• Because they want more;
• Because they want to grow;
• Because they want it easier.

• are tired of being stopped by ADD -- their own or that of a loved one.
• They suspect there is a gap in their ADD information base that is slowing them down,
• that there are some tools and tricks that can help, and
• they don't want to have to "reinvent the wheel."

ALL coaches help with the first three. Only a well-trained ADD COACH can help with the rest.

Up to Questions

2. How is ADD coaching different from other types of coaching?

Like swimming, ADD Coaching requires much more than conceptual understanding -- it cannot be learned from a lecture. Comprehensive knowledge about ADD is essential for the ADD Coaching process, but information alone is practically worthless. ADD-specific Listening and Languaging skills must be understood, refined and practiced until they are assimilated if you expect to do an adequate job with ADD clients, never mind a good one!

Listening for ADD is a skill that is learned primarily with practice and feedback.

A significant part of the process for coaches of ALL types is sharing distinctions, providing information and language designed to seed specific coaching shifts.

In addition to the distinctions relevant to all human beings, there are a great many distinctions that apply specifically to ADDers.

Since no two ADDers have exactly the same "flavor" of ADD, it can be tricky to determine exactly which distinctions are missing.

Languaging to ADD varies when you are dealing with attentional challenges as well.

Comprehensive ADD Coach training provides a swimming pool in which to practice your strokes with the feedback of experienced ADD coaches. We'll teach you how to talk to clients so that they can:

• focus on what you are saying,
• assimilate the information appropriately and
• link it for retrieval on demand

Up to Questions

3. What do ADD Coaches charge?

OFI's ADD Coaches charge the same as other types of coaches, averaging $75 to $150 per hour (Corporate Coaching or programs often run $1,000 to $10,000 per month).

Coaches generally charge by the month, however, not the hour, with fees paid monthly -- in advance.

Using skills OFI will teach you, you can expect to have a reliably full practice within 1 to 3 years from the time you take your first client with an annual gross income ranging from $60,000 to $240,000)

($60,000 = 20 clients @ $250/mo; $240,000 = 40 clients @ $500/mo)

Up to Questions

4. What do you mean by systems development?

A "system" is a set or arrangement of parts related to form an organic whole.

Systems are remarkably effective. When ADDers activates a system, they no longer have to remember each of the individual steps -- they're on "autopilot." That means they are much less likely to forget something or to get distracted in the middle of a task. Not only that, their minds are free to concentrate on something more interesting, decreasing the likelihood that they will avoid the task.

How many of us forget to do what comes next while we're going to the bathroom? Or even give it a thought?

Up to Questions

5. Why should I study with OFI?

That question has two parts:

1. Why coach training? Coaches who get professional training get up and running faster than those who use the "lone ranger" approach -- up to 4 times faster according to Thomas Leonard, founder of Coach U. They make more money, attract and keep more clients, and have more satisfaction with their practices.
2. Why OFI?
   • Because OFI offers the most comprehensive ADD Coach Training available. Until we have an industry-wide ADD-specific Coach certification, you will become known by the quality of the Coaching practiced by your associates: the source of your training will be your most important "credential."
   • OFI stands beside every coach we graduate, committed to training the cream of the crop. You know what they say about cream rising!

Up to Questions

6. Where are you located?

Our classes take place over a TeleBridge, our marketing takes place through our website, and materials are delivered by email in pdf format. Even your tuition payments will be made through online, through PayPal. Our students and staff are all over the world and come to class from anywhere they have access to a telephone.

Although some students and members of the staff gather face-to-face occasionally, most of us see each other primarily at ADD and coaching conferences, where many of our staff and graduates are speakers.

That is also where many of us meet our long-time clients "live" for the first time, since most of us work globally and over the phone (the model you will be taught and encouraged to use for at least part of your practice.)

OFI's "address of record" is the residence of Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, OFI's founder -- which was the Upper West Side of Manhattan at OFI's founding in 1994, Knoxville, Tennessee at the beginning of 2004, and to be changing again in 2004 or 2005.

FYI: Associate mailing addresses (including those of the staff) can be found on OFI's confidential Contact MasterList, which you will receive after you enroll. The MasterList also includes phones, fax, email & website addresses.

Up to Questions

7. Why phone coaching?

From a practice-management standpoint ...

• it certainly makes sense to be able to market globally rather than limit your practice to your particular location. Only telephone coaching allows for that.
• It's easier to manage client appointments over the phone than when your clients must travel to your office to see you, which also eliminates the need for a waiting room for clients who are early. When a client is late, a brief reminder call puts both of you back on track quickly. You are also able to refer to client files and to make notes during the call without client notice or concern.
• Coaching over the phone eliminates non-billable time spent dressing, shaving, putting on make-up, traveling to an office (or neatening a home-office), and the expenses concerned with maintaining appearances. You can coach two additional clients in the time that most people spend commuting and a third during the time you might normally get ready for work. That gives you more time for a balanced life -- use the money saved on wardrobe costs for a vacation!

Most CLIENTS prefer phone coaching as well

• They are free to find the best coach for them, rather than the closest coach. For clients who live in areas where there are no trained coaches, that's vital!
• Appointments are easier to work into client's schedules when they don't have to include travel time. They can schedule appointments at times that might be impossible if they had to also factor in travel -- a lunch hour, for example. They can use time they might have spent traveling to prepare for their appointments, before or after the calls themselves.
• Clients also find they are better able to focus on the issues brought up during the call. Not only are they not distracted by thoughts prompted by a new environment and the visual stimulation of another person's appearance and mannerisms, they don't have to put any attention on "visual appropriateness" when you can't see them.
• In almost every other situation "looking appropriate" takes up more energy than most people realize. ADDers use a lot of strategies to help them stay stimulated and focused in private, most of which they have been encouraged to inhibit around others.
• With phone coaching, clients can fidget, pace, doodle, file their nails, drink coffee, eat dinner, and do a wide variety of other things during their coaching appointments, relieved not to have the "I am paying attention!" conversation when they do them
• That applies equally well to distance learning, by the way -- coming to TeleClasses over the phone! We encourage you to do whatever it takes to keep your unique stimulation threshold at the perfect level for you. We will request that you "hit your mute" if your focusing technique becomes a distraction for others in the class, but we wouldn't dream of asking you to stop it and be still!

Up to Questions

8. Do phone bills add to the cost of the training?

• Most of our students use one of the "1010" telephone service providers that offer rates from 3 to 10 cents a minute -- at 10 cents a minute, the total cost for each TeleSession is around $6.00.
• There are rechargeable phone cards that are less than half of that -- a 3-cents-a-minute Sam's card brings the cost for a 1-hour class to $1.80). Since you won't be going out afterwards for a snack, don't have to take time to wash clothes, shower, dress and drive to and from classes, or hire a babysitter, you might even feel you come out ahead of the game.

Up to Questions

9. How soon can I start? When does the training begin?

You may begin immediately

• Introduce yourself to the other Associates on GooseChat, one of the Associate Lists, and begin getting to know your classmates and come to Coaching Lab and enroll a Partner Coach immediately, if you want.
• Start attending classes the same week you enroll by auditing another CGC.
• Register to take some of your Required Supplementals before your Core Group Classes [CGC] begin, often in the very same month if you enroll early enough that you don't miss the first class.

You may wait to begin

• Wait to begin your training until the month before your ACT begins its Core Group Modules, when you will prepare by taking ADD-101 and Fundamentals of Coaching.
• Wait to take additional Supplementals (other than Associate Labs) until you have completed the entire CCG, if you choose.

Up to Questions

10. How often are classes offered?

Supplemental Modules will be offered monthly on a rotating basis, scheduled to be responsive to the interests of our Associates; Required Supplementals and PreReqs will be offered most frequently. New classes will be posted quarterly. Since the curriculum is designed so that CGC Modules and Supplementals complement each other, there is no need to wait to begin unless you prefer to do it that way.

CGC Modules are demand-driven: we must have a core group before we can offer Core Group Modules. We expect to start a new CGC every 6 to 9 months.

• Monthly CGC Modules will take place at the same time with the same Core Group of Associates, 4 weekly one-hour sessions per month;
• Before you register you will know the time, night, & *TARGET StartDate* for your CGC Module series (the official StartDate is announced when the 12th person registers, with approximately 4-6 weeks lead time before the first CGC session)
• As each new Associate joins your Core Group there will be an announcement to your class, along with a welcome message on GooseChat (one of the Associate communication vehicles). You will be able to watch the class numbers rise along with us, so you will have time to clear your schedule.
• When your ACT enrolls its 12th participant, we will send a "warning" notice to each member of the ACT.

Up to Questions

11. How large are the classes?

Supplementals will have anywhere between 4-18 participants

Priority registration procedures are in place for students enrolled in the A.C.T. Program, but most of the Supplementals are open to non-Associate Coaches as well as OFI Associates. Classes that may be counted as Mentor Coaching for ICF certification are limited to 10 participants to accommodate ICF policies (primarily the GCL-6000 series).

We will open additional sections of classes that fill early. As a general rule, when we have fewer than 6 registrants on the Monday the week before the module begins; we will rescheduled those classes for the following month.

Core Group Classes [CGC] will have 14-18 participants

CGC Modules will not be scheduled until we have 12 registrants and will ONLY begin when we have 14 participants; they will be closed at 18 participants.

There may be occasional auditors making up previously missed sessions with your class or waiting for their own to begin, and your classes may be attended by members of the TeleClass Leader Team other than your class facilitator, but the participant limit is fixed. Should you need to miss a particular module, you may audit in a training following yours.

*Auditors interact only when requested.

Up to Questions

12. How soon before I begin coaching?

• Our new structure facilitates targeted "just in time learning" as never before in ADD coach training curriculum history!
• We want you to have support as you learn to structure fees and to set up your financial systems while your practice is still small enough to allow time to set them up optimally.
• Even brand new coaches will have what they need to "jump into the pool" immediately following the required course prerequisites (Orientation, ADD-101 and Fundamentals of Coaching)
• OFI has other structures in place to support and guide you with your ADD clients while you learn by experience.

Up to Questions

13. How long does it take to graduate?

With OFI's new format, the timing of graduation is flexible.

Associates become graduates only once all graduation requirements have been satisfied. Unlike the OFI format followed prior to ACT12 (more like the format used by CoachU for non-ADD Coach training), the timing of graduation will depend on the needs and desires of individual Associates.

Some Associates will embrace timing more similar to what went before OFI's curriculum restructure prior to ACT12 -- approximately 2 years from start to finish, taking only one module each month.

Individual graduation dates from members of the same class would vary to reflect how many requirements were satisfied before their CGC Modules began, how many were satisfied during their time in the CGC Modules, and how many remained to be taken after the conclusion of the CGC Modules. .

Some Associates will choose to "overlap" (doing twice as much in half the time by taking several classes each month.)

Most Associates will probably create their own unique blend of the above, enrolling for more hours when time permits and cutting back during periods when life is extremely full already.

Below are some specifics to help you see what's possible:

Hours each month	Examples	Months to reach graduation minimum
11	9 Class hrs + 2 Lab hrs/mo (2-3 classes & 1 Associate Lab), or 7 Class hrs + 4 Lab hrs/mo (2 classes & 1 Associate Lab)	12
9	7 Class hrs + 2 Lab hrs/mo (approx. 2 classes & 1 Associate Lab)	15
6	4 Class hrs + 2 Lab hrs/mo (approx. 2 classes & 1 Associate Lab)	23

As you calculate how long it will take YOU to graduate:

• Don't forget to add an additional month for the exam review process, as well as 4-6 weeks for the exam process itself.
• Remember that you will be taking classes approximately 9 months each year.
• Consider that it may be in your best interest to take it more slowly than you probably feel like you will want to in your initial eagerness to graduate.

1. OFI supports adult professionals with full lives. We hold no classes or events during:
   • December -- to accommodate holiday responsibilities
   • August -- to accommodate vacations and back-to-school activities for parents of school-aged children
   • Approximately 4 weeks for conferences -- so we all have time to prepare & attend!
   • OFI takes the entire week off for at least four national conferences each year:
     (1) ADDA & ICF always, and, depending on staff speaker schedules,
     (2) CH.A.D.D., ADDA-SR, NAPO, NSGCD, etc.
2. OFI's curriculum is extensive.
   • We have changed the format of our classes to enable you to study ADD and ADD Coaching modules in tandem, but that has added much more to the curriculum than was ever available before.
   • It makes economic sense to take advantage of every module included with your tuition, not just the ones required for graduation.
   • Once you have graduated, you will have to pay course fees for those classes.
3. Development and growth happen over time. Practice time for assimilation is essential. If you've ever taken a course like Everything You Need to Know about Computers in ONE Weekend, you know already that information delivery is one small part of the task. Intellectual understanding alone will not be nearly enough when you're one-on-one with your clients.
   • There is a great deal of ADD content to be mastered and assimilated before you will fully absorb the material that allows you to be ready to coach with sensitivity to attentional issues. Previous students spent 7-9 months in ADD-Intensive modules before moving to the Coaching Intensives, and most thought that was not long enough!
   • Most of the Supplemental modules build on information & skills developed in the CGC Modules and Prerequisite Supplementals, building your coaching fluency layer by layer. That kind of development can't be fast-tracked! Supplementals will be scheduled to encourage you to pursue areas of interest in more depth, accommodating the interests and abilities of each new group. We can tailor our mix of classes to A.C.T. participants because our structure leaves room for that kind of flexibility, but you really won't have a realistic idea of what you want to learn until you field test your new skills.
   • It will take using each new skill in Coaching Labs and with your clients to "set" the concepts and make them your own. Taking advantage of the opportunity to learn this lesson during your training years will pay dividends in practice growth, sustainability and DOLLARS. Don't learn this lesson the hard way!
4. OFI develops ADD MasterCoaches, we do NOT "deliver" ADD Coach Training. Our most important goal is to be able to say that, given fit, we would refer our loved ones to any OFI graduate -- without hesitation!

Up to Questions

14. What about Certification?

OFI's curriculum will prepare you for certification. Our curriculum was designed to be "certification compliant" even before there was a certification process!

OFI's founder, Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, represented OFI and ADD Coaching as one of the 8 "coaching schools" who participated on the initial International Coach Federation Accreditation Program Panels -- she helped to develop the Accreditation policies and procedures.

• If you acquire the coaching hours ICF requires (a greater number of hours than the OFI graduation requirement), you will be certification eligible when you graduate. Merely signing up and attending classes guarantees nothing, however, even if you graduate with flying colors.
• As with any graduate of any coach training program, certification is not automatic. You must submit an application documenting your qualifications in a number of areas, coach training hours and client coaching hours among them.
• It is up to you to apply -- as well as to make sure you do the work so that ICF's Certification Committee can approve your application.
• The Orientation materials include the current ICF requirements. Available on the Downloads Page are two documents outlining a comparison between the current ICF requirements and the OFI curriculum, so you can compare them for yourself!
• You will see that, even if you are a brand new to coaching and the A.C.T. program is the only coach training you receive, graduation from the A.C.T. Program will give you all of the "Coach-specific content hours" required for ICF certification at the PCC level -- and then some!
• Associates with prior training may use OFI classes as MCC Certification hours.
• Associates who become Certified before graduation counted the remainder of their training hours as ICF recertification hours, documenting ongoing skills acquisition in a process that must be repeated every three years to maintain ICF certification. If you intend to be certification eligible when you graduate, make sure you can document the coaching hours that ICF requires for certification during your time at OFI -- before you graduate!
• The sooner you begin coaching, the sooner you will be able to document those coaching requirements!

Up to Questions

15. Will I be certified as an ADD Coach?

Until ADD Coaches have a specific industry-wide certification, the source of your training will be your most important credential. You will become associated with the quality of the coaching of your colleagues, an indirect measure of the quality of your training.

OFI is the industry LEADER, and OFI Associates have a track record for excellence and leadership.

OFI was the first ADD Coach Training, and the only comprehensive training for years. As an OFI Associate you will be aligned with the successes of OFI and of those who have been comprehensively trainee for over a decade.

The largest community college in the United States, Northern Virginia Community College [NOVA], contracted with OFI to train one of their faculty, Denise Bausch-ACT12, in preparation for her implementation of a coaching program for their students.

OFI was also approved by Union College in Cincinnati as part of the research toward a dissertation on learning differences and attentional issues. Dr. Gisele Terrell-ACT6 received her Ph.D. shortly before OFI graduation, mentor coached by one of our faculty, Dr. Francena Hancock-ACT1.

The Institute has passed the qualifications for vendor status with vocational rehabilitation agencies in several states who paid the tuition for several of our students

Up to Questions

16. What have other OFI Associates have done with their training?

Four of the six Chairs of the Subcommittees who jointly developed the ADDA Coaching Guidelines are OFI Associates:

Linda Anderson-ACT2, MCC; David Giwerc-ACT2, MCC; Mary Jane Johnson-ACT4, PCC; and Hope Langner-ACT2, PCC; along with Subcommittee Member Barbara Luther-ACT1, MCC.

Each of these Associates held leadership positions at OFI as they built their practices and reputations. Mary Jane, who was instrumental in the founding of ADDA and served for several years as ADDA's first President, managed OFI's sliding-scale national Coaching Clinic and edited and produced IN-Formation, the OFI Associate newsletter. David served in a succession of roles at OFI, from TCL to Director of Training - culminating in his tenure as OFI's President.

Holly Hamilton-ACT2, MCC & Dee Doochin-ACT4, PCC: ADD-Up, and the coaches of the ADDed Dimension Coaching Group (Kate Kelly-ACT3, Peggy Ramundo-ACT7, Dave Brattain-ACT9, Cameron Gott-ACT8, Mary Jane Johnson-ACT4, PCC, D. Steven Ledingham-ACT12) have formed coaching companies in association with one another;

Jo Ellen Fisher-ACT11 has done in-service training in school systems, set up relationships with Sylvan Learning Centers, spoken before her Congressmen on ADD issues, and worked in tandem with physicians (as has Vicki Dial-ACT6);

Josephine Ciluffo-ACT3 (California) and Pat Wood-ACT11 (Delaware) are among those who have served in top leadership roles in their state's CH.A.D.D. chapters;

Multi-lingual British Associate Lupita Volio-ACT10, offers trainings and seminars in England and Spain;

Canadian Barbara Durst-ACT6, MCC has been profiled in countless publications for her ADD expertise and has been referred by the courts to coach parolees

Tammy [Rosengarten] Cochrane-ACT9, is developing ADD coaching concepts for use by nurses to help each other as well as families in crisis, noting that, "when you have a loved one on advanced life support even the most normal normie has a temporary case of ADD." Out of her languaging of her belief that "the coaching conversation, once comprehended and utilized by the nursing profession, could make a huge difference in health care," she has been requested to share coaching skills with the nurses in a hospital settings as part of their continuing education hours.

More than a few of OFI's graduates went on to offer their own classes: David Giwerc left OFI to form his own ADD Coach training company (ADDCA)!

Up to Questions

17. What about OFI's faculty?

When the Head Goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs with people or with geese flying South. Our "point geese" rotate in and out of the wing as new leaders emerge from our community, each participating in the training to be able to understand how the OFI process DEVELOPS coaches.

In addition to guest lecturers, some of the other faculty members have included the following individuals. Most are noted ADD Advocates and speakers. All are practicing ADD Coaches and the large majority are diagnostically ADD themselves.

Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, MCC is a founder of the ADD Coaching field as well as the founder and CEO of OFI and ADDCoach.com™. She was one of the first coaches to be invited to speak nationally as a recognized expert on ADD and ADD Coaching, and has been among the roster of speakers at conferences sponsored by ICF, The National Mental Health Alliance's Institute of Behavioral Health, CHADD, national ADDA, The Kitty Petty Institute for LD and ADD, and ADDA-SR.

As one of the 4-coach team of ADD Coaching founders she designed and organized the first ADD-specific Coaching Forum in 1997, part of the annual ADDA conference co-sponsored by the Wayne State University School of Medicine. She represented ADD Coaching on a panel of 8 coach training institutes in the development of the International Coach Federation's Accreditation policies and standards, and is working to develop an ADD-specific Coach Certification.

A non-ADD coaching field pioneer as well, "MGH" was the second graduate of the first coaching institute in the world, Coach U. She served on their faculty as a Senior Trainer from 1994 to 2000, when she left to focus on training ADD Coaches specifically. She was among the first group to be awarded ICF's highest level of certification, Master Certified Coach.

Dr. Francena Hancock-ACT1 is certified by the Irlen Institute as screener for Irlen Syndrome (formerly referred to as scotopic sensitivity) and an active partner with The BrainStyles System®. She and has been asked to share her ADD Coaching expertise with conferences and groups in the United States and Europe, and her approach has been warmly received. Francena is a self-described "granny nanny" in a cooperative living situation where the entire family is diagnostically ADD.

Kate Kelly-ACT4 & Peggy Ramundo-ACT7 co-authors of You Mean I'm NOT Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?! and The ADDed Dimension, and members of The ADDed Dimension Coaching Group are ADD mothers of ADD young adults

Kate is an advanced practice mental health nurse with twenty-two years experience as a family, group and individual therapist. She has specialized in working with AD/HD adults for over thirteen years and is the founder of the ADDed Dimension Coaching Group.

Peggy is an educator with twenty five years experience as a classroom teacher, educational consultant, parent workshop facilitator, and teacher trainer who has specialized in AD/HD for the over fourteen years, focusing on the needs of older adolescents and adults.

Thom Hartmann-ACT10, a licensed therapist and certified NLP trainer who studied under Bandler himself, is the author of 14 books and 5 anthologies (including ADD, a Different Perception, Thom Hartmann's Comprehensive Guide to ADD, Focus Your Energy, and The Edison Gene). He also hosts one of America's largest nationally syndicated progressive radio talk shows daily, heard in 57 markets.

Thom combines coaching and NLP technique with his similarly credentialed wife and business partner, Louise (also ACT10) in their own coaching company, Shadow Coaching. They have successfully parented several of their children to ADDulthood, and Thom is an active supporter and founder of ADD-friendly alternative educational and living situations for children.

Dr. Diana Edwards, Ph.D.-ACT2, a licensed therapist with certifications in EMDR, Jaxon-Bear Enneagram Training, Hurley/Donson Advanced Enneagram Teacher training and Thought Field Technique, shares a depth of knowledge in a number of alternative treatment approaches, including neurofeedback, 12-Step Recovery, Cognitive Behavioral and Brief, Solution-focused Therapies. She is also the creator of the PowerPlanner™, developed especially as a tool for coaches to use with time-challenged clients to help them learn to accomplish goals within time's boundaries.

Denslow Brown-ACT3, MCC (pending), dubbed "The High Priestess of Organizing" in her appearance on Good Morning America, is OFI's Coaching Lab Director, also assuming total accountability for the enrollment and training of the entire lab team. With experience in the mental health field in both the non-profit and corporate sectors, Denslow combines her ADD Coaching expertise with 30 years' experience with organizational challenges from her vantage point as a pioneer with the National Organization of Professional Organizers and The National Study Group for the Chronically Disorganized, as well as frequent national exposure as a presenter/trainer for NAPO, NSGCD, and ADDA. Denslow has been featured in all major media and authors an organizing column in a regional Midwest magazine, Today's Woman Journal. She is also OFI's expert on gender diversity.

Pat Wood-ACT11, with primary accountability for ADD-101, is the mother of two teens with AD/HD and a founding member of the Greater Newark Chapter of CHADD (founded 1995), serving as Chapter Coordinator for four years. She currently chairs two CH.A.D.D. committees: the Education/In-service Committee, conducting state-wide presentations to parents, teachers, counselors and law enforcement officials, and the Special Programming Committee, presenting yearly conferences with nationally known experts. In addition to teaching our primary prerequisite, Pat also facilitates OFI's ADD Hour™ supporting CH.A.D.D. Coordinators and ADD Support Group Facilitators.

D. Steven Ledingham-ACT12, in the final stages of obtaining an Education masters degree, author of The Scoutmasters Guide to ADD, Self-Help Group Skills Development Modules and co-author of Managing & Sustaining Your AD/HD Adult Self-Help Group and The ADDed Dimension with Kate and Peggy, is OFI's expert on ADD Men's Issues, An "uber geek," he brings several years of supporting the disabilities community with technical issues as well. He is the founder of a number of ADD online communities, including ADD support in the ASK community of HealthyPlace.com and ADHDmen.com. Steven facilitates OFI's monthly ADD Hour™ on Men's Issues, and will be taking accountability for several of the classes recently added to our curriculum.

Cameron Gott-ACT8, a former teacher and outdoor educator and current member of The ADDed Dimension Coaching Group who has been coaching for 6 years, is one of the facilitators of OFI's Associate Lab. Since training with OFI, Cam received additional coaching certification (CPCC) through the Coaches Training Institute and presents workshops on ADD coaching, and on finding time for fun.

Up to Questions

18. What am I paying for? What's included?

More than 219 hours of training:

• 12 CGC Modules, 4 hourly sessions each month
• Over 108 hours of Associate Labs
• 78 hours of Supplementals of any kind (20 hrs beyond graduation requirements for free!)
• 33 additional hours of C Supplementals ("33 for Free")
• Access to taped replays for all CGC Modules and many of the Supplementals.

• The official A.C.T. Manual
• Supplemental text
• Forms & models to jumpstart your Welcome Packet and practice management

At least 12 months of Partner Coaching, where you will further refine and practice ADD coaching skills & distinctions, adding to the coaching hours you must document for graduation & certification.

A subscription to 2 Associate Forums

GooseChat & The GooseList, where you will post and respond to requests for assistance and participate in the ongoing process of staying globally well-informed in this rapidly changing field.

Your name & contacts on The A.C.T. MasterList -- where Associates go first for referrals -- and a copy of the contacts of the other Associates

Tuition ALSO includes the right to audit any subsequent CGC and attend and participate in all Associate Labs at no additional charge -- FOREVER!

• BEFORE you begin the CGC curriculum
• DURING the time you are studying the CGC Modules with your ACT
• AFTER you graduate!

Up to Questions

19. What's required to graduate?

136 hours of TeleClass training (110 Live Contact hours required)

• 48 hours CGC Modules
• 58 hours Supplementals
• 30 hours Coaching Lab

84 hours of Coaching

• 48 hours Partner Coaching Client-hours over at least 12 months
• 36 hours ADD Coaching Client-hours over a period of at least 12 months (including at least 5 clients over a period of 5 months).

Passing graduation exams

Up to Questions

20. What about homework?

Besides homework assigned in class, OFI expects that you will read the required supplemental texts and each of the modules, spending time on the discussion questions at the end of each one and homework assigned within the modules between classes. We also expect you to invest time honing web skills, if necessary, using web research to help you expand your reputation and design your practice, and on activities that will forward your growth as a coach.

Up to Questions

21. How much time will it take each week?

At the low end, there is approximately one hour of class and thirty minutes of partner coaching each week, and a two-hour Associate Lab session monthly -- about eight hours a month.

Plan to spend at least thirty minutes a week on assigned homework, about an hour reading each written module and going over the discussion questions at the end, and at least ninety minutes reviewing your class notes and GooseChat posts.

• If you are taking one class and one Lab a month that works out to approximately twelve and a half hours monthly (a little over 3 hours each week overall).
• Add client coaching hours and time for additional monthly classes to that figure, along with the time it will take you to read the 6 required books, the time you might have to spend bringing your internet and email skills up to speed.

Up to Questions

22. Tell me about the exams -- what are they like?

• Written exams of two types:
  1. Closed book multiple choice sections to test your retention of basic knowledge.
  2. Open book multiple choice section to test your ability to access information from course resources.
• An oral exam
  1. where you will discuss theory & demonstrate your ability to use what you know in mock coaching situations.
  2. Several senior coaches will form a juried panel submitting evaluations for this portion of the exam, averaged to provide your score.

Up to Questions

23. What if I don't pass my exams?

OFI is fully aware of what it takes to test the student's information base rather then his or her test taking skills and what accommodations are necessary to allow ADDers to demonstrate the knowledge they possess.

• The written portions
  1. are "recognition" rather than "retrieval" based
  2. have no time limits
• The oral portion
  1. uses a format similar to the familiar TeleClass discussions
  2. 2-3 candidates sit for the two-hour oral exam session together
  3. Oral exam questions are answered in a round-robin fashion -- if your pre-frontal cortex tends to shut down under exam pressure you will be given a chance to demonstrate your knowledge by piggy-backing off the comments of someone else until it has a chance to "reboot."
  4. Oral exam facilitators include ACT Graduates who are sensitive to your situation because they've been through it themselves, AND
  5. if your coach is an OFI graduate, you may elect to have that coach as one of your exam facilitators

Take advantage of the fact that you have the privilege of auditing classes and participating in labs at no charge while you prepare to retake exams -- they will help remind you of everything you will know by the time you are preparing to graduate!

Up to Questions

24. Will you review what is available in the training?

• Facility with ADD Coaching skills
• A thorough understanding of ADD
• 6 CGC months devoted to exploring coaching skills
• 4 CGC months focused on ADD: background, history, neurology, memory issues, etiology, symptoms, treatment & distinctions
• 4 additional coaching-focused months of R--Supplementals
• 5 additional ADD-focused months of R--Supplementals
• 5 more Coaching-focused months of C--Supplementals available at your option
• 5 more ADD-focused months of C--Supplementals available at your option
• A menu of over 30 more choices of Coaching-focused Supplemental Modules to allow you to explore your particular coaching interests in more depth
• A menu of over 24 more choices of in-depth ADD--focused Supplemental Modules to allow you to explore your areas of interest in more detail
• Practice and information review during weekly TeleClasses
• and numerous hours of specialty Coaching Labs
• A Practice Management Curriculum designed to JumpStart your business
• A menu of 17 Modules covering a variety of areas of Practice Management -- over 40 hours of available to help you with the business of running a coaching practice
• Your choice of 10 of those Practice Management hours for graduation
• Business classes that takes attentional issues into account: as they are taught, as well as in the systems we teach you
• Supervised experience in all phases of ADD Coaching in a variety of coaching labs
• Fees: negotiating, collecting, record keeping Medication issues Intake: interviewing as well as initiating Your Client's Team: working with others
• Strategizing: prioritizing the coaching Action-based coaching: keeping clients enrolled & in action

Up to Questions

25. What's my investment?

• less than $17 per credit hour if you take advantage of everything your tuition includes
• less than $29.50 per credit hour if you only take the classes required for graduation.

Up to Questions

26. When is tuition due? Must it be paid all at once?

We must receive a registration deposit before you can register for classes, and prefer to receive your ACT Tuition payment in full at registration:

Full tuition with enrollment :

$4400 ACT13

$4800 ACT14

$5000 ACT15

Payment Options: For a limited time, we are exploring two payment options for qualified candidates who cannot manage a single lump-sum payment -- to offer an opportunity to register for Required Supplementals with ACT13 and to register for the A.C.T. Program before tuition prices rise.

BOTH options include bookkeeping and administration charges of 10%, and both are initiated by payment of a non-refundable $1840 registration deposit ($3000 balance, $4840 total)

The deposit reserves your "seat" in ACT13 until the 12th enrollment and guarantees your tuition (details below),

1. "The Payment Plan"

$1840 non-refundable registration deposit followed by FOUR monthly payments of $750, beginning on the 1st day of the second month after the month you register

For example: if you register on September 15 with a deposit of $1840, your first payment of $750 would be expected to arrive on November 1st,

with monthly payments sent to arrive on the first of the following three month, December 1, January 1, and March 1.

[Notice that a payment is still due in months that OFI is not in session, like December]

Until we have received your tuition in full, class attendance may not exceed the number of classes you would be able to take if you were to pay non-Associate fees for those classes individually unless you have requested and received written exception.

As long as you remain current with your payments, you may register for Supplementals, attend an unlimited number of hours of Associate Coaching Lab and audit current classes (as if you had paid in full.)

2. "The Layaway Plan"

$1840 registration deposit, which entitles you to attend the 3 A.C.T. Program Pre-Reqs

1. ADD-101: What IS ADD?

2. ADD-1130: Fundamentals of Coaching

3. ADD-1140: ADD Coaching Basics

and two additional Supplementals, to be taken in the first three months following your enrollment.

Any additional classes must be paid for individually as you register for them, at non-Associate fees (roughly $99 to $350 per module, depending on content and duration) - but the entire amount is "in layaway" toward the balance of your tuition.

You may attend Associate Labs for two months following registration, and in any month you have registered for at least one class.

With EITHER Payment Option:

No Associate may begin CGC Modules until tuition is paid in full.

We will not be able to continue to reserve space for you as a member of the ACT13 CGC if you have not paid the balance of your tuition within ten days following the enrollment of the 12th ACT13 Associate.

• On the tenth day we will release all reservations that are not secured by full tuition so that we will be able to enroll the 12 participants necessary to be able to announce a CGC start date.

• We will close the class upon the enrollment of the 18th participant or the start of the CGC (whichever comes first).

Although your ACT13 CGC "seat" is no longer reserved, as long as there are fewer than 18 "full pay" enrollments we will accept outstanding tuition balances and allow you to start CGC Modules with ACT13 (as late as 2PM on the day the of the first CGC session).

If ACT13 fills before you are able to complete your tuition payment, you will automatically become one of the first members of ACT14. However, your tuition is guaranteed by your registration deposit -- we will apply your ACT13 tuition to ACTs 14 or 15 as payment in full.

CGC Audits

* Students on The Payment Plan may audit ACT13 CGC classes as long as you remain current with your payments.

* Students on the Layaway Plan may audit only in months where you are enrolled in another class.

Audit policies in both cases rely on the Associates for adherence to our honor system. You will become a member of both Associate Lists shortly following the time of your Registration, and will receive announcements of class times and bridge numbers.

We trust our students to honor OFI's policies, primary among them is our NO LURKING stand: all attendees announce themselves as they dial into a class and participate in the ending comments – the emotional safety of our community is sacred. We currently have no policy in place to handle lurkers beyond our current "zero tolerance" policy for breeches of confidentiality, strongly stated to curb impulsive comments outside classes.

Up to Questions

27. How do I register?

OFI processes tuition payments through PayPal, an online payment processing service (www.PayPal.com). You must have a PayPal account for bookkeeping purposes.

After you tell us that you are ready to enroll, you will receive an email "Request for Payment" for the full tuition at the time you enroll. The email will contain a hyperlink for you to click that will take you directly to the appropriate section of the PayPal site.

• If you don't already have an existing PayPal account, PayPal will prompt you through each step of the process of establishing one. If you have trouble, or would like to have one of us assist you, send an email to support@addcoach.com with "Help with Registration" as the subject line. Type your name and phone number in the body of the email. Someone will contact you shortly after we receive that email to "walk you through the process."
• If you have already set up a PayPal account, PayPal will prompt you to log in before sending funds.

Up to Questions

28. Are there charges for this PayPal account?

There are fees for receiving money, but there are no charges to anyone using PayPal for making payments of this type, or sending money generally.

Up to Questions

29. How do I use my PayPal account to pay my tuition?

1. send funds currently in an existing PayPal account
2. transfer funds from your regular bank account to your PayPal account (formerly existing or newly created)
3. charge your tuition to a major credit card

PayPal will allow you to fill in any other payment amount at time of payment or to cancel the request altogether.

• The request for payment does not obligate you for full tuition at registration, or for any payment at all, and it is not necessary to cancel the request yourself. OFI automatically inactivates requests that are not acted upon;
• NOR does it imply that you may use one of the Payment Options without payment of the bookkeeping and administration charges of 10%. Regardless of the amount of money requested, or the amount of money in your PayPal account, you will not be able to send more than $2,000* until you have a verified PayPal account. (*PayPal changes their limits occasionally. $2,000 was accurate as of October, 2003.)

Up to Questions

30. What is a "verified" PayPal account?

Up to Questions

31. How does PayPal verify my account?

• STEP ONE: When you enter the information about your bank account, make SURE you answer the prompts EXACTLY the same way that the information appears in your bank's records, even if your bank misspelled your name or street address or left out your apartment number, or you will experience delays.
• STEP TWO: PayPal will make two small deposits into your bank account (for example, six cents and seventeen cents), and will send you an email with a verification link shortly thereafter. PayPal makes those deposits relatively quickly, but different banks take different lengths of time to process these deposits. Some Associates have become verified within 2 days, but it can take up to a week, especially if your information was not IDENTICAL to the information in your bank's records.
• STEP THREE: When their small deposits have been processed by your bank and you know the amounts, click the link inside their verification email and enter those amounts on the form found on the page where you are sent by the link. That's it! At that point you are "verified" and restrictions on sending and receiving money will be relaxed.

You will learn about the value of using PayPal for client payments in some of your classes.

Also apply for the PayPal Cash Card as soon as you are verified -- the easiest and quickest way to access funds in your PayPal account -- since it will take a while for that process to complete and for you to receive your card.

Up to Questions

32. What if I want to pay my entire tuition at registration but I don't have a verified account?

Reserve your seat with a deposit equal to PayPal's current deposit limit while you are waiting to be verified ($2,000 in October 2003).

OFI will accept that amount, accompanied by a note in the comments section of the PayPal form stating that you are in the process of verification, as if we had already received your full tuition as long as you send the balance within one week.

You become eligible for full Associate status classes just as soon as we are informed of your initial payment (PayPal generates an email to OFI when you send payment).

To "end-run" the ADD tendency to be lax about follow-through: If we have not received PayPal notification that you have paid the balance of your tuition within one week of your reservation deposit, we will credit your initial payment as a deposit toward one of the payment options.

After one week your tuition automatically increases by 10% to include bookkeeping and administration charges. unless we have received the balance.

We will extend the time limit if your bank takes longer to post the verification amounts or some other technical difficulty makes it impossible for you to complete the verification process within a week, but it is your responsibility to let us know that you are on top of things before the deadline.

Up to Questions

33. What if I want to enroll using one of the Payment Plan Options?

• The Payment Plan -- 4 subsequent payments of $725) or
• The Layaway Plan (additional classes are "pay as you go," with all payments credited toward your tuition)

Up to Questions

34. What's my next step?

The purpose of Orientation is three-fold:

1. to make sure we answer candidate questions so that they can make informed enrollment decisions,
2. to detail the process of enrollment for those who choose to study here, and
3. to let new Associates know how to "find their way around the school."

Up to Questions

35. What happens at ACT Answers/Orientation?

1. You'll receive more accurate and complete information no matter what you ask.
2. You'll get a feeling about the people who set the policies and procedures, and a sense of how they will be carried out.
3. You'll get a better feel for what it's like to learn over the phone, and for the communication style of the classes themselves.
4. You won't feel like such a "new kid" when you begin the classes themselves, and you won't have to spend part of your initial class time adjusting to a strange environment - once you've spent time with the trainers, you'll recognize a "friendly face" or two.

Up to Questions

36. May I speak with someone before I commit to Orientation?

The Q&A procedure simply ensures a time when active TeleClass Leaders, most often the founder herself, will be available to answer your questions about coaching, ADD Coaching and the ACT Program -- to orient you to the way we develop ADD Coaches at OFI.

We believe you will get a better sense of OFI by asking your initial questions at Orientation, because the people you will be talking to conduct the training you will be taking.

Remember, we work on the phone -- we're not office-available in the same way a non-teaching, administrative staff might be. By coming to Orientation, you will be able to get the answers to your questions from someone who will be leading your TeleClasses or from the person who developed the program.

It's the first step.

Up to Questions

37. I still have some questions, what do I do now?

• Download, print and peruse the rest of the materials on the download page.
• Register for ACT Answers/Orientation where you will be able to ask as many questions as you like, even if you've attended before!

We look forward to meeting you at Orientation! OFI stands behind every coach we graduate -- during training and after graduation.