What is access?
Accessing Campus Connections and Empowering Student Success – ACCESS - is an innovative, evidence-based program for college students displaying features of Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Based on cognitive-behavioral principles, ACCESS provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary for academic, personal, and social success.
Group and individual mentoring sessions are conducted concurrently across two consecutive semesters to meet the goals of ACCESS, which are to:
- Give students research supported knowledge of ADHD appropriate to their developmental level as young adults
- Increase student awareness and mastery of behavioral strategies addressing a variety of executive functioning challenges associated with ADHD (e.g., time management, organization, planning)
- Teach students how to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and to replace them with thinking strategies that promote academic success and personal well-being
- Educate and empower students to utilize various campus support services (e.g., disability accommodations, counseling, student health) that can be used in combination with ACCESS
ACTIVE PHASE
During the first semester of ACCESS, known as the active phase, students participate in 8 weekly 90-minute group sessions. In each group session, students receive information that increases their knowledge of ADHD, use of behavioral strategies, and adaptive thinking skills. Students also have an opportunity to hear staff from various campus support units describe their services (e.g., disability accommodations, counseling, student health). An additional benefit of the group format is that it creates opportunities for peer support and social connections among participants.
Concurrent with these group sessions, students participate in 8-10 weekly 30-minute individual meetings with a mentor. In these one-on-one meetings mentors: (1) briefly review what was discussed in the group tailored to the student’s unique needs, (2) monitor student progress towards short-term and long-term goals, and (3) help students connect with campus support units whose services might benefit them.
MAINTENANCE PHASE
ACCESS also includes a semester-long maintenance phase, the purpose of which is to prepare students for continuing to use their newly acquired knowledge and skills on their own after the program ends. During this phase, students have an opportunity to continue practicing and refining what they learned during the active phase. To this end, students attend one “booster” group session at the start of this second semester, after which they can participate in 4-6 individual meetings with their mentor, based on student need and scheduling preferences.
