The Nueva School's Innovative Learning Conference

Welcome to VAST (Variable Attention Stimulus Trait), Ned Hallowell’s new name for an expanded version of ADHD. Because Dr. Hallowell sees ADHD not as a disorder but as a trait, he thinks it is important to describe it in language that does not pathologize the condition. While ADHD can certainly ruin a person's life, if properly taken care of it can turn that life into one of greatness and joy, a major contribution to the world.

Drawing on 30-plus years of professional work in the field and a lifetime of his own personal experiences, Dr. Hallowell will review how ADHD affects academic achievement and offer scientific underpinnings of positive psychology for educators to use to unwrap the gifts embedded in ADHD, while also dealing with the problems this trait creates.

Dr. Hallowell will show you how to reframe the challenges of ADHD in terms of mirror traits, the positive sides of the negative symptoms associated with ADHD — for example, hyperactive/restless = energetic; disorganized = spontaneous; impulsive = creative; and more. By recognizing the mirror traits, you avoid the ravages of shame and fear.

He will also introduce material he has not addressed before, including the overlap of creativity and dark thoughts and how to control those by mastering the DMN (Default Mode Network); the idea of VAST as the "lover, the lunatic, and the poet"; the story of Dav Pilkey, author of Captain Underpants; and the supreme value of Vitamin Connect.

Participants will learn:
• to view ADHD/VAST not as a disorder, but as a trait.
• to reframe the Challenges of ADHD
• to master the DMN, the Default Mode Network.
• the value of Vitamin Connect