MEET MARY ANN
CERTIFIED FACILITATOR
Mary Ann
Through my background as a special education teacher and a master life coach, I am able to offer individuals with the diagnosis of ADHD an opportunity for living a more quality life. I approach ADHD coaching with a view that my clients are individuals first, who happen to have the diagnosis of ADHD. While ADHD can be disruptive to quality life functioning, the individual is so much more then the diagnosis.
When I was training as a coach, we learned the value “Live It to Give It”. I also have the diagnosis of ADHD, and so I’ve applied the strategies and tools I use to help clients in my own life. This gives me a deeper understanding of the scattered thinking and approach to life that is part of the challenge of living with ADHD. I coached myself to learn to manage many of the obstacles that life with ADHD presents.
My Motivation for Working with Adults
I realize that Young Adults and Adult clients may have missed out on guidance on coping with ADHD. I’m dedicated to my adult clients and fully believe that it’s possible for them to live well with ADHD, I use life coaching tools to help my clients understand themselves and what really motivates them, and frame my coaching around helping my adult clients meet their life goals.
My Motivation for Working with Children and Parents
My career as a special education teacher gave me a chance to work with students from elementary to high school age with varied learning differences. I observed the progress of students in the classroom and strongly believe that school-aged children and teens deserve the opportunity to learn tools to give them success in school and to develop social skills. I love the opportunity to coach individually on a 1:1 basis, because I can give my clients laser-focused time to focus on exactly what they need.
I’m also a parenting coach and a frequent speaker for parenting classes.
My Special Education Qualifications
I graduated from the University of North Texas in 1980 with a Master’s Degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Educational Assessment. As I began to note that the brain research provided incredible implications for educating individuals with mild learning differences, I took 20 hours of Post Graduate work in Brain Compatible Learning (also referred to as Mediated Learning).
In addition to my work in the classroom, I have been an Instructor for the Teacher Education Department at California Lutheran University and the University of California at Northridge, teaching courses on behavior management and on including students with special needs in the general education setting.
My Coach Training
When I heard about the rise of the life coaching profession, I realized that I’d been coaching individuals for years without the title. I decided I wanted to start practicing as a coach formally, so I took Life Coach and Master Life Coach certifications through Martha Beck Incorporated.
