LOSING THINGS…is this your teen’s life?

Posted on 24. Aug, 2010 by Joan Azarva in Articles

When I work with private clients, I customize the sessions to meet their needs. One particular student, a rising senior in high school, complained of constantly losing things due to disorganization. My job is to come up with a solution that the student will “buy into”. In this case, technology saved the day. I found a product that filled the need perfectly.

I found 2-Way RF FOFA® Find One Find All® 2 Key Finders and 2 Wallet Locators (4 Piece Set) billed as a “key finder”, and decided to give it a try. It turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.

If your teen is typical of those with ADHD or executive function issues, she’s left a jacket here, a pair of gloves there, perhaps a cell phone somewhere else. While it’s exasperating as a parent, according to Dr. Kathleen Nadeau, a nationally-recognized ADD expert and author whom I interviewed last year, the pre-frontal lobes of our brain–the sections responsible for planning, organizing, and thinking about consequences–continue to develop until we’re about thirty years old. Wow! That means our kids aren’t losing things purposely to aggravate us! It also means it can go on happening for a l-o-o-o-n-g time!

So, if forgetting is rooted in physiology, what can we do to prevent it?

You’ve probably tried rewards, consequences, Post-It notes, etc. to no avail, right? I am happy to report I have finally found something that does the trick. It not only prevents loss, but it salvages self-esteem, just when your child starts to convince himself he really is a bumbling fool!

Find One Find All consists of six transmitters that all act as base units. You can use as many as 6 sets, or 36 transmitters. So, when you find one, you now have a way to locate any of the others!

I never recommend anything I don’t have personal experience with, so when I endorse a product it’s because I have seen results first-hand. To my client’s credit, he was well aware of his tendency to lose things, and he was fed up wasting countless hours searching, when he could be putting that time to better use. In his case, he purchased 6 sets, or 36 transmitters, in all! At the time we met, he was preparing to travel to a 4-week academic program and was bringing ALL his gadgets. He wanted to be certain not to lose anything.

He attached sensors to everything from his Ipod, to his keys, to his wallet, to his computer, to his countless adaptor cords, and to his notebooks. He even managed, through a feat of engineering, to attach a sensor to his Livescribe pen! The results were amazing. Now he was able to locate misplaced items (within 30 feet). This made all the difference in the world to him.

As one woman said in an online review, it’s like buying an add-on hard drive or RAM for your brain!

Tags: ADD, Find One Find All, losing things