The ACCESS program has strong research support! It was created, developed, and tested over a period of ten years. Under the direction of Drs. Arthur D. Anastopoulos and Kristen King, ACCESS was initially evaluated at UNC Greensboro in an open clinical trial including 88 undergraduate students. With promising results, ACCESS was then tested in a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) including 250 students at UNC Greensboro and Virginia Commonwealth University under the direction of Drs. Anastopoulos and Joshua M. Langberg, respectively.

Even six months after the program ended, students still demonstrated improvements in many areas, including:

• Knowledge and understanding of ADHD

• Time management and other executive functioning skills

• Adaptive thinking skills 

• Attention span 

• Study skills and strategies

• Daily functioning and personal well-being

• Use of disability accommodations

For more information on the research backing of the ACCESS program, as well as Dr. Anastopoulos’ current work with ACCESS, visit: empoweringstudents4success.com.

Across the 8 weeks of the ACCESS program, each session includes topics related to the three content areas: (1) knowledge of ADHD, (2) skills and strategies, and (3) adaptive (i.e., helpful) thinking.

Each session builds on the content from the previous week, so regular attendance is strongly encouraged. General topics covered in each session are depicted below. Students are also encouraged to offer ideas and support to one another, which students have repeatedly reported to be one of their favorite aspects of their ACCESS group experience.