ADDventure Conference

Choose Your Own ADDventure Conference 2026

Since 2009, the LEP has partnered with other DU departments as well as community resources to host "Choose Your Own ADDventure" for learning differences (LD)/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) families and professionals. It's a FREE, half-day conference that explores and increases the understanding of the many nuances of ADHD and LD.

Event Information

Date: Saturday, April 25th, 2026

Time: 8:45am-3:00pm

Location: Katherine A. Ruffatto Hall, 1999 E. Evans Ave, Denver, CO 80208

Park in the Lot E across from Ruffatto Hall south of Evans Ave - please note, this is a pay by the hour lot. There is also on street parking, however please be mindful of the 1 hour time limit on most streets immediately surrounding campus. Please note, Family Weekend is occurring on April 25, so parking may be limited.

2026 Keynote Speaker: Jesse Sanchez, President The Neurodiversity Alliance

2026 Keynote Jesse Sanchez is a dynamic leader and storyteller whose work and life embody the power of neurodiversity. From founding The Neurodiversity Alliance’s Eye to Eye Mentoring chapter as a UC Berkeley student to serving as President of The Neurodiversity Alliance, he has spent over a decade championing inclusion while navigating his own experiences with ADHD and learning differences. His journey spans building mentoring programs, leading in the tech sector, and guiding national initiatives that elevate neurodivergent voices. As a father of three, including a son on the spectrum, Jesse brings both professional expertise and personal insight to every stage, inspiring audiences to see the brilliance in every mind and rethink what leadership and success can look like.

Event Schedule

Overview:

• 8:45am: Check-in, Sign up for Breakout sessions - KRH 106/Commons
• 9:00am: Welcome & Keynote Introduction - KRH 106/Commons
• 9:30am-10:30am: Keynote Q&A - KRH 106/Commons
• 10:35am-11:35am: Breakout Session 1 with Q&A
• 11:40am-12:40pm: Breakout Session 2 with Q&A
• 12:40pm-1:40pm: Lunch Anthony's Pizza & Salad - KRH 106/Commons
• 1:40pm-2:40pm: Breakout Session 3 with Q&A
• 2:40pm-3:00pm: Conference Reflection - KRH 106/Commons

Breakout Rooms: 

*Please see session descriptions and presenter bios in the drop-downs below this section.

10:35-11:35 Breakout Sessions

11:40-12:40 Breakout Sessions

1:40-2:40 Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session Descriptions & Presenter Bios

• Monterey Buchanan: Strength Based Tutoring

   

  Monterey Buchanan 

  Strength Based Tutoring for ADHD Monterey has ten years of tutoring experience, two of them spent supporting and learning from DU LEP students. She has also presented at several tutoring conferences, though this is her first con at DU. Monterey earned her BA in English from Earlham College in 2012, and her MFA in Creative Writing from Regis University in 2019. When she is not tutoring, Monterey enjoys reading YA novels, working on her own creative writing, attending plays, exercising, and playing with her dogs, Zorro and Cassie. She also has mild cerebral palsy.  Strength Based Tutoring for ADHD Monterey Buchanan MFA has been tutoring since 2012, and with the LEP since 2020 and works with a wide range of neurodiverse students including students with ADHD.  This presentation will identify strengths and challenges ADHD students often have in tutoring and offer tips and tricks and activities to make your next tutoring session more beneficial for ADHD students while harnessing their strengths.

   

• Christina Crow, Executive Functioning Specialist
  

  Christina Crow, Executive Functioning Specialist

  Remind Brain Training www.remindbraintraining.com

  The Answer is in the Question 

  How to Use Questioning to Enhance Executive Functioning 

  
  Research has identified specific lines of questioning that have the ability to: increase motivation and creativity, enhance goal-directed persistence, and improve all of the other thinking, reasoning, and problem solving abilities that we refer to as executive functions. So why is this extremely effective strategy so underutilized? Now, that’s an excellent question! Join us for this session as we explore how to use effective questioning strategies to target and enhance executive functioning skill development. 

  
  Christina Crow is an Executive Functioning Coach and the founder and CEO of ReMind Brain Training. Christina specializes in executive functioning, brain development, learning differences, disabilities, types of neurodiversity, and how to use research-based strategies to intentionally target and effectively enhance intentional neurological development. Through her work with ReMind Brain Training, Christina provides executive functioning coaching and consulting services for students, families, educators, and professionals of all ages.

• Jesse Ruderman, Rethinking Time: ADHD, Time Perception, and Sustainable Strategies
   

   

  

  Jesse Ruderman, M.A,

  Executive Functioning Specialist 
   

  Rethinking Time: ADHD, Time Perception, and Sustainable Strategies 

  This session examines how societal constructs of time—productivity norms, urgency culture, and rigid scheduling—often clash with the way ADHD brains naturally perceive and experience time. We’ll explore how these pressures shape planning, motivation, emotional regulation, and follow‑through, and why traditional time‑management tools frequently fall short in neurodivergent contexts. Participants will learn both philosophical and practical strategies to reset their relationship with time, make time more visible, reduce overwhelm, and build sustainable routines that align with individual rhythms. By rethinking time itself, attendees will gain more compassionate and effective pathways to time management. 

   

  Jesse's Bio:

  Jesse Ruderman is the Executive Functioning Specialist in the Learning Effectiveness Program (L.E.P.) at the University of Denver. In this role, Jesse supports students in strengthening the cognitive, behavioral, and organizational strategies essential for navigating the academic, social, and personal demands of university life. He also designs and facilitates professional development on executive functioning for L.E.P. staff, for departments across campus, and the Denver community. 

  Jesse has worked in higher education for more than twenty years. Before joining the L.E.P., he served as Director of College Living Experience and spent fourteen years as an English professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he taught writing. Across all roles, Jesse’s work centers on helping learners build the skills, confidence, and self-understanding needed to thrive both in and beyond the classroom. 

  
   

• Nathaniel Ellison, MA - Is 'Focus' actually a Proxy of Success, the Realities and Strengths of ADHD

   

  The common wisdom that if we just focus or apply ourselves, is addressed in this interactive forum designed to reframe ADHD. The ability to recognize our skillsets and optimize strategies appropriate to each person with ADHD is what allows the opportunity to access success.

  In this interactive session we will look at the strengths of ADHD and work to enhance our understanding of "focus" to provide a template for positive experiences for future success.

• Donald Maloy, MA "Tools For Success: Thoughts From a Green Beret."

   

  Captain Donald Maloy has received three Bronze Stars, a Unit Valorous Medal, and several duty awards for his service in the Army. Over the course of five years in the Infantry and the last five years in Special Forces Captain Maloy has deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan serving over 32 months in a combat environment. During Captain Maloy’s career he has struggled with an LD but was able to maintain his competitive nature with the help of personal commitment, and empathy. Captain Maloy explains his strategy   toward maintaining positive self image and self esteem while in adverse conditions.

• Mike Villareal of Knippenberg, Patteson, Langley and Associates
  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Mike Villarreal works as a counselor at Knippenberg, Patteson, Langley and Associates.  He facilitates social skills groups for neurodivergent youth to strengthen friendship skills through interaction and activities.  He also works with individuals and families to support social and emotional challenges and social skill-building from late childhood through young adulthood.  

   

  Breakout topic:

   

  What will be helpful for me to know about having a diagnosis of ADHD?  What can I change, and what is neurological?  In this session, we will explore processing our identity through understanding more about having a diagnosis of ADHD.  

• Philippe & Ryder Ernewein, Denver Academy, The Role of AI in Our Classrooms

   

  

  Philippe Ernewein, Director of Education, Denver Academy

  

  Ryder Ernewein, 10th Grader, Denver Academy

   Ways To Remember: The Role of AI in Our Classrooms
  Presented by Philippe Ernewein, Director of Education, Denver Academy, with 10th-grade student, Ryder Ernewein
  
  We are at a critical crossroads around the role of memory. How we respond, manage, and design for it matters. This workshop will provide an overview of the three significant parts of memory, highlight memory strategies, and explain how we can partner with artificial intelligence to support our organic memory systems.