Journey With Me Through ADHD: A podcast for kids

Do bright lights make you cringe? Do you find it hard to focus with any sort of flickering or flashing light? Do your emotions get real big and intense when you've had lots of screentime!? If that's you, listen in as we discuss the connections between ADHD and sight sensitivities! This is one where we also have to investigate and potentially seperate underlying vision challenges and some symptoms that collide with ADHD symptoms too! 

In this episode, we will chat about advocating for accommodations in the classroom and home environments for lights to be adjusted/coverings, switch out flourescent lightbulbs, and how less screen time can be a helpful strategy to be kind to your sensitive sense of sight! I simply want you to journey through your senses with me to highlight and build your toolbox with what you need to success with any sensitivies discovered! 

Come visit me at www.katelynmabry.com to share your sensory sensitivity story with me! I look forward to being with you next week as we dive into the topic of taste for Thanksgiving!! Have a great day! Love you all! 

Hello friends!! Are you startled by loud noises? Do small sounds (tapping, breathing, humming, car noises) in your environment make your skin crawl and drive you bonkers!? If so, you may be experiencing sound sensitivity to different degrees! 

In this episode, we will discover 3 different types of sound sensitivities, while talking about all of the ways it impacts us in different environments. We will then dive into different ways we can accommodate and advocate for our needs in the school, home, and other social settings! 

The 3 different kinds of sound sensitivities include:

1. Hypersensitivity-You are overly aware of sounds and easily distracted by sounds.
2. Hyperacusis- You feel physical pain in your ear from different sounds.
3. Misophonia- You feel triggered with an intense emotional reaction when faced with different sounds! 

If any of these resonate with you, take time to reflect and build your environmental toolbox with sound tools (noise cancelling ear buds/headphones, play calming music to drown out triggering noises, ect.) and strategies that work best for you when at school, at home and even when out and about! 

Reach out to me at www.katelynmabry.com to share your sensory sensitivity story! I also have some coaching openings coming  up in the New Year if you are interested in working 1:1 with me! I look forward to connecting with you! Love you all! 

Welcome to episode 2 of our Sensory Sensitivity Series, where we will explore the sense of touch! This is a tricky sense as some of us experience sensory overload and others seek touch as a means of calming our overwhelmed sensory systems!! WOW! Do you struggle with one or both of these sensory sensitivities when it comes to touch? If so, this episode is for you!

In this episode, we will dive deeper into how touch can trigger big, intense emotional reactions and cause dysregulation. Different touch may include, hugs, hair brushing, teeth brushing, touching sticky things or other textures, tags and other clothes sensitivities, and even holding different items may drive you bonkers! I share some ideas to explore if you are experiencing this touch sensitivity.

ON THE OTHER HAND, where are my sensory seekers of touch!? You may relate to seeking touch to stimulate your sensory system to help feel more alert and focused! It can also act as a distraction from overstimulation or overwhelming emotions you are experiencing! I share how my kiddos use our sensory swing as a giant hug to calm their sensory systems down when emotions run high!! I do share some accommodations such as weighted blankets, fidgets, physical activities, heavy lifting (carry laundry basket;) as a way to fulfull that craving of touch, while also acting as self-regulating tools! I share ideas, however, the bottom line is that every child is different and you need to discover what works best for your child in the home and school environments!?

How can you create an environment that is sensitive to your sensory overload or craving for more touch!?

Send me a message through my website at www.katelynmabry.com to share your sensory story! I look forward to continuing to explore your senses with you as next week we move on to the sense of sound!! Love you all!  

Are some of your senses sensitive!? If so, you are not alone and there are many of us who have sensory sensitivities too!! This episode is simply our intro into investigating and exploring how your senses are speaking to you! Stay tuned to your sense of touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight this week to identify if any of these senses are telling you it's TOO MUCH or  you may see signs of wanting MORE in some sensory areas! It's amazing how our bodies speak to us! We need need to listen and respond! 

I simply want you to heighten your sense of self awareness this week. This next month, we will  move through each sense so you can feel aware and prepared for this upcoming holiday season filled with so many sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and things to touch! 

Come visit me on my website www.katelynmabry.com to reach out and share your sensory story, reach out to be a guest on a future podcast, or take a peek at the different things I have to offer as a coach, an author, and a passionate ADHD warrior, who is here to come alongside you on your journey! Love you all!

Living with a busy brain and big emotions can be challenging in itself. When loss of any kind is experienced, it can truly throw anyone on a rollercoaster of emotions, but sometimes those of us with ADHD have those waves hit even harder and it's easy to feel out of control in what we think and feel! I know this is a tough topic! But we can do hard things, and talking about this is both hard and neccessary for moving through any grieving process! 

Our family recently lost an extremely close and precious member to her fight with cancer! My sweet, 44 year old sister in law passed way too young and it's hard for any of us to make sense of it. I believe she is now with Jesus and she is in no more pain, but man we miss her here on earth! This grieving journey our family is now on is what prompted me to do this episode! We ALL are grieving so differently and we have a house full of busy brains who are navigating this grief together...

In this episode we will talk about what different types are loss are that triggers grief and walk through what the stages of grieving may look like in different waves. We talk about how it can effect your mind, body and emotional regulation! We dive into different ways/ideas to respond in the seasons of grieving too. I share how one of my girls has been stuck in the anger stage, my other daughter gets tummy aches and doesn't like to talk about it yet, while another is releasing her many thoughts and emotions in a journal. 

Bottom line is that there is no right or wrong way to grieve. There is no shame in it and learning to release it in healthy ways will help you move through it more mindfully. Grieving looks different for everyone and it's important to talk to a trusted professional, adult, or friend about how you may be experiencing grief in your life so that you can feel seen and heard through this difficult time. 

Come visit my website at www.katelynmabry.com to connect with me or share more topic ideas! I would love to hear from you!! Love you all! 

HEY FRIENDS!! I mean that with my whole heart! Each one of you have a special place in my heart! In this episode we will talk about how friendships can feel tricky sometimes and I share an accrostic poem of different ways to not only discover lasting friendship, but also become the best green light friend possible!

You will learn more about...

Find others who love you for YOU

Recognize if friends are causing you to stumble

Identify green light friends while navigating other colors of friendship

Encourage positive connections

Never be a bully

Declare that you will choose to be a great green light friend! 

I dive into each of these and more!! Reach out with any questions, comments or episode ideas for the future at www.katelynmabry.com! I am here to come alongside you on your journey too! 

Hey you amazing ADHD warriors!! I use the word worriors because it really does feel like a battle in our minds and emotions sometimes, doesn't it!!? I hear SO often...These emotions are like 0-100 sometimes! YEP! Those of us with ADHD busy, beautiful brains have a tendency to experience emotions to a whole new level as we are faced with different triggers and internal executive function challenges throughout each day (this absolutely varies per person!) 

In this episode we will get curious about those big emotions and investigate the one that almost all of us come up against...ANGER...It comes fast and furious, often out of left field too! No worries, I am here to tell you that you are not alone and there are ways to exercise that brillant brain of yours to strength the skill of responding to that intense emotion doing something other than LOSING it! 

This is a topic we will revisit again as this just scratches the surface of understanding and responding to our feeling of ANGER! First step is always recognizing and raising self awareness of what is driving the anger? Are their underlying feelings that need to be named? What is the driving thought that is spiraling the anger deeper? Now let's take action...

REMOVE yourself- This step is HUGE! When your anger is in charge and you stay in the space it was triggered, it's next to impossible to settle your nervous system and find calm! So move those feet to a safe and calm space that where you can practice the next step...

REGULATE yourself (younger kiddos may need coreguation to accomplish this)- What can you do to find calm? Legos, coloring, music, sensory swing, walk/play outside, take a bath/shower...what does your body and mind respond best to?

RESPOND/RECONNECT- This is the step that you revisit the conversation with a person you were angry at, revisit homework that triggered anger (with a plan to strategically move through the rest), reconnect with person or activity at hand...

If you find these podcast episodes helpful and want to connect more, visit www.katelynmabry.com to reach out, check out my resources, connect with me to share a episode topic idea or to be a guest on a future podcast... or even to book a free coaching consultation to see if that might be a next step for your family! I look forward to hearing from you soon. Love and appreciate you all! 

I know I talk a lot about the importance of foundational mindset and taking control of your thought life, but a HUGE part of that is becoming self-aware and mindful of what we are feeding our thoughts and what we are physically nourishing our bodies and minds with! 

In this episode, you will hear from certified Holistic Nutritionist, Kara Ungaro, who is not only brilliant in her effort to stay on top of studying the body and mind, but also has some awesome analogies, including fueling your body with what it needs... this will help you visualize so that we better understand the the value of practicing the "stop, start, keep" practice in order to start making some positive changes each day! On a fun side note, she's also my big sister! 

You can connect with Kara to schedule a FREE 1:1 consultation by emailing her at [email protected]  to learn more about how you can customize a plan for you and/or your child to ensure you are getting the nutrients that you need to succeed and thrive each day! 

Please don't get me wrong, I am not a big fan of homework! To be completely honest, I feel that often homework loads need to lighted and in some cases eliminated if it's not neccessary for deeper understanding...studies show there is no significant difference in learning between children who do and don't do homework and if it's a mental and emotional burden, I feel it should be addressed as something that needs to be adjusted based on the type of learner! BUT, I also know that homework is required for most students and my episode today can also apply to any type of task or chore too. 

Our busy brains love systems and order...but a lot of the time we have a hard time creating it for ourselves. Recognizing the need for a system and taking ownership of the thought shift around practicing the system regularly makes a world of difference when it comes to thriving in that system created! 

In this episode, you will hear a train that leads into the topic of creating a homework system that runs smooth and if it does get derailed, that is simply a signal to fix, adjust, or add to the part of the system that isn't working! 

Discover WHERE, WHEN, and HOW you want your homework system to run at home to make it a smooth ride and discover the beautiful benefits of turning this into a habit that will help you thrive each day! 

Visit me at www.katelynmabry.com to reach out with questions, give podcast episode ideas, or to just check out the resources I have available! I look forward to hearing from you! Love you all! 

After my last self-advocacy episode, I was asked to dive deeper and talk about facing the fear many kiddos have when it comes to advocating for their needs. I decided to point blank use the word FEAR as an accronym and put a positive twist to it as a means to give you all a guideline for growing that self advocacy muscle, even in the face of fear!!

In this episode, you will learn 4 steps to take in order to develop that skill of self advocacy at school, at home, and even in social situations! 

Find- a trusted adult to turn to.

Educate- yourself on how your beautiful brain works and what tools, strategies and systems work best for your brain! 

Act- respecfully and with curiousity as you advocate for your needs.

Reflect- on how speaking up for your needs will be helpful and beneficial in so many ways.

I hope this is helpful for you all as you face this self- advocacy fear and try it out as a means of practicing self-awareness and voicing how you learn and grow best!! 

If you are interested in looking into 1:1 coaching as your next step, I would love to come alongside you on your journey! It's an incredible process where I am seeing transformational, life-changing results with my clients. I say that humbly and mindful that everyone is on a different part of their journey! I am here for you and love you all very much! Visit www.katelynmabry.com to set up a consultation or to just check out my other resources! I look forward to connecting with you!