What do working memory, flexible thinking, emotional control, self-monitoring, time management, organizing, impulse control, initiating a task (getting started), planning and prioritizing have in common!!? 

If you said these are all skills that we need to function from day to day, you are 100% correct! These are all of those executive function skills that can feel tricky for our busy brains sometimes! We don't all struggle with every skill, but I would love for you to highlight the skills above that may feel tricky for you to tackle from day to day! 

In this episode, we are jumpstarting this conversation about tricky executive function skills that we need to build a customized toolbox for! These are skills that need to be exercised and trained to grow stronger! It will never be a one size fits all either. You must look at the challenge areas and build your toolbox based on trying different tools and strategies and discovering what works best for you personally!! 

This series will help you begin your journey of discovering different tools and strategies in the different areas of struggle so you can begin to trial and error what works best for you from day to day! Practice make progress and it's super important to trial tools and strategies when you are regulated emotionally! 

You will meet and hear from my newfound friend, Executive Function Coach, Carrie Bonnett. She shares ger expertise in this area as we get our series started! You can find Carrie at www.carriebonnett.com and discover all of the awesome resources/support she has to offer too! 

Visit me at www.katelynmabry.com to share your thoughts on this series with me or if you'd like to share a personal audio clip on the show to share which executive function tools are helpful for you too! 

Below is an executive funtion wheel created by another ADHD Coachin who lives in Europe (hense the spelling differences;) This is a great, simplified resource to see each skill and identify which of them you'd like to practice use tools and strategies to grow in! 

Executive Function Wheel

Do you ever change your bedroom around when you get bored of the set up? Does your brain get excited when a novel idea comes flooding in!? That's because our brains crave novelty. This means that my brain craves novelty too and wants to change up my podcast intro song!! This is where you come in! I need your brilliant mind with it's creativity and out of the box thinking abilities to help me come up with a new intro for this podcast! Should it be a rap, more classical sounding, another fun ditty that sounds little different?! I want you to email me at [email protected] with your thoughts and ideas!

I also want to encourage you once again to share your voice!! The more we know, the more we can connect and grow! When you send it an short audio clip of your personal experiences, struggles, strengths, areas of question, etc. We can highlight these things on this podcast, learn from each other, and bounce ideas of what tools and strategies are helpful, along with questions that may need clarification so you can take steps forward! Email me your audio clip or a request for a prompt/question that you can go off of! I want this year to be collaborative as we grow together on our ADHD journey! 

If you'd like to take it one step further and look into ADHD Life Coaching, I'd love to set up a free consultation with you! You can set that up at www.focusforwardadhd.com and/or you can also connect with me to check out my book and other resources on my personal website www.katelynmabry.com . 

Love you all and can't wait to hear from you!

I pray you all had a wonderful Christmas, given you celebrate! If not, I pray you are finding joy each day! It's fun to look in the mirror sometimes and just be silly, it's it? In this episode, you will hear some ideas shared by kids around the world about what they find calms their mind and body down. I personally use exercise and prayer as my ways to release and relax, but what is it for you personally? This is a time for self-reflection as we enter a new year and I ask you to look in the mirror and investigate what helps your own nervous system, mind and body find calm.

Visit www.katelynmabry.com to message me to share your ways of finding calm!

You might think..."But I don't want to breath!" What if I told you that it could actually be fun AND give oxygen to your brain, which would help you to calm your nervous system, mind and body down in those big feeling moments?! During this rerun episode you will hear from the breathing queen and mindset coach, Jessica Brittani, who will re/introduce us to a foundational technique, a piece of armor, so we can breath in a way that will help us find calm during this holiday season!  My hint for this episode is "birthday!" ;) 

You can find Jessica at www.calmandcolorful.com to order her coloring book or set up a consultation with her.

You can also visit www.katelynmabry.com , to set up a coaching consultation with me, order a book, or find more helpful resources.

Did you know that the act of balancing is a fantastic way to tap into your vestibular system, while regulating your mind and emotions!!! It can bring you a sense of calm, while also giving your body the movement its craving! I am SO excited to introduce you to this new product I recently discovered that gives you the ultimate balancing experience for your brain and body to enjoy!

In this episode, you will meet the project manager for the company, Gibbon, that makes Giboards! This revolutionary board combines a curved board with a slackline to create a tool for your toolbox that will be your new favorite go to if movement is needed, your emotions are feeling too big, or you want to find calm before bed! Sarah Enjem shares with you how these boards work both professionally and how she is passionate about how they have worked with her own daughter personally! 

You can check these boards out at www.giboardus.com and if you'd like to order one, you can put in the code "ADHDJourney10" to recieve 10% off! I can guarantee that this would be a great regulation tool for your whole family! If you do order one, please reach out (www.katelynmabry.com) and let me know how it's helpful to you and your crew! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day! 

We are on our final sense!! Is your sniffer sensitive too? If so, this is the episode for you! We will discover how our sense of smell can be overloaded or some of us seek certain smells for a sense of calm! 

In this episode, you will hear how my daughter was given a certificate in 4k for her sensitive sniffer and we will talk about how this may effect you in different environments too! We will discover different things we can add to our toolbox to accommodate with scent free soaps, nose plugs, avoidance, and adding scents that provide a sense of calm to your environments too!! 

Visit me at www.katelynmabry.com to share what you've discovered on your this sensory sensitivity seeking journey!! I would love to hear from you! I hope those who celebrated Thanksgiving had a wonderful time with friends and family! Again, I am beyond thankful for each and every one of you! 

As we continue through our sensory sensitivity series, and with Thanksgiving just a few days away for many of us, we are going to chat about the sense of taste and reflect on our sense of smell before next week's episode! Is there a sense of overwhelm when something hits your mouth? Do you crave some flavors and textures more then others! Either way, many of us can experience a sensitivity to taste and we want to be kind to those sensitivities and be prepared for meals/snack times ahead! 

In this episode, I wanted to pause and be sure to bring up a seperation between general sensory sensitivities and exploring something called "Sensory Processing Disorder/Difference" if the sensory experience feels more like an invasion or attack on your system!! When we are looking at SPD, more needs to be explored and often we need to seen additional therapy, such as OT to work through this intense challenge! 

The main target/takeway from this episode is to recognize a taste sensitivity and prepare a plan for upcoming events, school lunches, and even going out to eat with others! When we are not prepared, this sensitivity can trigger emotional dysregulation, distractabilty, and even hyperactivity if food has a negative impact and you haven't named taste sensitivity as the why behind the challenging behavior! So much to explore together and tackle as you respond to your sense of taste with kindness and accommodations! 

Visit me at www.katelynmabry.com to share your sensory story with me! I would love to connect with you through coaching too! I have some 1:1 coaching spots opening up in the New Year! I would love to come alongside you! I hope those who celebrate Thanksgiving, have a joy filled time with family and friends! I pray you all have a wonderful day! Love you all! 

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!