Sarah Wheeler: Tangents, curlicues & life lessons from a nomadic tribe

Episode 98 with Sarah Wheeler.

“I was like, Why do I have all these ambitions, yet so much incompetence? Like, I know I’m smart. Why can’t I just get it together?”

Sarah is a writer, educational psychologist, and neurodiversity trainer based in Oakland. I first discovered Sarah through her Substack newsletter Momspreading. She wrote a piece reflecting back on her adult ADHD diagnosis, and it was just so compelling and nuanced and thought-provoking and hilarious that I kind of started stalking her a little bit online after that.

Thankfully, she agreed to sit down with me and talk about her own diagnosis journey and how she managed to spend 15 years studying and diagnosing ADHD in children without realizing she herself had ADHD. 

We talk about how a diagnosis in adulthood can feel both profoundly life-changing and, at the same time, inconsequential. We also talk about internalized hyperactivity in girls and those good old-fashioned ADHD tangents and long-winded conversational curlicues for which more than a few of us are known. 

And we talk about one of Sarah's favorite studies involving the Ariaal tribe of northern Kenya, and how environment and social factors can play an integral role in whether or not someone with ADHD thrives. 

Website: sarahwheelerphd.com

Instagram: @thewheeler1

Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a Women & ADHD listener, you’ll receive 10% off your first month of BetterHelp when you use this link: betterhelp.com/womenadhd

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