Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast

Asking for help is hard, sure. But have you ever stopped to ask why it’s hard for you? See, asking others for support is hard for each of us in a different way. Maybe we live with the anxiety that others will judge us for not being competent in some are or another. Maybe we believe they’ll think we’re not as smart as they are, or as they thought we were. Maybe we struggle with the logistics of asking for — and taking advantage of — help from another.

Until you figure that out, you’re going to have a tough time marching into your office of disability services to ask for the support you deserve as you make your way through school with ADHD. This week on the show, Nikki and Pete take on the myths and misunderstandings about ADHD accommodations in college, starting with the old saw, “accommodations make for an unfair advantage.” But that’s not all! You’ll end with a guide to the sort of language you can use to reach out to your instructors and professors to explain your needs, advocate for yourself, and set yourself up for success.

• (00:00) - The ADHD Podcast for 2019-08-13

Grace Friedman was diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at twelve years old, wrote her first book about it at 15, and now she’s an advocate for young people with ADHD and founder of the ADDYTeen.com community. Dr. Sarah Cheyette is a pediatric neurologist and expert in working with kids with ADHD. Together, they have written Winning with ADHD: A Playbook for Teens and Young Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and they’re here to talk with us about their journey on the show this week.

Links & Notes

It's the last episode of our trip through time and what better way to wrap up our July break than with a message from social skills expert Caroline Maguire in her first appearance on the show: never forget the art of the "Polite Pretend" people... it'll save your bacon!

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Do social situations exhaust you? Do you feel like your brain is working in overdrive to keep up with your environment? According to our guest this week, that’s a common refrain for those living with ADHD. Caroline Maguire is a coach, author, teacher, and speaker with a special focus in social skills supporting kids and parents of kids with ADHD. She’s here today to talk with us all about reading between the lines and the challenges that ADHDers face when it comes to understanding the unspoken complexities of social interaction. It’s time to master the “Polite Pretend!”

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Dr. Doug has been on our list to get back on the show seemingly since he first joined us. We're thrilled to say he's on the way! But that won't be until a little later in the fall. Until then, take a trip back in time to his last appearance and hear what he has to say on ADHD Inattentive Type!

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Doug Herr is back with us all the way from Nashville to talk about ADHD Inattentive Type. ADHD inattentive represents one of our most frequent subjects for questions and one we haven’t covered specifically. Dr. Doug takes on questions on treatment, motivation, talking with schools and special ed teams, writing, reward systems and so much more.

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Every day is a great day to check in on your relationship with your partner, and with ADHD, sometimes you can use a pretty clear reminder to do so. That's why today is ALSO a great day to check back in on this episode with our relationship guru Melissa Orlov from 2017!

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In this year’s Take Control ADHD survey, we received questions on managing your love life while managing ADHD by the bucket. Whether you’re in a new relationship, dating, or in a well-seasoned marriage, there is always room to improve that emotional connection and no matter your ADHD status, if you want it, you should have a thriving love life too!

This week on the show we’re deeply honored to welcome the fantastic Melissa Orlov. She’s a marriage consultant and leading expert in how ADHD affects relationships. On top of that, she’s an award-winning author of books including, The ADHD Effect on Marriage, and The Couple's Guide to Thriving with ADHD. She’s founder of ADHD & Marriage where she writes regularly alongside a cast of incredible contributors and hosts a large community of adults learning about ADHD in their relationships.

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James Ochoa has been on the show four times in the last few years, but all his appearances point back to this episode from 2017 in which he outlined his "Emotional Distress Syndrome" for ADHD. It was transformational for us in how we approach conversations of ADHD and we hope this refresher is equally useful for you this fine July!

When we first read his book, Focused Forward: Navigating the Storms of Adult ADHD, we became fast fans of James Ochoa. He writes candidly about his experience living with ADHD, struggling with ADHD, overcoming the hurdles of ADHD. But beyond that, he’s a counselor himself, working with the complex tapestries that are adults with ADHD. Today, we’re thrilled to be able to welcome James to the show to share a little bit about his own journey and to introduce us to one of the central themes in his work: the ADHD Emotional Distress Syndrome. We’re sure you’ll want to find out more about James and encourage you to pick up his book — easy and truly eye-opening reading!

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We're starting our July break, is that a reason to skip the podcast? Of course not! Jane gave us some great tools to deal with the stories we tell ourselves and we thought this would be the perfect way to time travel through podcast history while we're away!

Does the internal chatter of ADHD really sound all that different than that of those who don’t live with it? Our guest today has been working among other leaders in the field to help find those Gremlins in our heads and quiet them down, making room for the benefits that come with the positive voices and stories we write about our own contributions to the world around us.

Jane Massengill has been coaching adults with ADHD for the past 20 years, helping them learn to put the brakes on their internal chatter long enough so that they can begin to experience their bright spots instead of focusing on their dark spots. She is the Director of The Gremlin-Taming Institute, and speaks to audiences of all kinds on the benefits of learning how to listen to yourself.

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• (00:00) - Welcome to The ADHD Podcast!

It’s our last episode before the annual July break, and what a wonderful person we have to introduce you to this week to talk about shame, our relationships, and the daily practice of getting back up on the horse with ADHD. Dr. Michelle Frank is a clinical psychologist specializing in providing diagnostic and treatment services to individuals with ADHD. We love her work because of her focus on strengths-based approaches in helping clients learn how to live successfully with ADHD. She has extensive experience working with college students, adults, and families and she has a book hitting shelves July 1, 2019 which she co-authored with Sari Solden — A Radical Guide for Women with ADHD: Embrace Neurodiversity, Live Boldly, and Break Through Barriers — and she’ll tell you all about it today.

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• (00:00) - The ADHD Podcast — 2019-06-25

Are you a runner? Or are you a person who runs?

Are you a gardener? Or are you a person who mows the lawn?

Figuring out the difference between what we do and who we are is tricky business for all of us as we move through life. With ADHD, the idea of presenting a cogent identity to the world flies out the window. It’s dependent on so many factors — context, focus, weather, anything that can set off our attentional sails in new directions — that all to often the person we see in the mirror is less a function of who we see staring back at us than it is what that person happens to be doing or thinking about at that moment.

This week on the show, we take on this question of identity and offer a way to frame how you want to be seen in the world thanks to the writing of a billionaire. Plus, we take on a question from the community about how to approach online education with ADHD.

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• (00:00) - Welcome to The ADHD Podcast

Do you ever find yourself stuck in research mode? Are you overwhelmed with options? Do you resent regret? If you’ve ever found yourself living in fear of making decisions, you’re not alone. It can be a debilitating cycle knowing that you’re facing the same questions over and over again either because you can’t make a decision, or you can’t live with the decisions you’ve made. This week on the show, Nikki puts on the coaching hat to walk us through some of the questions that can help you walk out of decision paralysis and conquer your fear!

Links & Notes

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