Neurodivergent Moms on the Sidelines

Neurodivergent Moms on the Sidelines

If youth sports leaves you frazzled, behind, and quietly wondering why it feels so hard for you when everyone else seems fine — this one is for the neurodivergent moms on the sidelines. I get into why ADHD and executive functioning collide with the modern youth sports machine, why the mental load lands heaviest on moms, and how rejection sensitivity and a lifetime of masking make the comparison game on the bleachers even louder. Then I share what actually helps: externalizing executive function, dividing and conquering without losing your connection, and the small tools I use to make it through a tournament day. The load is heavy, you’re not failing, and this is how ADHD moms can navigate youth sports without burning out. Chapters 00:00 The Evolution of Youth Sports 01:23 Neurodivergent Experiences in Sports 02:16 Executive Functioning Challenges 06:05 The Mental Load of Parenting 09:34 Dividing Responsibilities in Parenting 14:39 Navigating Social Dynamics 16:44 Decision-Making for Neurodivergent Kids 24:34 The Struggle of Balancing Needs 26:00 Strategies for Managing the Load 32:52 Reframing the Narrative

It Was Never About the Strikeout: ADHD Kids & Sports

Everyone says sports are good for kids with ADHD. So why does drop-off some nights feel like sending your kid into a pressure cooker? This episode sits in the gap between what the research promises and what neurodivergent families actually live: the dugout that turns into an executive-function minefield, the “just run it off” advice that backfires on a sensory seeker, and the meltdown after a bad call that isn’t bad behavior at all. You’ll walk away able to: * Tell which sports support your kid’s regulation and which ones quietly drain it * Spot the burnout cycle before your kid goes “crispy” * Build a reset routine and advocate to coaches without sounding like you’re making excuses * Give yourself permission to call a mental-health day Whether you’re raising a neurodivergent athlete or you were the kid melting down in the dugout, this one names what nobody warned you about. Resources mentioned * Free ADHD Prompt Generator: www.rhondaestling.com/ai-prompts [http://www.rhondaestling.com/ai-prompts] * rhondaesling.com [http://rhondaesling.com]

ADHD and Youth Supports: How to Support Your Neurodivergent Kids

Youth sports can feel like one of the hardest things to navigate as a neurodivergent parent — especially when you're raising neurodivergent kids too. In this episode, I sit down with my go-to friend and resource, Chandran Lepel. She's a licensed therapist, former collegiate athlete, high school varsity coach, and mom of kids in the youth sports world — which gives her a lens almost no one else has. We get into the idea of the "bubble" — the emotional safety coaches and parents can create around a team — and why support needs to come from around the bubble, not inside it. Chandran shares the concept of hype levels, why regulation matters more than winning, and the very real differences between coaching an 8-year-old and coaching an 18-year-old. We also talk about how to advocate for your kid without overstepping, when to trust your gut that something's off, and why radical acceptance might be the most important skill a coach can build. If you've ever sat on the sidelines gaslighting yourself about whether your kid's environment is the right fit, this one is for you.

AI Is Not Going to Fix Your ADHD (But It Could Be Your Best Training Wheels)

AI is not going to fix your ADHD, and the way most people are telling us to use it might actually make executive dysfunction worse. In this episode, Rhonda is walking through a third path between the AI is amazing and AI is ruining us camps — one rooted in how ADHD brains actually work. You'll hear about scaffolding vs. substituting (a concept from education that changes how you engage with the tool), MIT Media Lab's 2025 cognitive debt research, and the one litmus test question that audits every AI conversation you have. Plus four concrete shifts to turn ChatGPT or any AI tool into scaffolding for your executive function instead of a substitute for your own thinking. RESOURCES MENTIONED * MIT Media Lab 2025 study, Your Brain on ChatGPT — coined the term cognitive debt * Michael Gerlich 2025 study on AI use and critical thinking (~666 participants) * Free AI prompt generator for ADHD brains — sparse version (linked in show notes) * Workbook version of the prompt generator (linked in show notes) * Deeper prompt generator included inside Rhonda's workshops and programs AI has become either the worst thing in the world or the next planner that's going to fix everything. As late in life diagnosed ADHDers, we already know that's not how it works for us. In this episode, Rhonda offers a third path — one that doesn't argue for AI or against it, but instead asks a more useful question: how do we engage with the tool in a way that actually supports the way our brains work? SCAFFOLDING VS. SUBSTITUTING Scaffolding is a concept from education, originally developed for working with neurodivergent kids. The idea is that you put structure around a learner so they can do the task while they're learning to do the task — and eventually the scaffolding comes down because the skill has grown. Substituting is the opposite. You hand over the entire task and you're handed back a completed project you didn't think through. You didn't create it. You didn't learn anything from it. Think of AI like the bumpers in a bowling alley. The bumpers don't roll the ball for you. You still have to do the work. They just keep things from rolling off into the gutter. THE ONE QUESTION THAT AUDITS EVERY AI CONVERSATION After you use AI, ask yourself: did it give me the answer, or did it help me better understand myself and what I thought? If you got an answer but can't explain the reasoning — substituting. If you got an answer and you understand your situation better — scaffolding. FOUR SHIFTS TO MAKE IT STICK One — ask AI to ask you questions, not to give you the answer. Two — feed it your needs first (sensory, energy, context). Three — use it at the start, not the finish, then close the tab and go do the thing. Four — run the litmus test every time. If you'd rather not figure out prompts from scratch, here are two free AI Prompt Tools: www.rhondaestling.com/ai-prompts [http://www.rhondaestling.com/ai-prompts]

The Dysregulation Detective: How to Read What Your Kid Is Really Telling You

What if your kid's meltdown had nothing to do with behavior — and everything to do with an unmet need? In this episode, Rhonda sits down with Brett Welch, licensed therapist and parent coach at Sensitivity Is Strength Coaching, to talk about what it actually looks like to parent highly sensitive, neurodivergent, and PDA-profile kids in a world that wasn't built for them. Brett brings 20+ years of experience as a school counselor and child therapist, plus the very real perspective of a mom raising two deeply feeling daughters of her own. She breaks down why behavior is communication 100% of the time, how to become a dysregulation detective, what PDA is and what it isn't, and the one mindset shift that changes everything for exhausted parents. No parent is broken. No child is broken. And repair? Always possible. Resources Mentioned: * sensitivityisstrengthcoach.com [http://sensitivityisstrengthcoach.com] — Brett's website * Brett's Regulate, Relate & Repair Parent Group (starting April 10th) * PDANA — PDA North America community * Casey Elrich — PDA expert and educator * Amanda Dykman — PDA community leader * The Invisible String — children's book * Loop Earplugs — sensory tool for noise sensitivity This one is for the parent who's Googled "why does my kid lose it over everything," who has felt judged at every birthday party, who has been told their kid is "so well-behaved at school" while the house is in full meltdown mode every afternoon. This one is for you. Want to work with Brett or join her next parent group? Head to sensitivityisstrengthcoach.com [http://sensitivityisstrengthcoach.com].