Episode 1: ADHD is Only Part of It

ADHD or ODD?

On this episode, we will dive into a question I hear from parents and teachers a lot: "Is the child just defiant, or is it their ADHD?" A child refuses to follow directions. They argue with teachers, have emotional outbursts, so the quick assumption is “They have Oppositional Defiant Disorder”. But what is the full story here? What if what looks like defiance is just the child feeling overwhelmed? What if the disrespect is just the child struggling with executive functioning, emotional regulation, and feeling invisible due to challenges that come up because of their ADHD? We will try to unpack the differences between ODD and ADHD, explore why these diagnoses are often confused, and what strategies can be helpful to process more effectively. Instead of asking “What is wrong with this child?”, why can we think instead, “What is this child trying to tell us?” not just from what we see externally, but also from what we don’t see internally.

The Big 3

If there are three things teenagers tell me in my office that they wish their parents understood, it’s this: 1) “I’m trying harder than you think in school.” 2) “Video games are more than just wasting time.” 3) “My phone isn’t just a screen, it’s my lifeline”. For many parents, poor grades, video games, and cell phones can feel very frustrating and confusing at the same time. But sometimes, it can make a parent hypervigilant. But for many teenagers, they are often interconnected with pressure, identity, and a way to escape reality. How can we pause to take a moment and see it from both sides, rather than arguing, saying, “I am the parent and what I say goes!” We need to understand each other, both as parents and as teenagers, especially since neurodivergence plays a huge part in this. In today’s episode, we are going into actual research that supports the struggles with academic challenges, video gaming, and phone use, the good, the bad, and the misunderstood, and how it can negatively impact moods and behaviors, but why it benefits the teenager with neurodivergence.

Family Matters

Welcome back, friends. In this episode, we will talk about something that affects a lot of families but doesn’t always seem to get the attention it needs, which is the stress parents feel when raising children with a neurodevelopmental disorder. If you are a parent, caregiver, educator, or know someone having ADHD and just want to understand them better, this episode will help break that down in what research says. We will explore these three questions: First, why do parents of children with ADHD report higher levels of stress? Second, what psychological factors make a difference in how parents cope? And third, what can help?

Supporting a Neurodivergent Teen

Parenting a teenager with autism, ADHD, or an intellectual disability, or even one that is a bit snoody? I am certain you had moments that sounded like: “What am I supposed to do right now with you right now!?” “It is not that hard!!” “What is wrong with you?!” Let’s take a step back and reflect that maybe your teen is overwhelmed, burned out, and overly exhausted—but no matter what you do, it doesn’t seem to work. If this is you… I want to start by saying this to yourself: You’re not a failure as a parent. You’re navigating a system that often isn’t designed for your child and a situation you were not prepared for. In this episode, we’re going to break this down in a way that makes sense—what’s really going on with your teen, and more importantly, what may help. Mental Health Awareness Month Useful sites to learn more: NAMI: https://www.nami.org/stay-connected/events/awareness-events/mental-health-awareness-month/ [https://www.nami.org/stay-connected/events/awareness-events/mental-health-awareness-month/]

Episode 3: Emotional Layers with Intellectual Disability

Welcome back to NeuroCurious—where we explore the brain, behavior, and the human experience. Today, I want to challenge a really common assumption: When a child has an intellectual disability…Are behaviors just a part of the disability? Or… are we missing something deeper? Because for many families, what looks like defiance, aggression, or shutdown is actually something else entirely— something misunderstood, and often untreated. Millions of children in the U.S. has an intellectual or developmental disabilities. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5), is what mental health professionals use to effectively diagnose clients. Diagnostic criteria for intellectual disability include deficits in intellectual and adaptive functioning across the conceptual, social, and practical domains. This can affect the individual’s judgment, abstract thinking, academic learning, and functioning at home, school, and in the community. It can be measured as mild, moderate, severe, or profound. Depending on the level of severity, some domains may be deficient, such as communication and basic activities of daily living, including dressing and eating. However, many of them may also be navigating: * ADHD * Autism * Anxiety * Depression So right away, we’re not dealing with a single diagnosis—they are dealing with multiple layers. Think of it like an onion (or a parfait if you are not a fan of onions) no matter, they have layers. The outside layer may appear as sad, but the next layer may be feeling lonely, and as we get deeper, it may be feeling isolated. The deeper the layer, the deeper the emotion that is felt. It can run very deep, especially if it is misunderstood.