ADHD Focus

What can you do about it and how can you help your child?  Ellen Braaten, PhD of Harvard Medical School and Executive Director of LEAP (Learning and Educational Assessment Program) at Massachusetts General Hospital, author of Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up, joins me again to discuss this condition which can be part of ADHD and/or Learning Disorders. Listen and Learn! 

Second installment on processing speed - What can you do about it and how can you help your child?  Ellen Braaten, PhD of Harvard Medical School and Executive Director of LEAP (Learning and Educational Assessment Program) at Massachusetts General Hospital, author of Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up, joins me again to discuss this condition which can be part of ADHD and/or Learning Disorders. Listen a...

“So that’s why my son takes so long to get ready for school, every single day, no matter what I say.”  “She never remembers half of what I ask her to do, it’s easy things too.”  “He can do his multiplication tables fine at home but he is slowest in class on the 3 minute tests at school.”  Does this sound familiar? Slow processing speed may be the problem. Often a part of ADHD but it can also be th...

Cannabis/weed/marijuana - it's everywhere. It is legal for adult use with no restrictions in 11 states, for "medicinal" (sic) use in 34 states.  And it affects brain development in teens and even into 20s because the brain doesn't become fully mature until age 25 – and later for an ADHD-affected brain. Regular use as an adolescent has permanent negative effects which result in altered brain capabi...

Today Dr. Pomeroy talks to Elaine Taylor-Klaus, one of the innovators of ADHD Coaching specifically in the area of coaching parents. Elaine has done group classes for parents since 2011 and her book just came out – Essential Guide to Raising Complex Kids.

If there were a way to change your child's self-perception and self-talk from negative to positive would you want to know about it? (Hint, yours will change as well.) How about helping your child learn how to calm her/himself before becoming overwhelmed and “losing it”? My guest today is eartha Powell. She has developed a way for you to do exactly that. Through her determination, curiosity and dri...

Here you go....Brendan Mahan and the Wall of Awful “Yup, I failed again, messed it up”. “I’ve disappointed Mom again, she probably wishes Iwasn’t her kid.” “I’ll be up until 2am getting this report done, why didn’t I get startedearlier instead of watching Netflix again? I’m stupid, that’s why”. Ever heard yourself saying that? Ever heard your child say that? Ouch! It hurts! My guest today is Brend...

Have you ever felt like dealing with your ADHD child is a never-ending series of battles? Homework, chores, screen time … only a few of the possible sticking points. There is hope! My guest this week is Penny Williams, author of 4 books** on parenting ADHD and ASD children, developer of an online Parent Training course – 8 sessions go-at-your-own-pace – in which parents learn the different mindset...

Everyone is asking, how do we cope with the summer of COVID? Usual activities are gone, everyone in the family is on edge, we can’t see friends or other family…HELP!  Help is on the way, and it’s here. My guest is Dr. Sharon Saline*, psychologist extraordinaire, author of the book What Your ADHD Child Wishes You Knew and the just released card deck ADHD Solutions. Building upon the outline she dev...

Would you want to live in a world without ADHD? I certainly wouldn’t. How dull it would be! Artists, inventors, explorers, statesmen, actors, musicians – many have ADHD and many who have now passed can be figured to have had ADHD. My guest today is Kirsten Milliken PhD who together with Kris Mitchell has spun an idea they had into what will be a virtual online exhibit in conjunction with the Inter...

Do you and your ADHD child understand how to work together to solve the time management, task management, emotional management issues that show up daily? These happen in every household of course but they break down more easily and more often when ADHD is involved. Your child is trying the best she or he knows how but the ADHD brain can’t figure it out without help, your help. My guest today is Dr...

Have you ever tried to sort through programs and apps to find which one might help your child with ADHD and/or LD do better in school? Which ones are included in programs you probably have like MS Word or Google Docs? Are there others that aren’t too costly and have proven value? My guest this show is Dr. Brian Friedlander ( http://assistivetek.blogspot.com ), Associate Professor of Education at t...

ADHD often shows up differently in girls than it does in boys. Usually. How? What factors indicate higher risk outcomes for girls? Consequences of undiagnosed ADHD in girls are much more severe overall, especially in teen years – cutting, depression, anxiety, suicidal thinking, eating disorders. Higher risk for these are 4: Combined Type ADHD, impaired family dynamics, poor peer acceptance and pas...

“He disrupts the class, he argues with me, he breaks the rules at home and at school”. “I have to ask 3 times and she still forgets to do it”. Does that sound familiar? These are behaviors which result from the brain differences in people with ADHD. My guest today, Dr. David Anderson, specializes in helping families learn how to turn these behaviors around. As a clinical psychologist at ChildMind...

Sleep is the most important of all life rhythms. Your brain is not turned off and resting during sleep, it is putting information into long-term memory so that learning becomes knowledge, it is “defragging the disk” clearing out leftover bits of metabolic processes so neural networks don’t get clogged up, it is working all the time 24/7/365 (more in leap years). My guest is Dr. Joel Nigg, a Profes...

“It’s too hard!” “Why do I have to do this stupid book report? It’s dumb!” “I finished it in school”…which you find out later is not the truth. Have you heard this before, or something like it? Frustrating to say the least! For you, the teacher(s) and your child. My show today is about how to change the repeated failures into repeated successes. Dr. Jerome Schultz is a neuropsychologist of 38 year...

How can someone with ADHD figure out what career to pursue? What if I don’t like what I chose in college? Where can I get some practical experience and discover my true interests? I have many interests, do I have to choose just one and leave the others behind? In this show my guest Rick Green and I discuss these questions and more. Rick is the creative mind behind TotallyADD.com, which has grown f...

Here are more answers to the FAQs on the “High School to ‘after’ transition” for students and families dealing with ADHD – a parent’s role is coach, not player; what teens wish parents had done to help the transition; important facts about medications at college. Dr. Theresa Maitland returns to discuss these topics and more. She has over 45 years of counseling/coaching experience in this field. Sh...

Does your spouse/partner/you have ADHD? Do any of these sound familiar? “You never listen, you don’t care about me.” “I’ve told you so many times…(pick any of 15 things)” “I’ve had it. Either you get this fixed or I’m leaving.” ADHD affects relationships in so many ways and can derail them in so many ways. It’s not the fault of either person, but it needs to be figured out or the relationship will...

Do you worry about how your ADHD child will do when she/he goes off to college? Do you wonder how you can give him/her the best preparation for demands of living away from you, not to mention the college academics? Dr. Theresa Maitland has over 45 years of counseling/coaching experience, the last 24 years at a college specifically assisting students who are struggling with those exact challenges....

There are so many sources of information and myth - information about medications for ADHD it is hard to get reliable information. Dr. Ted Mandelkorn began working with children with ADHD in the mid-1970s in his Mercer Island practice (near Seattle) and continues to do so. He is a pediatrician who saw many of his patients, and their families, struggling with the behaviors and impairments of ADHD,...

Roberto Olivardia, PhD - Body Dysmorphic Disorder Do you know anyone who absolutely hates some aspect about his/her body? Enough to obsessively try to change it? Some do with cosmetic surgery, but many do with behaviors – hours of exercise daily, extreme diets, etc. These people check the mirror daily if not more. And as a group 20% of people who suffer from BDD commit suicide. 20% !! Listen as Dr...

Do you struggle to parent your ADHD child? Does your ADHD child resist, dismiss, rebel against your requests, advice, guidance, and rules? This is a podcast you will not want to miss! Cindy Goldrich explains how an ADHD mind works, and why your child appears to defy reason, logic and you. Starting with “parent the child you have”, she explains 8 Keys to Parenting  Children with ADHD (also the titl...

How can kids learn to identify their feelings, and to read social cues to identify how others are feeling? Feelings are facts to the one doing the feeling, and many are uncomfortable or scary; what tools can one use to cope with them?  My guest today is Anna Vagin, PhD, a Speech and Language Pathologist, whose work in the past 30 years has been in the field of social learning. She has developed a...

Are you a woman with ADHD? Do you know one? You need to listen to this show with Kathleen Nadeau, a psychologist and pioneer in the field of ADHD in women. She began her clinical practice over 30 years ago working with children, then with parents of those children, and then concentrated on the issues faced by women with ADHD. She has written many books on aspects of ADHD and continues her clinical...