Beautifully Complex

Success with ADHD is absolutely possible, though that can be hard to hope for while watching your child struggle in school. That’s why I love to share ADHD success stories with you. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I talk with successful ADHD entrepreneur, Isaac Eaves, about how he attained success by creating habits and routines that helped him focus, reframing struggles and making...

Many neurodivergent kids love video games. They’re stimulating, rewarding, and often a less intimidating social environment. However, parents worry about how much time their kids are spending on screens. FInding balance is key, but you can also use your child’s interest in digital play to build skills, like executive functions. Kids are practicing planning, organization, time management, problem s...

Everybody lies to some degree (remember when you told your friend she looked beautiful when wearing a dress you hated?). Lying is part of growing up. And kids want to do well — they want to meet your expectations and please you. When your child tells you a lie, it isn’t because they “disrespect” you. It’s so much more than that, and isn’t really about you at all.  In this episode of the Parenting...

Did you know that meltdowns are different from tantrums? While a tantrum can devolve into a meltdown, a meltdown is very different. A child is not in control of themselves during a meltdown. Their brain has sort of been hijacked. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, my partner in the Behavior Revolution, Sarah Wayland, Ph. D., and I take a deep dive on meltdowns. We’re talking about what...

The autonomic nervous system governs the majority of our responses and reactions because behavior is biological. Fight, flight and freeze are all states of the autonomic nervous system, and all states of dysregulation. Calm and connected is also a state of the autonomic nervous system, when an individual is regulated. When you understand these connections to regulation and behavior, you have the f...

An ADHD diagnosis can come with a lot of emotions, especially shame. So many kids and adults feel ashamed of their ADHD and lack confidence to be their true selves as a result. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, ADHD Adult and Executive Function Coach, Mallory Band shares her story of growing up with ADHD, accepting her brain and its differences, and learning to live authentically. Mal...

It has always been tough to be a teenager, which has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and schooling at home for long periods. Teens are struggling more with their mental health than ever, which means they need more support and guidance in this area than ever. But teens aren’t always open to talking with their parents about the hard stuff, or talking to anyone about it.  In this episode of th...

Emotional intelligence is a learned skill set. We must teach our kids about feelings — what they are and what they mean — as well as how to manage them and communicate them to others. In her work with children and her emotional toolkit, Nadine Levitt teaches that emotions are trying to help us. They’re messengers. Some emotions are more challenging to feel but they’re all natural and necessary. It...

American culture implies that if you are in control of your child’s behavior, you are a “good parent.” But that is extremely flawed logic. Our job as parents is to guide our kids to create a life of joy, fulfillment, and success for themselves. It’s not to have little people that we control. It’s not to have someone to exert authority over. How would that benefit our kids? How would that benefit u...

Scientific research shows us that affirmations are a powerful tool to combat negative limiting beliefs and reshape our neural pathways in the brain for the positive. Kids with ADHD (and/or autism) get exponentially more negative messages throughout their days which has a damaging impact on their confidence, sense of competency, and self-esteem. They need tools and strategies like affirmations to c...

We don’t naturally think about how much of our parenting is actually about our kids and their needs, and how much of it is actually about ourselves. Yet, it’s crucial that we do build an awareness around when our own experiences, challenges, fears, and traumas are getting in the way of seeing our kids’ needs clearly and providing for their needs. More often than not, our reactions and responses ar...

Gender diversity is more common among neurodiverse kids and teens, especially those on the autism spectrum. People who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth are three to six times as likely to have autism as people who don’t question their gender assignment, according to the latest studies on the subject. Neurodivergent kids have trouble fitting in and they often explore differe...

We’re working on our next free online Parenting ADHD & Autism Summit — Decoding Behavior Summit February 11-13, 2022. In interviewing all these experts on behavior, parenting, ADHD, autism, and anxiety we have had our own lightbulb moments.  In this episode of the podcast, we’re sharing some of what these experts will be offering during the Decoding Behavior Summit and letting you know how you...

Many individuals with ADHD struggle with anxiety as well, wether it be an additional condition or the result of the challenges that come with ADHD. Anxiety is often misunderstood by parents and other adults in a child’s life, and can feel like it should be easily rationalized away. But, those with anxiety know no amount of rationalizing can just “turn off” an anxiety attack. In this episode of the...

Your parenting mindset is the #1 most important aspect of parenting kids with ADHD, autism, or other neurobehavioral disorders. Being the best parent you can be for your neurodiverse kid is 90 percent about changing yourself — it’s never about changing your kid.  This episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast is part of our Behavior Revolution series. Penny and Sarah outline the perspective you need t...

Ari Sokolov grew up with ADHD, but she didn’t let her struggles in school define her. Instead, she found ways to make her strengths of creativity and problem-solving work for her. And everything changed when she accidentally walked into a computer science class in middle school and discovered coding. Coding is an outlet for her ADHD creativity and hyperfocus and she grew so passionate about it tha...

Self-care is a necessity, not a luxury. Even more so for parents raising neurodiverse kids, like those with ADHD or autism. And yet, self-care is the first thing we sacrifice as parents, thinking we are doing better by our kids and our families in doing so. The reality is, the less we care for ourselves, the less we have to give to others. Sacrificing your self-care is actually making you less abl...

Creative parenting not only helps you create moments of magic, but it also fosters trust and independence, emotional expression, out-of-the-box thinking, happiness through connection, and the ability to let go of perfection. Creative parenting can cut through the stress, anxiety, and struggle to bring more light and joy to your child, yourself, and your family, as well. In this episode of the Pare...

By college age, 66-85 percent of all people have been impacted by trauma. And marginalized populations — including those with disabilities like ADHD, autism, and anxiety — are much more likely to experience trauma, many consistently and frequently. We can’t prevent all trauma, but we can affect how our kids (and ourselves) cope with it and heal it. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, Dr...

Kids with special needs get in trouble at school — both disciplinary action and involvement of law enforcement — far more than neurotypical students. Kids with ADHD, anxiety, learning disabilities, and autism are suspended far more than their peers. And that’s not ok. It’s downright scary for parents of kids with behavioral issues when they know the behaviors are a manifestation of the disability...

The common advice from many clinicians for parenting kids with ADHD is to start a behavior chart and reward system to create external motivation. The problem is that these charts and systems often add more work for overwhelmed parents and kids, and often don’t produce results. And in our schools and classrooms, they end up instilling shame, blame, and fear, which is actually harming our children....

We only encourage play up to age five in our culture, but play should be lifelong, because curiosity, learning, and growth should be lifelong. We need to trust our kids (and ourselves) to follow individual interests and passions to create learning and fulfillment. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I’m talking with play enabler and parent coach, Sivanne Lieber, about using play to help...

When we choose to view ADHD as a difference, we show our kids that they’re not broken and help them harness their strengths. As ADHD Coach, Tamara Rosier, Ph. D., tells us in this episode, people with ADHD eventually grow into their brains. It’s our job as parents to help them navigate big emotions and develop strategies to get things done despite having an ADHD brain. Tamara provides strategies f...

Does your child avoid or flat-out refuse to go to school sometimes? School avoidance and refusal is the most stressful and upsetting thing I’ve gone through as a parent. The law says my kid has to attend school but my kid is so stressed and so pained in that environment that he couldn’t physically force himself to go many days, no matter the consequences. Listen in as I share our 9-year journey wi...

Our culture seems to dictate that parents should have control over their kids. We should command them and they should comply. But this authoritarian parent-child relationship is harmful and not at all helpful. It sets us up to see our kids as our enemies — a mindset that is enormously damaging and actually makes our kids’ behavior worse. In this episode of the Parenting ADHD Podcast, I’ll outline...