

ADHD Essentials
Brendan Mahan
ADHD Podcast for Parents and Educators
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 24, 2018 • 46min
34: Unraveling ADHD from the 50s & 60s to Today, with Joyce Kubik, ADHD Coach, Parent with ADHD of kids with ADHD (and grandkids with ADHD)
It was an honor to interview Joyce Kubik for the pod. Joyce is a mother with ADHD of kids with ADHD. (In fact, her kids are now grown, and have ADHD kids of their own!)
Joyce is also ADHD coach. Indeed, she was among the first. Hers are the shoulders that so many of us stand on when doing this work. She is a pioneer in the industry. And she shares her story, and some of her pioneering work with us in this episode.
Shameless ADHD Essentials Online Parent Coaching Groups Ad:
The ADHD Essentials Online Parent Coaching Groups will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays for seven weeks, from Tuesday September 18th through Thursday, November 1st.
Go to https://www.adhdessentials.com/parentgroups/ for a free 15-20 minute prescreening call to see if its right for you!
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
Joyce’s life with ADHD.
Growing up with ADHD in the 50s & 60s
Living with an alcoholic father
Joyce’s journey of self-discovery
Learning about ADHD from an episode of 20/20 in 1993
ADHD Misdiagnosis
The importance of accurate descriptions of ADHD symptoms
ADHD & Reading
Using color to help study & remember content
Joyce’s Bridge Model for ADHD
ADHD & Memory
Struggling to graduate from college
Academic tips for students
Getting results in a unique way
Doing things the ADHD way
Parenting in “rescue mode”
Being a parent with ADHD of kids with ADHD
Why ADHD kids interrupt
How to have a calmer dinner
Guest Links:
Email Joyce at joyce@joycekubik.com
Visit her Website:joycekubik.com
Joyce’s memoir, “Unraveling ADHD”, can be bought on Amazon or at https://www.joycekubik.com/books-dvds/
ADHD Essentials Links:
Learn about & Register for The ADHD Essentials Online Parent Coaching Groups
ADHD Essentials Homepage
Email Brendan at brendan@ADHDessentials.com
Join Our Facebook Community

Aug 17, 2018 • 30min
33: ADHD Parents Palooza with Linda Roggli and Diane Dempster
Today, we’re talking to Linda Roggli and Diane Dempster about the ADHD Parents Palooza, which will run next week, from August 20thto the 25th.
The ADHD Parents Palooza brings together many of the most well-known experts on ADHD to talk about parenting our complex kids. Guests include Dr. Russell Barkley, Ned Hallowell, and Jessica McCabe.
I wasn’t able to be a part of the Parents Palooza this time, but I hope to participate next year. I’ll be in the audience with those of you who attend, though.
And if you need help implementing the things you during the Palooza, the ADHD Essentials Parenting Coaching Groups are a great place to get that support. The next session starts in September.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
The goals of the ADHD Parent Palooza
The topics that will be discussed at the ADHD Parent Palooza
Russell Barkley, Grand-Parenting, & ADHD
The Guest Experts who are involved
Where to find the Palooza
How to avoid being overwhelmed by the all of the information of the Palooza
The value parent coaching
Guest Links
The ADHD Parents Palooza
Linda Roggli, the ADD Diva
Diane Dempster & Elaine Taylor-Claus's Impact ADD
ADHD Essentials Links
Join Our Facebook Community
Learn about & Register for The ADHD Essentials Online Parent Coaching Groups
ADHD Essentials Homepage
Email Brendan

Aug 10, 2018 • 47min
32: What is a Special Education Advocate? with Melissa Carriveau, Special Education Advocate
Today, we’re talking to Melissa Carriveau. She's a Master’s Level Certified Special Education Teacher with almost 25 years of experience. She has been an doing special education consulting for nearly 20 years with both school districts and individual families. She was trained through the Federation of Children with Special Needs and through Wrightslaw. She is also a special education surrogate parent and the parent of a child with special needs.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
What is a Special Education Advocate?
What should we look for in an advocate?
How best to communicate with schools
Assuming everyone is there for the right reasons.
How to navigate IEP & 504 Meetings
The importance of documentation
Keeping communication child centered
You’re a good parent. Schools aren’t judging you.
Mourning the kid you didn’t have.
Why you shouldn’t sign anything at a team meeting
Team meetings are a negotiation
Getting your kid’s year started on the right foot with meetings & letters
Supports vs. Accommodations in school
504s vs. IEPs
Typical ADHD Accommodations
How to find an advocate
What an advocate needs from you
The importance od paperwork & documentation
Links and Such:
Our Guest:
Find Melissa on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BayStateAdvocacy
Or email her at BayStateAdvocacy@gmail.com
ADHD Essentials:
ADHD Essentials Website
ADHD Essentials Facebook Community
Email Brendan at brendan@ADHDessentials.com

Aug 3, 2018 • 41min
31: Living the Modern History of ADHD, With Diann Wingert, LCSW, ADHD Coach, and mother with ADHD of children with ADHD
This is a powerful one. Diann Wingert, LCSW shares her journey with ADHD. It's a tale the encompasses her professional work and her role in her family, and mirrors our modern undernstanding of ADHD. She shares her struggles, uncertainty, successes, and growth.
Diann Wingert is a coach and psychotherapist on a mission to help others achieve their true potential through radical self acceptance, leveraging their strengths and creating an ADHD friendly business and life. She helps creative entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals overcome their struggles with procrastination, perfectionism and people pleasing. Find Diann at www.diannwingertcoaching.com.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
What counted as ADHD in the early to mid-90s and how still that colors views today
How our understanding of ADHD has evolved
The patterns of ADHD across generations
How a child’s diagnosis might affect their parents
ADHD & Trauma
Why people with ADHD might not get diagnosed until college
The rainbow of colors of ADHD
What ADHD adds to our parenting
Empathic Time Travel
Blame vs. Responsibility
The transition from parenting children to parenting adults
The echoes of WWII (Wait… What!?!)
Radical Self-Acceptance
Links and Such:
From Our Guest:
www.diannwingertcoaching.com
From Our Host:
ADHD Essentials Website
ADHD Essentials Facebook Group

Jul 27, 2018 • 55min
30: "Talk to the Teacher" with Meg Flanagan, Author and Founder of MilKids Education Consulting
On the pod today is Meg Flannagan of MilKids. Meg is a former teacher turned education consultant. She’s a military wife, and she started MilKids to support military families, but it has since grown into a flourishing education blog. She’s also the author of “Talk to the Teacher”.
Her book is an outstanding resource for ADHD parents because of the sheer amount of structure it provides around communicating with school.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
Similarities between
Questions to ask when homework takes too long
How long homework should take
Homework strategies
The lack of breaks and time to move for kids in school
Heavy Screen Use at School
Assigning playtime for homework
Navigating homework resistance
#1 Teaching Secret: Kahn Academy
How to effectively communicate with teachers
“New” Math is in Puberty
School in Japan vs. America
How the book supports school communication record keeping
What to do if the parent/teacher relationship becomes adversarial
Ways to keep the parent/teacher relationship from becoming adversarial
Links and Such:
From Our Guest
The MilKids Website
The MilKids Facebook Page
From the Episode:
ADHD Essentials Episode 8 on brain breaks w/Steph Letourneau
"What Teachers Make" slam poetry by Taylor Mali
From Your Host:
ADHD Essentials Website
ADHD Essentials Facebook Group

Jul 20, 2018 • 39min
29: The Toxicity of Comparing Ourselves to Others with Kat, mother with ADHD of a Neuro-Typical Son
Disclaimer:
Part of today’s show includes our guest sharing a time of struggle, when she considered ending her life. Obviously she didn’t, and we spend the majority of the episode on other topics, including some of the strategies she used to move past that stage, and being a mom with ADHD. But I want to be mindful of my listeners, so I’m telling you in advance. That said, I also recognize that shying away from such topics doesn’t help anyone.
People consider suicide when their emotional pain overwhelms their coping resources, often when they are in the depths of depression.
If you, or someone you know, is considering suicide:
Please call the national suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
Text “HOME” to 741741
Or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org
This is episode 29.
Today, I’m talking to talking my friend, Kat. Kat is a single mother with ADHD, whose child is neurotypical. She is among the strongest people I know.
In this episode, Kat tells us about her journey with ADHD and depression. Along the way, she’ll share why she initially found her ADHD diagnosis to be so devastating, her 3 Ts of Thought, tips on co-parenting, and, of course, her love for her son.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
Kat’s Journey with ADHD & Depression
Kat’s Three Ts of Thought and how they have helped her
Getting help for suicidal ideation
The moralization of ADHD and how it impacts ADHDers
Divorce
How shame can affect friendships
The wrong way to tell your kids they have ADHD
Being a mom with ADHD of a neurotypical son
The Cult of Being Busy

Jul 13, 2018 • 39min
28: Taking a Gap Year with Katelynn Shea and Stephanie Kozlowski of Dynamy Internship Year
In this episode, I talk to talking to Katelynn Shea and Stephanie Kozlowski of Dynamy Internship Year. Katelynn is the Director of Admissions at Dynamy, and Stephanie is the Business Manager and Onsite Coordinator for USA Gap Year Fairs.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
What is a Gap Year?
The benefits of taking a Gap Year for kids with ADHD
How Dynamy develops executive function skills
Navigating the area between structure and independence
The value of natural consequences
The value of participating in an internship (perhaps one in blacksmithing?)
How Gap Years help kids who are college bound, but not college ready
Why colleges like kids who take Gap Years
How Gap Years help students make better career choices
Finding a good Gap Program with Gap Matcher
The USA Gap Year Fairs
Links and Such:
Learn more about USA Gap Year Fairs here:
www.USAGapYearFairs.org
Learn more about Dynamy here:
www.dynamy.org
Take the Gap Matcher Quiz here:
https://gapmatcher.com
Contact Katelynn Shea at SheaK@youinc.org
Contact Katelynn Kozlowski at KozlowskiS@youinc.org
And, as always, you can learn more about ADHD Essentials at:
www.ADHDessentials.com.
Contact me at Brendan@ADHDessentials.com.

Jul 6, 2018 • 33min
27: Music and ADHD Lessons with Richard Podgur, Music Teacher
Episode 27 features Richard Podgur. Richard is a music teacher in private practice. He teaches all ages, toddlers on adulthood, but specializes in teaching kids with ADHD. As I spoke to him I was struck by just how much Richard’s approach to teaching and managing kids with ADHD applied to situations beyond the teaching of music. I think you’ll find many of the ideas discussed in today’s episode useful at home.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
Getting kids to practice
Time as the great limiting factor
Shame and ADHD
Taking in the view from a mile up
Why ukuleles are better than guitars
The importance of creativity and imagination
Why kids with ADHD love music
Ways to manage kids with ADHD
How to help kids struggle through the early learning stages
As usual, I can be found at www.ADHDessentials.com.
Email any questions you have to brendan@ADHDessentiasl.com.

Jun 29, 2018 • 10min
26: ADHD & Time with Brendan Mahan, Your Humble, Harried Host
Today's episode is a bit different. The kids are home from school, I'm launching my first coaching groups, and I get to spend all day Friday driving out of state to visit the in-laws. So, time has been limited this week. As a result, rather than posting an interview, I'd discussing the challenges of ADHD as it relates to time. I hope you enjoy it.
We will return to our ususal interview format next week!
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
The difficulty folks with ADHD have with time awareness
The role shortened time horizons play in goal setting and doing things last minute
How long it takes your humble host to mow his lawn
And why he timed it to find out.

Jun 22, 2018 • 41min
25: The 20th Anniversary of "Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key" with Jack Gantos, Author
In today’s episode, we’re talking to Jack Gantos. Jack is the author of the Joey Pigza book series, about a boy who has ADHD. The first book of which, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, is a National Book Award Finalist, and celebrates it’s 20thanniversary this year.
Learn more about Jack, and all of his books at http://www.jackgantos.com.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
A spolier-free overview of the Joey Pigza books.
Why writing the books was a labor of love for Jack.
How things have changed for kids with ADHD over the past 20 years.
Rambling childhoods.
The value of Audiobooks.
Registration for the ADHD Parenting groups closes on Monday, June 25th! To learn more,and get on the registration list, go to www.ADHDessentials/parentgroups.


