October 2018 Workshop Dates

ADHD Essentials

Tuesday, October 2nd at 6pm

Sharon Public Library
11 N Main St.

Sharon, MA

 

ADHD Essentials for Parents
Thursday, October 4th at 7pm

Norfolk, MA SEPAC

70 Boardman St.

Norfolk, MA

 

ADHD Essentials for Parents

Tuesday, October 23rd at 6:30pm

Northborough, MA SEPAC

Northborough Public Library

34 Main St.

Northborough, MA

 

The Wall of Awful:  The Social Emotional Impact of Executive Functioning Challenges

Saturday, October 27th 8:45am – 9:45am

South Coast SEL Summit

Berkley High School

625 County St.

Somerset, MA

 

Dartmouth SPED Resource Fair

Sunday, October 28th  at 10am – 3pm

Dartmouth High School

555 Bakerville Road South

Dartmouth, MA 02748

PODCAST 17: The Baskin Robbins of ADHD with Kate Barrett, ADHD Mother, Wife, and Coach

It was great to get to talk to my friend Kate Barrett again.  I know her from the ADHD coaching world.  She’s the founding coach of Coaching CVille out of Charlottesville, VA, as well as the mother of sons and the wife of a husband who have ADHD.  Her love for her family really shines through in this episode, and her coaching skills do as well.

If you’re in the Charlottesville, VA area, and need a coach, I encourage you to reach out to Kate.  In today’s episode, she shares only shares a few of her coaching strategies, but I’m sure they’ll be a huge help.  We talk about treating ADHD issues as a symptom of a problem, rather than a problem in themselves, the value of ownership, and how to manage your non-ADHD kid, if the kid with ADHD tends to get more of the focus.

 

 

Kate can be found at https://coachingcville.com.

And as usual, fee free to email me at brendan@ADHDessentials.com.

Enjoy the show!

PODCAST 12: The Barrier to Entry with Brendan Mahan, ADHD Poet

Today’s episode is a bit different.  Due to the recent snow storms, and an exceptionally busy month, I don’t have the 6-8 hours needed to edit a full interview.  In today’s episode, I go back to my English teacher roots, and blend them with my ADHD coach skills to create something short, sweet, and actionable.  I hope you enjoy it.

We’re looking at the struggle that comes about for those of us with ADHD when the “barrier for entry” is too high, and thinking about how we can reduce those barriers.  Oh, and I read an original poem.  (I promise it all makes sense.)

Let me know about your expereicnes/struggles with barriers to entry, and how you’re overcome them at  Brendan@ADHDessentials.com.

The poem I read in today’s episode is below:

If you give a man a snow blower,
He’ll have to fill it with gas.
While he’s filling it with gas,
He’ll think about how loud it is.

Thinking about how loud it is,
Will start to stress him out
So, he’ll want to listen to his favorite podcast.

Thinking about his favorite podcast,
Will make him realize
That he won’t be able to hear it over the noise.
So he’ll put his phone back in his pocket.

Putting his phone back in his pocket,
Will remind him that he needs a key to unlock the snow blower.
Thinking of the key to the lock
Will remind him about the ignition key
Remembering the ignition key
Will remind him that he can never remember
How to start the snow blower

Which means he’ll have to go back in the house
To get the instructions
But going back in the house
Will track snow everywhere.

So he won’t want to do it.
And will feel ashamed instead.
Because he can’t “just remember”
how to start the snow blower

Feeling ashamed will make him want to avoid the snow blower
And he’ll probably use a shovel instead.

PODCAST 10: Zerberts, Sensory Challenges, and Crayons in the Dryer with Eric Tivers, Parent with ADHD of a thrice-exceptional son

Today’s episode is a conversation with my friend Eric Tivers. Eric is an ADHD coach, and licensed clinical social worker. He’s the host of the ADHD reWired podcast, and runs the ADHD reWired adult coaching groups.

But in this episode, he’s talking as a dad who has ADHD, parenting a thrice-exceptional child who is gifted, and who has autism and ADHD. We discuss the challenges of transferring skills from work to home, the role sensory stimulation plays in his life, including how overwhelming it can be, and he tells the epic tale of cleaning crayons out of his dryer.

 

Eric can be found at www.ADHDreWired.com.

You can learn more about his coaching groups at www.coachingreWired.com.

And the reWired podcast can be found at www.ADHDreWired.com/podcast

Let me now what you think of today’s episode by emailing me at Brendan@ADHDessentials.com.

As usual, I can be found at www.ADHDessentials.com.

 

 

Show Notes

2:03    Hardest job he’s ever had

3:15    Son doesn’t know why he did, Dad doesn’t know why he didn’t

3:43    Planning and being “on” as dad

3:59    Son has always needed/gotten less sleep

4:34    Transitioning is hard because Eric is “state-based”

6:05    Getting home after son is in bed

6:44    Working on shifting gears

6:54    Adulting is hard

7:10    Making a dentist appointment

7:32    “ADHD is frustrating and comical at the same time.”

7:43    “…and I’m responsible for a life!”

8:13    Eric is grateful for wife and her acceptance of his ADHD

9:09    “Acceptance grows when gratitude shows up.”

9:23    Phone calls are hard

10:29  Supportive spouses supplying strategies

11:09  Filling tires and taking Adderall

11:55  The struggle to bring successful work strategies home

12:12  Environmentally-based to-do lists

12:37 Dad needs checklists and reminders for homework, too!

13:09  On the transfer of concepts from one environment to another

14:02  Generalization of concepts

14:11 Stepping back professionally from Autism work

15:24  Uncarved pumpkins

16:04  Needing a plan at home as well as at work

16:38  On trying to remember names

17:29  How to fake it when you forget a teacher’s name

18:23  Wild wife memory skills

19:00  Eric the hippy

19:21 Never enough time

20:10  Fluff only after 8pm

21:12  “Dishwasher moments”

22:04  Wandering assumptions

22:32  Undermined at the gym

23:12  Father and son podcasts and projects

23:46  Creating space for son to “let him be him”

24:05 Potty humor

24:33 Son is linguistically gifted

26:13  On Pokemon

28:05  On wrestling and rough play

28:40  Activate Zerbert-Tron

29:21  Teaching boundaries and body respect

30:13  The power and challenge of reassuring hugs

30:55  Eric opens his parenting toolbox

31:05  The row your boat strategy

31:29  Developing cues to breathe deeply

32:36 Meet them where they are, and start with sensory needs

33:40  Teach self-regulation strategies

34:45  Give Feedback with self-esteem in mind

35:42  X-Ray blankets and dentist nerves

36:14  Family visits and sensory overwhelm

37:45  Ending Essentials

38:46  Eric’s not-so proud parenting moments

42:37  Wrap-up