Why I Volunteer
I joined CHADD because I was struggling. My son, who’d been overwhelmed with sensory and developmental challenges since birth, had just been diagnosed with ADHD. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my own diagnosis was a few years away. Looking back, it’s no wonder I was struggling. My son’s doctors did that thing they do,…
Read MorePhysiological and Emotional Awareness in Individuals with ADHD
Is ADHD related to physiological and emotional awareness? This research brief reviews two studies that address this question. Physiological or interoceptive awareness refers to a person’s ability to recognize internal bodily signals such as heartbeat, hunger, and thirst. Research demonstrates that adaptive emotion regulation skills involve an individual’s ability to recognize and interpret emotion-related signals…
Read MoreHow to Recover After a Social Faux Pas
Social faux pas happen when you have ADHD. You may miss social cues about how someone feels or read their face incorrectly and miss their intention when they speak. That momentary misstep may leave you feeling like you have fallen off the edge of the earth, causing you to shut down, apologize too much, or…
Read MoreHope and Help for Anxious Kids
As experts in the field of ADHD remind us, some children with ADHD and executive function challenges can also struggle with significant anxiety-related symptoms. For many of these children, the world can feel like a very scary and dangerous place. Children can learn to see their anxiety symptoms in an entirely new light, however. They…
Read MoreEpicWin as Game-Based Self-Management
EpicWin as Game-Based Self-Management: Interventions Known to Work “Millie never turns in her homework!” is a common phrase uttered throughout the halls of Carter High School. Millie has ADHD, and as the first nine weeks of school progress, all of her teachers and her parents have become concerned about her grades. Millie’s teachers see her…
Read MoreLaunching Successful Young Adults with ADHD
Launching Successful Young Adults with ADHD: The Role of Self-Motivation The transition to adulthood is a highly challenging time for individuals with ADHD. In fact, the gap between youth with ADHD and their peers widens after high school. While many eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds without ADHD move out of the house, enroll in higher education,…
Read MoreBeware These Sneaky Energy Vampires
Imagine if you had more energy every day… what would you do with it? Start on that project you’ve been putting off? Finish that thing that you just haven’t had the energy to finish? (Did someone say taxes?) Focus a little extra time on just getting organized so you’re more ready to attack tomorrow with all…
Read MoreHow I Manage My Improv-Based Training Business with ADHD
For years, I tried to hide my ADHD. I was ashamed of it. I found it challenging to concentrate as effectively as my peers and my fidgeting only worsened my feeling. I felt I had to exert twice as much effort as other “neurotypical” persons, while still receiving subpar results. I thought that if I…
Read MoreChasing Dopamine Is Exercise
As an adult with ADHD, my relationship with exercise is simple. I hate it. It’s a decades-old demon I pretty much gave up defeating. My best friend, Doug Snyder, shares my struggle. So how did we manage to exercise regularly over 250 times in 2022 and 150 times the year before? The short answer is,…
Read MoreMarlene Snyder, PhD: A Tireless Advocate for Children
Today we pay tribute to a woman who was special to so many people. Her recent death is a loss not only for her family but for the whole world. Marlene Snyder, PhD, was a national and international champion for two great causes: ADHD and bullying. She was a farm girl who grew up to…
Read MoreJoseph Biederman, MD: A Champion of Clinical Science
Up until his recent passing, Joseph Biederman (CHADD Hall of FAME, inducted 1995) was an explorer, teacher, and champion of the clinical science of ADHD. The way we understand mental functioning is built on the work of a vast number of researchers and clinicians like him. These are individuals who have committed themselves not just…
Read MoreWhy Are Black Preschoolers with ADHD Expelled?
The national rate of preschool ADHD in the United States increased from 1.0% in 2007 to 2.4% in 2016. Although preschoolers with ADHD often do not receive a diagnosis until later, early and effective interventions can blunt the typical developmental progression seen with ADHD (lower academic achievement, for example) and mitigate the need for further…
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