Twenty-five years ago, when we published our first book on women, Understanding Women with ADHD, Patricia Quinn and I were primarily focused on making the case that lots of women have ADHD and that the prevailing diagnostic criteria are biased against the diagnosis of women. At the time, other ADHD researchers teased us about being…

You had the best of intentions. You were going to finish that project. You thought about it every day. You planned it in detail. But somehow it didn’t happen. You promised your child you’d be the first car in line at school pickup today. And that didn’t happen either. Where does the time go? You…

The way we talk about ADHD now will influence how a child sees themself for the rest of their life. Explaining ADHD to anyone is complicated, never mind a young child! For starters, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: is not actually a deficit in attention, does not always involve hyperactivity, and does not lead to disorder…

If you go to a doctor because you have an illness, the doctor will primarily rely on three things to diagnose you: the history (what you tell them about what you feel), an exam, and medical tests. Tests could include bloodwork, X-rays, MRIs, EKG, or other tests. Increasingly, doctors do DNA tests that contribute genetic…

You are swamped with several pressing assignments, and a partner (or someone senior to you) gives you an assignment: to research and write a memo recommending a course of action. You are responsible for getting this done in an acceptable manner and in a timely fashion. There are junior associates (or subordinates) who have worked…

For parents who believe that having children with invisible disabilities like ADHD and autism precludes them from traveling: take heart. Many special needs parents and travel advisors tell a different story. Those featured in Traveling Different: Vacation Strategies for Parents of the Anxious, the Inflexible, and the Neurodiverse recognize that vacations can be more than…

Got a kid WHO CAN’T SEEM TO FOCUS, finish tasks, or manage time? Don’t worry. Your student isn’t lazy. They likely have weak executive functioning, which is a fancy term for your child’s inability to get all the gears in their brain in motion to get stuff done. For students with ADHD, these skills can…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…