エピソード

  • The Wall of Awful: Why Starting Feels Impossible

    The Wall of Awful: Why Starting Feels Impossible
    2026/09/02
    When people with ADHD struggle to start, return to, or finish a task, their inaction is frequently mislabeled as laziness, poor motivation, or chronic procrastination. In reality, the obstacle is rarely about logistics or effort. It stems from the emotional pre-work required just to get to the starting line. Brendan Mahan, an ADHD coach, speaker, host of the ADHD Essentials podcast, and author of Overcoming the Wall of Awful, joins Emily to talk about the emotional barriers that turn ordinary demands into overwhelming roadblocks. TAKEAWAYS Task paralysis is driven primarily by emotional labor and accumulated negative memories rather than simple executive dysfunction or laziness. The emotional work required to face an anxiety-provoking task is invisible from the outside, which often cause those around you to mistake genuine freeze states for willful procrastination. Smashing through emotional barriers using eleventh-hour panic and anger damages internal self-esteem and strains personal relationships. Putting a door in an emotional barrier involves shifting short-term states using external scaffolding such as body doubling, high-interest music, or novel environments. Climbing an emotional barrier requires a balance of active cognitive processing and passive mind-wandering to allow the brain's default mode network to metabolize stress. Healthy accountability separates functional impairments from moral worth by treating ADHD symptoms with the same matter-of-fact compassion as an asthma flare-up or chronic physical condition. Mental health clinicians: Telling a child about a new diagnosis can feel like navigating a minefield, but it doesn't have to. We're hosting a training with Dr. Liz Angoff, called Explaining a Diagnosis to Kids in a Neurodiversity-Affirming Way, on Friday, September 11th from 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern. The course is worth 1.5 continuing education hours, and is approved through both the APA and NBCC. You'll learn how to replace pathologizing jargon with empowering, neurodiversity-affirming language that builds self-advocacy and resilience. Register for this course today. We're getting closer to our annual, free Creating Neurodiversity-Affirming Schools Crash Course. Our a panel of experts will talk all about how to approach the new school year and set our neurodivergent students up for success. The event is Tuesday, September 22 at 7:30 PM Eastern, and again, it is free to register and attend. Here's a link to register and join us! Brendan Mahan, M.Ed., M.S. is an ADHD coach, speaker, and educator dedicated to helping neurodivergent individuals better understand and manage the challenges of ADHD. He is the author of Overcoming the Wall of Awful™ and the host of the popular ADHD Essentials Podcast, where he shares practical strategies and insights for navigating life with ADHD. As a neurodivergent professional, Brendan brings both lived experience and professional expertise to his work with individuals, families, schools, and organizations. He serves on the board of the Men's ADHD Support Group, is the Director of Professional Resources for Calmer Con Boston, and previously served on the planning committee for the International Conference on ADHD. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, LinkedIn, Understood, How to ADHD, Verywell Mind, and ADDitude Magazine. BACKGROUND READING Overcoming the Wall of Awful, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, BlueSky, Twitter/X The Neurodiversity Podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and you're invited to join our Facebook Group. For more information go to www.NeurodiversityPodcast.com If you'd like members of your organization, school district, or company to know more about the subjects discussed on our podcast, Emily Kircher-Morris provides keynote addresses, workshops, and training sessions worldwide, in-person or virtually. You can choose from a list of established presentations, or work with Emily to develop a custom talk to fit your unique situation. To learn more, visit our website. Thank you for supporting neurodivergent people.
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    40 分
  • The Asynchrony Paradox: Why Capable Kids Struggle with the Basics

    The Asynchrony Paradox: Why Capable Kids Struggle with the Basics
    2026/08/27
    When raising or teaching gifted, twice-exceptional, and differently wired children, adults often face the emotional whiplash of asynchronous development. A child might engage in deep, high-level discussions one moment, only to struggle with basic emotional regulation, task initiation, or practical organization the next. Colleen Kessler, an educator, gifted specialist, author of The Homeschool Advantage, and host of the Raising Lifelong Learners podcast, joins Emily to discuss why supporting neurodivergent kids requires shifting away from one-size-fits-all expectations and becoming an active student of the individual child. TAKEAWAYS Asynchronous development is a natural hallmark of neurodivergence where intellectual, emotional, and physical capacities develop at markedly different rates. Becoming a student of the child allows adults to separate neurological wiring differences from behavioral choices, leading to more effective scaffolding. Authentic strengths-based learning uses a student's high-interest areas to build the confidence and resilience to tackle difficult academic tasks. Testing critical thinking or scientific understanding can be separated from writing output by utilizing speech-to-text tools and alternative dictation methods. Highly capable learners often mask executive functioning deficits until cumulative demands outpace their early compensatory strategies. Being an effective advocate requires ongoing, collaborative communication between home and school rather than relying solely on formal annual meetings. Mental health clinicians: Telling a child about a new diagnosis can feel like navigating a minefield, but it doesn't have to. We're hosting a training with Dr. Liz Angoff, called Explaining a Diagnosis to Kids in a Neurodiversity-Affirming Way, on Friday, September 11th from 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern. The course is worth 1.5 continuing education hours, and is approved through both the APA and NBCC. You'll learn how to replace pathologizing jargon with empowering, neurodiversity-affirming language that builds self-advocacy and resilience. Register for this course today. Colleen Kessler is an author, educator, educational consultant, and international speaker specializing in gifted, twice-exceptional, and other neurodivergent learners. With degrees in elementary education and gifted studies, she helps parents, educators, and clinicians better understand and support the social, emotional, and executive functioning needs of neurodivergent children through a strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming approach. Colleen is the founder of Raising Lifelong Learners and the host of the Raising Lifelong Learners podcast. Through her books, executive function resources, educational consulting, coaching programs, and The Learner's Lab membership community, she equips families with practical strategies to foster confidence, resilience, meaningful relationships, and a lifelong love of learning. Combining professional expertise with lived experience, Colleen empowers families to recognize and celebrate each child's unique strengths. BACKGROUND READING Colleen's website, Raising Lifelong Learners podcast, Learner's Lab, books, classes, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok The Neurodiversity Podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and you're invited to join our Facebook Group. For more information go to www.NeurodiversityPodcast.com If you'd like members of your organization, school district, or company to know more about the subjects discussed on our podcast, Emily Kircher-Morris provides keynote addresses, workshops, and training sessions worldwide, in-person or virtually. You can choose from a list of established presentations, or work with Emily to develop a custom talk to fit your unique situation. To learn more, visit our website.
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    42 分
  • Neurodivergent Capacity: Why Can They Do It Sometimes But Not Every Time?

    Neurodivergent Capacity: Why Can They Do It Sometimes But Not Every Time?
    2026/08/19
    When supporting neurodivergent kids, adults often struggle to balance when to gently challenge a child and when to pull back to prevent nervous system overload. Pushing too hard risks chronic distress and shutdown, but overprotecting can unintentionally create learned helplessness and limit opportunities for growth. Emily welcomes Dr. Emily King, a child psychologist, former school psychologist, and author of The Neurodivergent Learner, to talk about how parents and educators can work together to read a child's true capacity and build authentic engagement in school and at home. TAKEAWAYS Determining whether to challenge or accommodate a student depends on reading their real-time nervous system capacity, daily stamina, and baseline emotional regulation. Distinguishing between learned helplessness and true defeat requires looking at a child's underlying mood rather than just their surface-level task avoidance. Differences in how a child behaves at home versus school provide important clues about their masking demands, relationship safety, and sensory fatigue across environments. Meaningful parent-teacher partnerships focus on cross-checking patterns and discovering what already works in one setting to replicate that success in another. Special interests should be honored as tools for genuine emotional expression and connection rather than used as behavioral leverage to force compliance. Effective school advocacy thrives on frequent, informal check-ins about everyday strategies rather than waiting solely for formal annual meetings. Get the pre-order bonus for Dr. King's new book. Mental health clinicians: Telling a child about a new diagnosis can feel like navigating a minefield, but it doesn't have to. We're hosting a training with Dr. Liz Angoff, called Explaining a Diagnosis to Kids in a Neurodiversity-Affirming Way, on Friday, September 11th from 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern. The course is worth 1.5 continuing education hours, and is approved through both the APA and NBCC. You'll learn how to replace pathologizing jargon with empowering, neurodiversity-affirming language that builds self-advocacy and resilience. Register for this course today. Dr. Emily King is a child psychologist with more than 20 years of experience supporting neurodivergent learners and their families. She earned her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and began her career providing school-based mental health services in K–12 public schools in Houston, Texas. She now works in private practice in North Carolina, specializing in the mental health, executive functioning, and social-emotional needs of neurodivergent youth. Dr. Emily is the creator of The Neurodiverse Classroom®, a professional development curriculum for educators, and the author of The Neurodivergent Learner. She also hosts Learn with Dr. Emily on Substack, where she shares parent workshops, resources, and practical strategies to help families and educators better support neurodivergent children and teens. BACKGROUND READING Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Emily's new book The Neurodiversity Podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and you're invited to join our Facebook Group. For more information go to www.NeurodiversityPodcast.com If you'd like members of your organization, school district, or company to know more about the subjects discussed on our podcast, Emily Kircher-Morris provides keynote addresses, workshops, and training sessions worldwide, in-person or virtually. You can choose from a list of established presentations, or work with Emily to develop a custom talk to fit your unique situation. To learn more, visit our website.
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    41 分
  • Learning Differences And Emotional Well-Being Aren't Separate, and Here's Why

    Learning Differences And Emotional Well-Being Aren't Separate, and Here's Why
    2026/08/13
    It's easy to view academic difficulties and mental health challenges as two separate issues when a child struggles. However, the emotional toll of an unaddressed learning difference often leads to chronic anxiety, low self-esteem, and a loss of motivation. Dr. Karen Wilson is a pediatric neuropsychologist and the host of the Diverse Thinking-Different Learning Podcast, and she joins Emily this week to talk about the deep overlap between learning differences and emotional well-being. TAKEAWAYS Learning differences and mental health challenges are deeply connected, with neurodivergent kids experiencing higher rates of anxiety and depression than the general population. Kids notice and internalize daily academic struggles long before an official diagnosis, often assuming their difficulties are signs of personal flaws rather than a neurodivergent profile. Chronic academic often undermines motivation by breaking the expected relationship between hard work and successful outcomes. Evaluating whether anxiety or an executive functioning difference came first requires building a clear developmental timeline through family and academic histories. Complex tasks like writing demand a high executive functioning load, requiring students to juggle task initiation, working memory, organization, and emotional regulation all at once. Long-term independence often requires pairing classroom accommodations with explicit skill building and self-advocacy training, so students can understand themselves and self-advocate. The Neurodiversity Podcast Advocacy & Support Group is ready for you! Join us now. Dr. Karen Wilson is a pediatric neuropsychologist specializing in the intersection of learning, mental health, and identity in children and adolescents who learn and think differently. With over 20 years of clinical, academic, and research experience, including faculty and training roles at UCLA, she brings deep expertise in neurodevelopment, executive functioning, and comprehensive assessment across diverse populations. Dr. Wilson's work is grounded in a neurodiversity-affirming, equity-focused approach that considers how social, cultural, and systemic factors shape the identification and support of neurodivergent learners. She is the host of the Diverse Thinking · Different Learning podcast and an expert with Understood.org, where she translates complex neuropsychological concepts into practical strategies. Her work helps families, educators, and organizations move beyond labels to better understand and support the whole child. BACKGROUND READING Diverse Thinking Different Learning Podcast, Instagram, LinkedIn The Neurodiversity Podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and you're invited to join our Facebook Group. For more information go to www.NeurodiversityPodcast.com If you'd like members of your organization, school district, or company to know more about the subjects discussed on our podcast, Emily Kircher-Morris provides keynote addresses, workshops, and training sessions worldwide, in-person or virtually. You can choose from a list of established presentations, or work with Emily to develop a custom talk to fit your unique situation. To learn more, visit our website.
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    41 分
  • The Evolution of Assessment: It's More Than Just a Score

    The Evolution of Assessment: It's More Than Just a Score
    2026/07/29
    As public understanding of neurodiversity continues to grow, evaluators face a shifting landscape when assessing clients whose traits don't match traditional, less nuanced pictures of autism. Many individuals—especially women and girls—learn to navigate daily social interactions through pattern recognition and learned strategies rather than intuitive processing, masking their traits enough to miss early identification. Dr. Jeremy Sharp, a licensed psychologist, founder of the Colorado Center for Assessment, and host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, joins Emily to unpack the realities of camouflaging and what it takes to catch these less obvious presentations during a diagnostic evaluation. TAKEAWAYS The increasing prevalence of self-identification and online research requires evaluators to look beyond traditional, high-support presentation models when assessing for autism. Camouflaging and masking rely on active cognitive problem-solving and pattern recognition rather than intuitive social processing, creating high internal fatigue that standard testing environments can miss. Structured, one-on-one assessment settings can artificially boost a person's immediate social performance, making ambiguous or unstructured interactions essential during clinical observations. Traditional assessment tools like the ADOS can be less sensitive when evaluating females, who often demonstrate higher surface social fluency and culturally common special interests. Arriving at an accurate diagnostic picture requires gathering broad collateral information from parents, partners, and teachers rather than relying on a single test score. You can register now for our upcoming continuing education course for mental health professionals, Clinical Implications of Late-Identified Neurodivergence: Strategies for Identity Integration and Therapeutic Support. The course will be presented by Dr. Amy Marschall, author of the book Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy, and will be available both as a live event on Friday, August 7 from 2:00 - 3:30 PM Eastern, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific, and afterwards in video form. Both versions are worth 1.5 hours of APA and NBCC-approved CE credits. Register here. Dr. Jeremy Sharp is a licensed psychologist and Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment, a multimillion-dollar private practice that he founded in 2009. He specializes in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast and consultant for clinicians, Dr. Sharp provides private practice coaching for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow assessment services in their practices. In 2020, Dr. Sharp partnered with a seasoned software developer to co-found Reverb, the premier AI report-writing platform for testing psychologists that helps clinicians write faster, better reports and get their time back for what matters most. Dr. Sharp earned his undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting a Master's and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife (also a therapist) and two teenagers. BACKGROUND READING Jeremy's website, Testing Psychologist podcast, Facebook, LinkedIn The Neurodiversity Podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and you're invited to join our Facebook Group. For more information go to www.NeurodiversityPodcast.com If you'd like members of your organization, school district, or company to know more about the subjects discussed on our podcast, Emily Kircher-Morris provides keynote addresses, workshops, and training sessions worldwide, in-person or virtually. You can choose from a list of established presentations, or work with Emily to develop a custom talk to fit your unique situation. To learn more, visit our website.
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    36 分
  • Autistic Girls Are Going Undiagnosed or Misdiagnosed

    Autistic Girls Are Going Undiagnosed or Misdiagnosed
    2026/07/23

    Often, autistic girls are called shy, introverted, perfectionistic, confused, anything BUT autistic. There is a pervasive impression, even in the medical community, that autism occurs in boys vastly more often than girls. The result is, autistic girls are missing out on services and tools that are available to them. Holly Blanc Moses is a therapist, and the host of the Autism ADHD Podcast, and she joins Emily Kircher-Morris in this encore presentation to talk about missing autism in girls.

    You can register now for our upcoming continuing education course for mental health professionals, Clinical Implications of Late-Identified Neurodivergence: Strategies for Identity Integration and Therapeutic Support. The course will be presented by Dr. Amy Marschall, author of the book Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy, and will be available both as a live event on Friday, August 7 from 2:00 - 3:30 PM Eastern, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific, and afterwards in video form. Both versions are worth 1.5 hours of APA and NBCC-approved CE credits. Register here.

    Holly Blanc Moses is a Licensed Psychological Associate, a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, and an ADHD Certified Clinical Services Provider with over 23 years of experience in ADHD, Autism, and anxiety. Over the last 23 years, she has provided mental health therapy in the areas of emotional regulation, anxiety, social interaction, depression, parent-child relationship, and school success. She is the host of The Autism ADHD Podcast and Autism ADHD TV. Holly is also the mother of two neurodivergent children.

    BACKGROUND READING

    The Autism ADHD Podcast, Autism ADHD TV, Facebook parent group, Facebook professionals group, Holly's private practice, Holly's education and course website

    The Neurodiversity Podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and you're invited to join our Facebook Group. For more information go to www.NeurodiversityPodcast.com

    If you'd like members of your organization, school district, or company to know more about the subjects discussed on our podcast, Emily Kircher-Morris provides keynote addresses, workshops, and training sessions worldwide, in-person or virtually. You can choose from a list of established presentations, or work with Emily to develop a custom talk to fit your unique situation. To learn more, visit our website.
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    33 分
  • The Right to Be Heard: Reclaiming Communication Autonomy

    The Right to Be Heard: Reclaiming Communication Autonomy
    2026/07/16
    The baseline premise of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) rests on the fundamental principle that communication is an inherent human right rather than a privilege to be earned through baseline cognitive compliance. Too often, school systems and clinical providers inadvertently stall access to verbal alternatives by requiring non-speaking students to prove communicative readiness or complete repetitive testing metrics. Brenda Del Monte, an AAC specialist and author, alongside Sarah Kinsella, an assistive technology specialist, join Emily Kircher-Morris to discuss ways to reverse this traditional framework. They work to dismantle the clinical assumptions that hinder expressive access. TAKEAWAYS Communication should be an absolute human right that must be provided without pre-qualifying conditions, compliance mandates, or prerequisites of demonstrated cognitive readiness. Implementing top-down testing protocols on assistive devices turns natural expression into an artificial performance. The usage of hand-over-hand physical guidance to steer a student's selection on an assistive device overrides physical autonomy and lessens authenticity. Changing communicative environments requires a baseline differentiation between a user's current physical selection skills and their potential capabilities. Introducing descriptive, speech-generating tools does not reduce a child's internal drive to develop natural verbal language, and actively enhances social interaction. Our latest CE course for mental health professionals is available now online. It's called The New 3 Rs: Mindfulness-based Resilience, Regulation, and Relationships, and is facilitated by Dr Christopher Willard. In this course, we explore how resilience develops, what stress and overwhelm do to the developing nervous system, and why relational safety is not simply a nice addition to an intervention. The training video is available now, and is worth 1.5 APA- and NBCC-approved CE hours. Click here to take the course now. Brenda Del Monte is a speech language pathologist and an assistive technology evaluator and facilitator. She worked as an SLP in Washington state public schools for 7 years. She is currently a private practitioner in AZ where she does home based therapy, as well as AAC evaluations and trainings. Her background includes experience in the medical setting, private setting and birth-to-three. Her role at SETC involves teaching webinars and classes, creating video tutorials, and collaborating with districts on implementing assistive technology with children with a wide range of physical and cognitive abilities. She published the book I See You In There in October 2021. Sarah Kinsella is a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) passionate about empowering students with complex communication and learning needs through Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Holding a Master's degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Sarah has been providing support and training to children (birth-21), their families, and educators in WA state for nearly two decades. She currently works for the Special Education Technology Center (since 2015) where, in addition to providing technical assistance and training, she co-hosts and develops content for the "Awe and Wonder AAC & AT Podcast". Her background includes 11 years as a public school SLP, serving 6 of those years as district Assistive Technology (AT) Specialist. BACKGROUND READING Special Education Technology Center website, SETC on Facebook, Brenda's Technically Speaking website, Technically Speaking on Instagram, Technically Speaking on YouTube The Neurodiversity Podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and you're invited to join our Facebook Group. For more information go to www.NeurodiversityPodcast.com If you'd like members of your organization, school district, or company to know more about the subjects discussed on our podcast, Emily Kircher-Morris provides keynote addresses, workshops, and training sessions worldwide, in-person or virtually. You can choose from a list of established presentations, or work with Emily to develop a custom talk to fit your unique situation. To learn more, visit our website.
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    33 分
  • What We're Learning About (Pervasive) Pathological Demand Avoidance

    What We're Learning About (Pervasive) Pathological Demand Avoidance
    2026/07/08
    When an autistic child or teen consistently pushes back against daily expectations, traditional parenting and teaching methods often default to high-pressure enforcement. This pattern routinely triggers escalating defensive behaviors, creating a continuous loop of friction that strains the entire family system. In this encore conversation, Sandra McConnell, an advocate known as the PDA Mama Bear, joins Emily Kircher-Morris to unpack the nuanced framework of pervasive demand avoidance and explore how it reshapes typical social navigation. They talk about ways to shift the focus away from top-down behavior tracking, and why common behaviorist tools like point charts or sudden restrictions fail to foster authentic growth for youth with this cognitive profile. TAKEAWAYS PDA represents a distinct neurodivergent profile rooted in a protective baseline of sensory anxiety and a heightened resistance to coercion. Traditional behavioral adjustments such as top-down discipline, sudden restrictions, and performance rewards lose their utility when applied to youth with deep demand avoidance patterns. Apparent behavioral compliance can hide severe internal masking and exhaustion, which often surfaces later as profound burnout and sudden academic avoidance. Manifestations of demand avoidance often vary between protective escape patterns and a desire to control the immediate household environment. Shifting the caregiver approach from a position of top-down authority to that of an instructional mentor lowers daily pressure and builds authentic family trust. Protecting a child's long-term social and emotional development requires moving away from absolute compliance demands to focus instead on reducing baseline nervous system stress. This week's special CE training for mental health professionals features Dr. Christopher Willard, and is titled, "The New 3 R's: Mindfulness-Based Resilience, Regulation, and Relationships." The training is live online Friday, July 10 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm Eastern, and is approved for 1.5 APA and NBCC continuing education hours. Everyone who registers can earn those credits by watching the event live, or can choose to watch it later. Register here. Sandra McConnell is a blogger, speaker, and trainer on Autistic Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). She conducts webinars, workshops and conferences all across the country to train and inform people about PDA. She has two graduate certificates in Learning Differences & Neurodiversity specializing in Executive Functioning and Autism (Landmark College, 2021); a certification in PDA through the UK-based, OCN-accredited organization Neurodivergent Education Support and Training (NEST, 2020); a master's degree in Forensic Psychophysiology (Argosy University, 2006); and a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Criminology (UNM, 2000). Sandra lives in Maryland, USA, with her husband, who's ADHD, her 13-year-old son, who's PDA, her 10-year-old son, who's ADHD, and her 6-year-old daughter, who's TBD. BACKGROUND READING Sandra's website The Neurodiversity Podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and you're invited to join our Facebook Group. For more information go to www.NeurodiversityPodcast.com If you'd like members of your organization, school district, or company to know more about the subjects discussed on our podcast, Emily Kircher-Morris provides keynote addresses, workshops, and training sessions worldwide, in-person or virtually. You can choose from a list of established presentations, or work with Emily to develop a custom talk to fit your unique situation. To learn more, visit our website.
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    41 分