TPP 003: 11-year-old Asher on What ADHD, and Getting Distracted, Feels Like

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What is the purpose of the new kid‑POV segment on the Tilt Parenting Podcast?

Asher 0:01
When I'm not thinking about losing focus and getting distracted. I don't think about things that are distracting. So if I don't think about that and then I end up not losing focus, then I end up getting focused work done.
Debbie Reber 0:17
Welcome to the Tilt Parenting Podcast, a weekly podcast featuring interviews and conversations aimed at inspiring, informing, and supporting parents raising differently wired kids. I'm your host, Debbie Rieber, and today's episode features a conversation with my eleven-year-old son Asher about focus, what it feels like to struggle with it and what strategies we're using to help make it less of an issue in his day-to-day life. To learn more about this podcast and Tilt the revolution for parents raising atypical kids, visit TiltParenting dot com.
Debbie Reber 0:54
I wanted to bring Asher into the conversation here on this podcast because he has a lot of thoughts and insights about all the stuff that we parents are trying to figure out. And for everyone out there who's raising a unique kid, my hope is that our short conversations will in some way be interesting or helpful or thought provoking. My plan is to talk with Asher about all kinds of topics, things he's working on, current events, strategies that fail or succeed, and really anything else that comes up in our world that feels like it would resonate with other families. For our first conversation, we talked about the issue of focus, which for a kid with pretty severe ADHD who is both inattentive and hyper focuses, comes up a lot in the course of him doing schoolwork and creative projects.
Debbie Reber 1:40
So Asher, this is our first recording that we're doing for our podcast. Why, yes it is. And before we start, I wondered if you wanted to introduce yourself so people know how old you are and anything else you think is important for them to know.
Asher 1:57
Okay, well I am Asher. I am moving away from the microphone. And then I'm moving back. I'm eleven years old and I live in Amsterdam, etc et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Debbie Reber 2:14
Something you need to know about Asher is that he likes to move. So sitting still like for a podcast interview, for example, it's not so easy. You may notice some variations in his audio levels as his position with the mic is pretty fluid. So Asher, the reason that I thought it was so interesting to invite you to participate in this podcast is because I think that a lot of parents would find your insight really interesting and potentially useful in their own lives if they have children who are going through things and the parents may not understand how to best help them or maybe not even really understand what it feels like for their child to be in certain situations or to be dealing with certain challenges.
Debbie Reber 2:57
And I feel like your insight could be really helpful. So I thought
Asher 3:02
Or maybe have kids who are who are way too awesome. Like what if they had a kid who was way too awesome and they didn't know how to act? That's a good point.
Debbie Reber 3:11
Well what I was curious about what we could talk about today is that you and I have been having conversations lately about The idea of staying focused and how you get distracted pretty easily. And you know what I know? That's a huge problem for lots of kids.

How does Asher introduce himself and explain his ADHD experience?

Debbie Reber 3:30
And I know there are lots of parents who are really don't really know how to best help their kid and they don't understand why they're getting distracted. Okay. And as I'm telling you this, you're blinking your eyes back and forth at that. Well, you
Asher 3:45
started it.
Debbie Reber 3:48
Which makes me feel like you're getting distracted. So uh sorry. Distraction. Obviously this is a huge problem for kids who have trouble staying on task, whether it's doing schoolwork or tying their shoes to get out the door or really doing just about anything. And while kids being distracted can be uber frustrating for teachers and parents. It took me a while to realize it's not something the distracted kids themselves necessarily feel good about either. In our house, distraction seems to be taking center stage these days when it comes to present challenges. And in the past year specifically, I've noticed Asher getting more and more upset with himself when his own distraction tendencies screw up his plans for what he wanted to accomplish.

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