TPP 033: A Conversation with 12-year-old Asher About Being a Kid with ADHD
episode
Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
32 min
1 speaker
4 chapters
transcribed 6 hours ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the purpose of this kid‑POV episode and how do Debbie and Asher introduce ADHD?
When I first started homeschooling you.
It was difficult.
It was difficult because I don't think I realized. Like, I knew you had ADHD. And I knew what the strategies
were. But
you didn't really realize how hard it was. I didn't realize how hard it was. And I remember
– But it wasn't really – it isn't really hard. It's just different. It's just – that's exactly right. Exactly. It's not really fair to just – to make a system that works for four-fifths of all the people and then expect the one-fifth to just suck it up. No, you're absolutely right. Learn in a way that you don't learn.
Learn.
Welcome to Tilt Parenting, a podcast featuring interviews and conversations aimed at inspiring, informing, and supporting parents raising differently wired kids. I'm your host, Debbie Reber, and today's episode is a special kids POV episode with my 12-year-old son, Asher. Because one of the ways Asher is differently wired is having ADHD, and we know a lot of members of the Tilt community are dealing with ADHD in some way, We decided to spend this half hour talking about what it's like to have ADHD, what kids wish their teachers and their parents understood about ADHD. And we're also going to talk about the kinds of strategies that Asher is working on to support him with the aspects of ADHD that can be frustrating for him.
And we'll get right to that conversation after this quick break. Hi, Asher. Hello. How are you doing today? Okay, I've got a really bad cold. I'm sorry. You still up for having our conversation?
Yeah, of course.
So we discussed that today we were going to talk about ADHD. Yeah! ADHD! Does that sound like a good plan? Yeah, it does. And the reason I thought that would be good is because I know a lot of the TILT community members, their kids have ADHD. And it's a big part of our life. And so we're going to just give a little deeper peek inside of what it's like for us and for you specifically. Yeah, of course. So I was curious, do you remember the first time you kind of learned about ADHD and maybe made the connection? No, not actually. It was such a long time ago. It was a long time ago. The way I remember...
I was
like three. I don't think so. I don't think we knew at three.
Yeah, it was only until I was like five that I started to get hyper-focused on things.
Well, I remember you and I laying in bed in our house in Seattle, and I was reading a book out loud. I don't remember which book it was, but one of the characters, not the main character, but a side character, was a big part of the book. And it was mentioned that he had ADHD. And you turned to me and you said, what's ADHD?
Yeah.
And I explained, well, it stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. And I kind of explained.
I
was like, oh, it sounds like I have that. Well, that's kind of what happened. I explained it as best I could. And then you said, do I have that? And you were like, oh! Dun, dun, dun! Well, at the time, we had recently gotten a provisional diagnosis of ADHD. Do you know what I mean when I say provisional?
It means that it only lasts for until you run out of food.
That's different provisions. So it was a diagnosis that they said, it's not concrete, but we suspect this and we'll need to check back with Asher in a few years and have more information. So when you asked me, do I have that? I said, yeah, well, actually, we think this is something that's going on. Why? Do you recognize some of yourself in this description in the book? And you were like, yep,
really
sounds like me. Yeah. How would you then, I'm just curious before you even get started, how would you define ADHD or what does ADHD mean to you?
Mostly it means I find it hard to stay on one topic, except sometimes, and then I get ridiculously focused on it. Yeah, basically it means it's hard to get focused on something, but once you do, you're ridiculously
focused.
The unfortunate thing is that sometimes that happens on the wrong things. Right. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to do some serious focus work on my, ooh, a video game. Five hours later, yay, I win.
Well, what's the other piece besides the focus that is something that is a common trait for people
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the purpose of this kid‑POV episode and how do Debbie and Asher introduce ADHD?
0:00–7:16
2
When did Asher first realize he might have ADHD and how did that conversation happen?
7:16–13:12
3
How does Asher define ADHD and what does it feel like to him on a daily basis?
13:12–22:51
4
What challenges did Asher face in traditional school settings and how were they addressed?
22:51–32:04
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
TPP 266a: A Conversation with Poet and Advocate LeDerick Horne
TPP 522: A Whole Child Approach to ADHD with Phil Boucher, M.D.
TPP 091a: A Conversation With Steve Silberman About His Book “Neurotribes”
TPP 521: A Conversation with Dr. Peter Gray About Restoring Childhood
TPP 253a: Advocate and Author Jonathan Mooney on Why Normal Sucks
TPP 520: Dr. Özgür Bolat on Why Rewards Backfire and the Real Science of Motivating Kids