Janelle Booker & Hamish Blake - The ADHD Playbook for Parents
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How do you raise a child whose brain works differently?
We decide at age seven or eight whether we're smart or not and that lasts for the rest of our life.
Almost 800,000 Australians have ADHD, approximately one child in every classroom and maybe some older children as well.
I don't want to make this about me at all but I suspect I might have it but I've always just called it fast and loose and it's just always been who I am.
So how do you raise a child whose brain works differently?
I felt so guilty because I had always given them a hard time for having such a messy bedroom, for never studying, big emotions. If I could, oh gee, I would have those years again so that I didn't criticise for the things that they couldn't help.
What is the penny drop moment for ADHD kids?
Psychologist Janelle Booker is back with special guest host Hamish Blake.
I just always thought everyone felt like I do, but they're better at life. They're better at dealing with it. And then so there's a bit of the stigma attached where you go, well, everyone's getting it. So it's like a Von Dutch hat in 2006.
What are the differences between ADHD and being fast and loose?
I was like, I can't buy one now.
Everyone's got a Von Dutch hat.
Well, as you just heard in the opener, the fuzzy-haired guy from Rove today is being played by Hamish Blake. Fuzzy-haired. Fuzzy-faced. Fuzzy-faced guy, also from Rove. Yeah, also from Rove. I probably don't bring it up as much as Rye. But back by extremely popular demand today, we have Janelle Booker, who last year joined us to talk about ADHD, and it was the most shared episode in 2025. Did you know that?
Yes. Yes. Em told me. Em told you, yeah. And so did Bridge.
Yeah.
How does dopamine affect ADHD brains?
How's that feel?
Well, I was shocked, absolutely astounded by that. I mean, it's great that The Imperfects got the top spot, but it was astounding to me that it was the episode that I was on.
Yeah, I think there was a Hamish and Andy episode that did pretty well. I think the share button was broken. I remember Apple saying, I'm so sorry, guys, our share button's down this week. That would explain it. Well, I mean, this might just be jumping straight into it, but I'm so fascinated by this topic and I'm very excited to talk to you, Janelle. Do you think it was shared because people going, oh, my God, that's me, or like, hey, Dave, this is you? Do you think it's because it's something that people see themselves in a lot, but then I suppose for your role of like going, okay, well, how do you diagnose someone?
What role does structure play in the lives of ADHD kids?
It's not just like that's a little bit of it, but it's β then tips over into something that's actually a diagnosable condition rather than just a trait where you're like, hey, Dave, you're sloppy. This reminds me of you.
Look, the thing is I've been working in this area for about 14 years or something like that.
Sorry, I should probably actually say like officially Janelle is a psychologist. I'll just give you one paragraph because Janelle Booker is a psychologist who specialises in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. and highly sensitive person trait.
How can ADHD impact a child's identity and diagnosis?
Janelle is interested in helping people understand how the brain works and working with them to develop practical strategies to enhance how they interact with the world. And now, just to paint a picture, you're very qualified to answer the question that I was just asked.
So about 14 years ago, I got interested in ADHD. And back then, it was really a very narrow, until about six or seven years ago, a very narrow understanding of what ADHD is. And so I started to learn about it because I wanted to start a group. I was working as a psychologist in a university and so many ADHDers struggle at university. It doesn't matter how smart they are or how motivated they are. There's a lot about university that really trips people up.
It's impossible.
Yeah, it can be. It can be impossible.
What challenges do ADHD kids face in friendships?
Can I ask, is it easy to describe why?
Not really quickly, but all the things that make a lot of things hard for ADHD are so dopamine differences and executive function differences are the predominant ones. So executive function refers to the brain's management system. So time, like being aware of time, tracking time.
Mm-hmm.
Organizing, planning, prioritizing, remembering, starting a task, persisting until it's done, you know, those sorts of things.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How do you raise a child whose brain works differently?
0:00β0:43
2
What is the penny drop moment for ADHD kids?
0:43β0:59
3
What are the differences between ADHD and being fast and loose?
0:59β1:43
4
How does dopamine affect ADHD brains?
1:43β2:28
5
What role does structure play in the lives of ADHD kids?
2:28β3:01
6
How can ADHD impact a child's identity and diagnosis?
3:01β3:44
7
What challenges do ADHD kids face in friendships?
3:44β4:33
8
How can parents with ADHD effectively support their children?
4:33β1:43:08
Speakers
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