Tag: Driven to Distraction

Today our guest host, René Brooks is joined by a trio of amazing women for a conversation about the unique needs of black children with ADHD.

Rhashida Perry-Jones is the founding coordinator of CHADD in Philadelphia. Nathalie Thandiwae is a neurodiversity resource navigator who helps parents identify and support their child’s unmet needs. And Dr. Loucresie Rupert is a child and adult psychiatrist who focuses on neurodiversity, as well as foster care and adoption. All three of today’s guests have children with ADHD and share their experiences and advice for other parents of black and brown neurodiverse children. 

We’ll be releasing more of this conversation this week so keep an eye out for it, or subscribe to Distraction wherever you listen so you don’t miss an episode!

Distraction welcomes Black Girl, Lost Keys blog creator, René Brooks, as our guest host for ADHD Awareness Month! René is an ADHD coach, writer and advocate who also has ADHD herself. From Black Girl, Lost Keys website: René Brooks is a late-life ADHD success story. After being diagnosed 3 times as a child (7, 11 and 25) she was finally able to get the treatment she deserved. René decided that her passion for helping others should be put toward people with this disorder who are struggling in silence or shame. She started Black Girl, Lost Keys to empire black women with ADHD and show them how to live well with the condition. 

We want to hear from you! CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY. Or, email your thoughts to connect@distractionpodcast.com.  

Distraction is sponsored by Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.  It’s the college for students who learn differently! Landmark offers comprehensive supports for students with ADHD and other learning differences, both on campus and online. Learn more HERE!

We’re welcoming Black Girl, Lost Keys blog creator, René Brooks, to Distraction as our guest host for ADHD Awareness Month! René is an ADHD coach, writer and advocate who also has ADHD herself.

Today our guest host is joined by Inger Shaye Colzie, a psychotherapist and ADHD leadership coach, for a conversation about accommodations. They talk about the treatment journey and how you have to figure out what you need help with, and then practice asking for it.

As you’ll hear in today’s episode, René says advocating for yourself is a skill that you need to develop, as there are things that she would never have dreamed of asking for when she was first diagnosed, that she doesn’t think twice about asking for now. 

The pair also talk about the give-and-take aspect of accommodations, and how everyone needs help in some part of life, whether they have ADHD or not. And that’s where your strengths can come into play, as you’ll hear them discuss. 

Like René, Inger Shaye was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and was a therapist for 15 years before being diagnosed herself. Learn more about Inger Shaye Colzie on her website by clicking HERE.  And you can find  her Facebook group here: Black Women with ADHD

From Black Girl, Lost Keys website: René Brooks is a late-life ADHD success story. After being diagnosed 3 times as a child (7, 11 and 25) she was finally able to get the treatment she deserved. René decided that her passion for helping others should be put toward people with this disorder who are struggling in silence or shame. She started Black Girl, Lost Keys to empire black women with ADHD and show them how to live well with the condition. 

We want to hear from you! CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY. Or, email your thoughts to connect@distractionpodcast.com.  

Distraction is sponsored by Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.  It’s the college for students who learn differently! Landmark offers comprehensive supports for students with ADHD and other learning differences, both on campus and online. Learn more HERE!

We’re welcoming Black Girl, Lost Keys blog creator, René Brooks, to Distraction as our guest host for ADHD Awareness Month! René is an ADHD coach, writer and advocate who also has ADHD herself. Today she is joined by Inger Shaye Colzie, a psychotherapist and ADHD leadership coach, for a conversation about how to work in conjunction with your therapist, psychiatrist or other healthcare provider so you can actually make progress and move forward. They also talk about how to navigate “the ADHD conversation” with your family and why you don’t necessarily have to tell them anything. 

Like our guest host René, Inger Shaye was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and was even a therapist for 15 years before being diagnosed herself. They talk about how the lack of ADHD education for professionals affects black women and children in particular, as they are much less likely to be diagnosed.

The pair also talk about the importance (and difficulty) of finding a culturally competent provider who understands where you are coming from. René shares the story of feeling like a fish out of water the first time she went to talk to someone, and how that changed when she found the right therapist.

Learn more about Inger Shaye Colzie on her website by clicking HERE.  And you can find  her Facebook group here: Black Women with ADHD

From Black Girl, Lost Keys website: René Brooks is a late-life ADHD success story. After being diagnosed 3 times as a child (7, 11 and 25) she was finally able to get the treatment she deserved. René decided that her passion for helping others should be put toward people with this disorder who are struggling in silence or shame. She started Black Girl, Lost Keys to empire black women with ADHD and show them how to live well with the condition. 

We want to hear from you! CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY. Or, email your thoughts to connect@distractionpodcast.com.  

Distraction is sponsored by Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.  It’s the college for students who learn differently! Landmark offers comprehensive supports for students with ADHD and other learning differences, both on campus and online. Learn more HERE!

It’s the end of September and that means it’s time to say goodbye to our guest host, CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. In this ep, Alisyn shares a farewell message with our listeners, and we share a little behind the scenes audio from our recording sessions with the longtime news anchor and first time podcast host! 

We’re welcoming Black Girl, Lost Keys blog creator, René Brooks, to Distraction as our guest host for ADHD Awareness Month! René is an ADHD coach, who also has ADHD herself. She has some really interesting episodes planned for October. Take a listen to hear some of what René has in store for our listeners! Mark your calendar for Rene’s first episode on Tuesday, October 5th!  

We want to hear from you! CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY. Or, email your thoughts to connect@distractionpodcast.com.  

Distraction is sponsored by Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.  It’s the college for students who learn differently! Landmark offers comprehensive supports for students with ADHD and other learning differences, both on campus and online. Learn more HERE!

We’re welcoming Black Girl, Lost Keys blog creator, René Brooks, to Distraction as our guest host for ADHD Awareness Month! René is an ADHD coach, who also has ADHD herself. She has some really interesting episodes planned for October. Take a listen to hear some of what René has in store for our listeners! 

From the Black Girl, Lost Keys website:

René Brooks is a late-life ADHD success story. After being diagnosed 3 times as a child (7, 11 and 25) she was finally able to get the treatment she deserved. René decided that her passion for helping others should be put toward people with this disorder who are struggling in silence or shame. She started Black Girl, Lost Keys to empire black women with ADHD and show them how to live well with the condition. 

And mark your calendar for Rene’s first episode next Tuesday, October 5th!  

We want to hear from you! CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY. Or, email your thoughts to connect@distractionpodcast.com.  

Distraction is sponsored by Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.  It’s the college for students who learn differently! Landmark offers comprehensive supports for students with ADHD and other learning differences, both on campus and online. Learn more HERE!

You might know Greg Montgomery from his time in the NFL with the Houston Oilers, the Detroit Lions and the Baltimore Ravens. His accomplishments as an NFL punter include being named All Pro and playing in the 1994 Pro Bowl, All AFC twice and All Time Best Punter by The Oilers. But as good as he was at football, Greg struggled with his mental health. 

He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1997 and became a vocal advocate for raising awareness about mental health struggles. Unfortunately Greg succumbed to his own mental health struggles in 2020 when he committed suicide. His family speculates that social isolation resulting from the pandemic contributed to his death.

His sister, Margot Montgomery Moran, joins our guest-host Alisyn Camerota, to share her brother’s story and talk about the foundation that she, along her with father and other brother, Steve, created to honor Greg and continue his mission of helping others with mental illness, The Gregory H. Montgomery Jr. Foundation. Alisyn grew up in the same town as the Montgomery family and was a friend of Greg’s as you’ll hear her talk about. 

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. We can all help prevent it. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for your or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals. Call 1-800-273-8255 for free and confidential support 24/7. CHAT is also available at National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.org. 

Or visit BeThe1To.com to find the 5-step safety plan for emotional crises mentioned in this episode. #BeThe1To

We want to hear from you! CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY. Or, email your thoughts about this podcast to connect@distractionpodcast.com.  

This episode is sponsored by Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.  It’s the college for students who learn differently! Landmark offers comprehensive supports for students with ADHD and other learning differences, both on campus and online. Learn more HERE!

Are people born with a natural ability to recover quickly from difficulties or is this a skill that can be learned? That’s the subject of today’s conversation between our guest host, CNN’s Alisyn Camerota and Lenore Skenazy, founder of the Free-Range Kids movement and Let Grow, the organization that’s leading the movement for childhood independence. 

As Lenore says in this episode, “…there are some things that need tension, need a little bit of resistance for them to get strong and resilient… That’s why people do weight training, right? You need something pushing against the bone for the bone to become stronger. And children need something in their lives that’s isn’t just simple an obvious and pleasant and a trophy for them to become strong too, for them to become anti-fragile.” 

Alisyn and Lenore discuss the importance of letting children do things on their own, and Lenore shares some simple steps parents can take to help a child increase their independence in a way that is comfortable for both kids and parents.

Learn more about the Let Grow organization and download a FREE copy of the Let Grow Independence Kit HERE.

Get a copy of Lenore’s book, Free-Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow, HERE.

We want to hear from you! CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY. Or, email your thoughts about this podcast to connect@distractionpodcast.com.  

This episode is sponsored by Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.  It’s the college for students who learn differently! Landmark offers comprehensive supports for students with ADHD and other learning differences, both on campus and online. Learn more HERE!

Anxious parents weren’t born over night, but a shift can be pinpointed to 1984, when the first missing child’s picture was put on a milk carton as part of the National Child Safety Council’s Missing Children Milk Carton Campaign. At the same time, the 24-hour news cycle was coming into existence and local stories were frequently becoming national news, a rarity prior to this new news cycle. As a result parents became increasingly aware of the dangers  that could befall their children, and the “helicopter parenting style” become more of the norm than the exception. 

Alisyn’s guest today is author Lenore Skenazy, who coined the term “free-range kids” after making headlines for letting her 9 year old ride the subway alone. Through her organization, Let Grow, Lenore is on a mission to make it easy, normal and legal to give kids back some freedom.  

The pair talk about why parents are so much more anxious now and how society has shifted from sympathizing with parents to blaming them when something bad happens to a child.

Get a copy of Lenore’s book, Free-Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow, HERE, and learn more about the organization Let Grow HERE.

We want to hear from you! CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY. Or, email your thoughts about this podcast to connect@distractionpodcast.com.  

This episode is sponsored by Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.  It’s the college for students who learn differently! Landmark offers comprehensive supports for students with ADHD and other learning differences, both on campus and online. Learn more HERE!

Our guest-host, CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, is joined by Bethany Johnson and Dr. Margaret M. Quinlan to continue the conversation about why so many moms feel like they’re never good enough at home or at work.

“The threshold for women to be called a bad parent is far lower than it is for men still, and that’s an institutional thing…” Bethany says in this episode.

The trio talk about how having a helpful partner can make a big difference when raising kids, but it will never make up for some of the systemic problems that exist, like the lack of good childcare. They also talk about a better way we can support moms and each other on social media that does not involve offering advice.

Our guests today co-wrote the book, You’re Doing It Wrong! Mothering, Media, and Medical Expertise and share some of the historical underpinnings of why so many mothers struggle with feelings of shame and guilt regarding their kids. 

Bethany L. Johnson (MPhil, M.A.) is a doctoral student in the history of science, technology and the environment at the University of South Carolina and a research affiliate faculty in the department of communication studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She studies how science, medical technology, and public health discourses are framed and reproduced by institutions and individuals with structural power from the 19th century to the present; specifically, she studies epidemics and reproductive health. She has published in interdisciplinary journals such as Health Communication, Women & Language, Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, Journal of Holistic Nursing, and Women’s Reproductive Health. 

Margaret M. Quinlan (Ph.D.) is a Professor of Communication Studies, Director of an Interdisciplinary Minor, Health & Medical Humanities and Core Faculty Member of the Interdisciplinary Health Psychology Ph.D. Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She examines the nexus of public perceptions of medicine, science, and technology, both historically and presently. She investigates the role communication plays in public understandings of medical expertise, illness, wellness, caring, treatment, health, and healing. Dr. Quinlan has authored approximately 40 journal articles, 17 book chapters and co-produced documentaries in a regional Emmy award-winning series (National Distribution with PBS and available on Amazon).

We want to hear from you! CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY. Or, email your thoughts about this podcast to connect@distractionpodcast.com.  

This episode is sponsored by Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.  It’s the college for students who learn differently! Landmark offers comprehensive supports for students with ADHD and other learning differences, both on campus and online. Learn more HERE!

Most moms have experienced “mom guilt” or “mom shame” at some point in their children’s lives. On today’s podcast we talk about the very real, historical reasons why this happens, and about the long-running sentiment in the United States that a woman’s true job is to be a good mother. And now with the added pressures of measuring up on social media and taking care of your family in a pandemic, it’s no wonder so many moms feel inadequate. 

Our guest-host, CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, is joined by Bethany Johnson and Dr. Maggie M. Quinlan for a fascinating conversation about the history of mom guilt in America. The pair co-wrote the book, You’re Doing It Wrong! Mothering, Media, and Medical Expertise and share some of the historical underpinnings of why so many mothers struggle with feelings of shame and guilt regarding their kids. 

Bethany L. Johnson (MPhil, M.A.) is a doctoral student in the history of science, technology and the environment at the University of South Carolina and a research affiliate faculty in the department of communication studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She studies how science, medical technology, and public health discourses are framed and reproduced by institutions and individuals with structural power from the 19th century to the present; specifically, she studies epidemics and reproductive health. She has published in interdisciplinary journals such as Health Communication, Women & Language, Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, Journal of Holistic Nursing, and Women’s Reproductive Health. 

Margaret M. Quinlan is a Professor of Communication Studies. Core Faculty Member of the Interdisciplinary Health Psychology Ph.D. Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Quinlan is the Director of an Interdisciplinary Minor, Health/Medical Humanities. Dr. Quinlan has authored approximately 40 journal articles, 17 book chapters and co-produced documentaries in a regional Emmy award-winning series (National Distribution with PBS and available on Amazon).

We want to hear from you! CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY. Or, email your thoughts about this podcast to connect@distractionpodcast.com.  

This episode is sponsored by Landmark College in Putney, Vermont.  It’s the college for students who learn differently! Landmark offers comprehensive supports for students with ADHD and other learning differences, both on campus and online. Learn more HERE!