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In school, a teacher made Rakia Reynolds push her desk all the way to the principal’s office for getting in trouble. Rakia had undiagnosed ADHD. She was energetic, creative, and the class clown. Rakia is now a businesswoman and creative leader with diagnosed ADHD — a diagnosis that she never shared publicly… until now.

Hear from Rakia, the founder and executive director of Skai Blue Media, on why she shied away from talking about her ADHD until now. Did a level of success make it feel safer to talk about? And if so, what can we learn from that?

Related resources

• Rakia’s company, skaibluemedia.com
• Why some kids clown around in class
• 32 examples of workplace accommodations

Timestamps

(01:41) Speaking publicly about having ADHD

(07:47) Rakia’s childhood and school life

(12:43) Hitting a wall in graduate school

(14:36) Rakia’s “aha“ moments

(16:51) ADHD strengths and weaknesses

(18:53) Coping at work

(21:36) How employers can create an inclusive and supportive workplace

To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the ADHD Aha! podcast page at Understood.

Want to share your “aha” moment? We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

If you like this show, consider making a donation this holiday season. 100% of your donation will go towards helping us create more podcasts (like this one!). Click here to make a gift today.

Em Schulz thought they were just lazy growing up. Years later, after discovering that not everyone’s TikTok was full of ADHD tips that “weirdly work,” they realized they might have ADHD.

Em is a paranormal investigator (aka ghost hunter) and co-host of the And That’s Why We Drink podcast. Em and Laura chat about ghosts and ghosting, as in ghosting relationships — a not uncommon ADHD behavior. And Em shares their take on whether people believe less in ghosts or ADHD.

Related resources

• Em’s podcast website, andthatswhywedrink.com
• “Is ADHD real?” What experts say when people doubt ADHD
• ADHD fact sheet

Timestamps

(01:32) What it’s like being a paranormal investigator

(06:13) What do people believe in less: ADHD or ghosts?

(07:02) Growing up with undiagnosed ADHD

(10:42) Em’s pandemic diagnosis

(14:02) TikTok ADHD tips that resonated with Em

(15:39) How did Em’s ADHD diagnosis change their life?

(16:55) What’s scary about ADHD?

(18:34) Why Em became a paranormal investigator

(19:33) ADHD creativity at night

(20:28) Scary movies

(23:43) Where you can find Em

To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the ADHD Aha! podcast page at Understood.

Want to share your “aha” moment? We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

If you like this show, consider making a donation this holiday season. 100% of your donation will go towards helping us create more podcasts (like this one!). Click here to make a gift today.

Growing up as a Black girl with undiagnosed ADHD, Kayla Sanders learned very early that getting into trouble was not an option. Kayla was imaginative, playful, and extremely bright. She was also hyperactive, which was occasionally mistaken for disobedience.

One incident in particular in the first grade left a lasting mark on Kayla. From then on out, Kayla did everything she could to avoid causing trouble for her hard-working, loving mom. She pushed down her hyperactivity and masked her symptoms for years. Then, during the pandemic, Kayla was finally diagnosed with ADHD.

Join Kayla and host Laura Key’s chat on ADHD and masking, and the added pressure that comes from racial bias.

Related resources

• To be Black in America with a learning disability
• Bias in school discipline: When the teacher says your child is “acting out”, from Opportunity Gap
• ADHD and rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD)

Timestamps

(01:10) Kayla’s pandemic ADHD diagnosis story

(06:53) Kayla’s childhood behavior

(09:45) The pressure to mask ADHD as a Black woman

(13:56) Covering up “mistakes” in the classroom

(15:35) Kayla’s relationship with her mom

(20:11) Cultural masking, and the intersection of ADHD and race

To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the ADHD Aha! podcast page at Understood.

Want to share your “aha” moment? We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

If you like this show, consider making a donation this holiday season. 100% of your donation will go towards helping us create more podcasts (like this one!). Click here to make a gift today.

Patricia Sung was diagnosed with ADHD in her first year of college. It wasn’t until she became a mother, and other people relied on her, that she realized just how much ADHD affected her.

Patricia now hosts the Motherhood in ADHD podcast. Join Patricia and host Laura Key as they talk about managing emotions with ADHD. Patricia explains the concept of “raging” — that moment when you go from 99 to 100 and emotions boil over. She also shares strategies that can help.

Related resources

• Building self-compassion skills
• ADHD and anger
• Patricia’s podcast, Motherhood in ADHD

Timestamps

((01:10) Patricia’s diagnosis story

(06:16) How “ADHD” changed for Patricia when she became a mom

(09:09) ADHD mom challenges

(21:47) Acknowledging realistic “wins” for women with ADHD

(26:41) How you can join Patricia

To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the ADHD Aha! podcast page at Understood.

Want to share your “aha” moment? We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

If you like this show, consider making a donation this holiday season. 100% of your donation will go towards helping us create more podcasts (like this one!). Click here to make a gift today.

Matthew Raghunauth always felt like he was a little lazy and sluggish — that’s just how he was. Then the time came to return to office after the pandemic, and he really started struggling at work. He questioned why he would put things off so much. He was scared to mess up, and afraid that his colleagues would think he’s a bad employee.

Matthew is an artist and UX designer who was diagnosed with ADHD about a year and a half ago. Join Laura and Matthew as they talk about this ADHD fear of being “found out,” and a grown-up view of growing up.

Related resources

• ADHD and rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD)
• Imposter syndrome at work: How I stopped feeling like a fake
• Not lazy, but exhausted from analysis paralysis (Emily’s story)

Timestamps

(01:25) Why did Matthew seek out an ADHD evaluation?

(05:59) ADHD and prioritization overload

(07:23) Anxiety and fixations while growing up

(10:10) Putting off things out of fear of failing and being rejected

(12:34) ADHD and catastrophizing

(15:32) Are we really “too sensitive”?

(16:38) When “growing up” means taking care of yourself

(21:20) The added pressure of being first generation American

To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the ADHD Aha! podcast page at Understood.

Want to share your “aha” moment? We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

If you like this show, consider making a donation this holiday season. 100% of your donation will go towards helping us create more podcasts (like this one!). Click here to make a gift today.

Farah Jamil had to stand up for herself when two health care providers told her she couldn’t have ADHD. The reasons cited? One thought she was too smart, charming, and cared for to have ADHD. The other seemed to question whether ADHD was even real. Fortunately, Farah has strong self-advocacy skills that allowed her to debunk these myths in real time.

Farah is an executive coach, ADHD life coach, and the founder of the community groups Muslim ADHDers and Interfaith ADHDers. Listen as host Laura Key and Farah bust common ADHD myths. They also talk about how ADHD can make keeping friends hard.

Related resources

• From Sorry, I Missed This: The impact of ADHD on workplace relationships
• 8 common myths about ADHD
• Muslim ADHDers
• Interfaith ADHDers

Timestamps

(01:14) Farah’s first attempt to get an ADHD diagnosis

(05:11) Unpacking the 4 myths her doctor told her about ADHD

(09:22) Farah’s second attempt to get an ADHD diagnosis

(10:55) What was Farah struggling with?

(13:41) Why is Farah surprised she “still has friends”?

(18:53) The ADHD communities Farah has founded

(27:24) Farah’s advice

(29:53) Where you can find Farah

To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the ADHD Aha! podcast page at Understood.

Want to share your “aha” moment? We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

How to ADHD creator Jessica McCabe has been the source of many ADHD “aha” moments — so what were her ADHD “aha” moments?

Jessica was diagnosed when she was 12 years old but didn’t start to look into what ADHD meant for her until she was 32. Taking ADHD medication felt like putting on glasses — experiencing the world as everyone else did. But she didn’t have the skills and strategies to cope with ADHD.

So, she started making YouTube videos...and the rest is history. Listen in as Jessica answers Laura’s many questions, including: What’s it like for her to be a new mom with ADHD? Does she ever get a vulnerability hangover? And why doesn’t she think she’s cool?

Related resources

• Jessica’s YouTube channel, How to ADHD
• All about ADHD medication
• Understanding trouble with social skills

Timestamps

(03:08) How Jessica feels about being involved in so many people’s “aha” moment

(04:55) Jessica’s diagnosis story at age 12

(06:16) Jessica’s ADHD medication “aha” moment

(07:33) The creation of Jessica’s YouTube channel How to ADHD

(11:29) Jessica on social anxiety

(14:07) Busting ADHD medication stigma

(16:52) ADHD and new motherhood

(22:49) Going back to work after maternity leave

(26:01) Laura’s rapid-fire questions

(31:49) Jessica’s parting words

To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the ADHD Aha! podcast page at Understood.

Want to share your ADHD “aha” moment? We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Dr. Monica Johnson joins Laura to talk about a topic that comes up a lot on ADHD Aha!: ADHD and trauma. She explains how trauma and ADHD can look alike and whether ADHD can lead to trauma. Dr. J, as she’s known, also talks about misdiagnosis, treatment, and how to support someone who’s struggling.

This episode contains discussion about trauma, PTSD, and examples of traumatic events. It’s intended for educational purposes, but may not be for everyone. You can visit mentalhealthhotline.org, or rainn.org for support.

Related resources

• 6 ways ADHD and PTSD can look alike
• Trauma, learning differences, and kids of color (from The Opportunity Gap podcast)
• MissUnderstood: The ADHD in Women Channel

Timestamps

(04:05) Dr. J defines trauma

(05:18) The difference between trauma and PTSD

(07:59) Can trauma cause ADHD? Can ADHD cause trauma?

(09:51) Misdiagnosis

(16:50) What happens when you have both ADHD and trauma

(19:25) Possible treatment

(23:54) How can caregivers and loved ones support someone who has ADHD and trauma?

(28:13) More on ADHD and... on the MissUnderstood podcast channel

To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the ADHD Aha! podcast page at Understood.

We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give