Please Note: This is a longer episode because it is an interview and it may require a mid-episode brain break or turn it into a two part series to listen to at different times!

That is one thing I understand about my brain, that I need tasks broken into smaller parts to find success in completing them! Is this how your brain works too?! In this episode you will hear from ADHD Specialist, Donna Giachino, who also practiced speech and language pathology for 25 years. Donna lives in Vancouver, Canada and was also diagnosed with ADHD later in life. She is now extremely passionate about educating others about understanding their ADHD brains! We discuss how understanding our brains is a foundational key for growth, along with "finding your people" or support system. We also talk about what neurodiversity means and how we can use it to help others understand that all of our brains work differently. Donna shares some great visual analogies in this episode, and you can also find her incredible content that so many learn from and enjoy on her Instagram page @adhd_understood.

Please send me a message on my website, www.katelynmabry.com to share how this podcast has been helpful to your child, to give topic ideas, or to be a future guest on the podcast! We are on this journey together!

Have you ever heard the term, "you are who you hang with?!" This is something my parents said to me when I was young and it is something I often think about when choosing who to spend time with and energy on. Friendships can be so valuable, but also can be a source of pain for many. Especially those of us who have ADHD and may struggle with deep seeded feelings of rejection, or just having a hard time making and maintaining friendships. This is when we need to stop and ask yourself, who are the people in my life who I am trying to be "friends" with?

In this episode, we will explore the idea of identifying types of friends using the visual of a stoplight. This green light, yellow light, red light analogy helps us identify who is safe, which relationships need caution/boundaries, and those we may need to stop spending time with and energy on.

Categorizing also helps to paint a picture of the types of friends we should be seeking out. For parents, it's helpful to identify which types of friendships to facilitate and encourage.

Please message me and let me know if this visual is helpful and if you have any other questions or topic ideas to cover in future episodes.

Visit www.katelynmabry.com for more resources or if you'd like to set up a free consultation. Have a super blessed day!

Too often, the challenges of ADHD are highlighted and focused on. This episode is going to flip the script and hone in on some of the many gifts that come with having an ADHD brain. The main gift that's talked about is the fact that those with ADHD are great at "thinking outside of the box." To make it a more appealing visual, I came up with the concept of being an "out of the ball pit thinker"! Those colorful balls that both rest in and pop out of a ball pit when being played in makes for a great analogy of how our ADHD minds are drawn to the balls outside of the pit that are filled with creativity, innovation, imagination, and go off course to do things in a different way! I hope this fun visual is a great conversation starter for you all and I hope that you can add to the list of strengths shared as well. Together we can educate, empower, and encourage our kids to move mountains with their amazing minds!

Please send me a message if you or your child would like to share a topic idea or be a guest on a future podcast! Visit me at www.katelynmabry.com