ADHD FOR SMART
ASS WOMEN PODCAST
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Episode 72: What The Pandemic Taught Me About My ADHD Brain
In Episode 72 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy shares what social distancing has taught her about her ADHD brain. This episode is for those of you who have been practicing social isolation for a while, are growing weary, and are struggling to find more positive emotion in your life. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
In Episode 72 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy shares what social distancing has taught her about her ADHD brain. This episode is for those of you who have been practicing social isolation for a while, are growing weary, and are struggling to find more positive emotion in your life.
Discover:
- Why awareness is so important to our ADHD brains
- How one little shift that we don’t even realize can contribute to a downward trajectory in our positive emotion
- How quickly we can bounce back if we’ve just recently fallen in the hole and haven’t yet buried ourselves in it
- How important routine and structure is not only to our ADHD brains but also to positive emotion
- The importance of nature to the ADHD brain
- How Covid reconnected me to nature, my family and myself
- What you actually need to feel more connection to others
Resources:
ADHD for Smart Ass Women Podcast
Episode 71: ADHD and the Importance of Fun, with Psychologist, Author & Grand Poohbah of Play, Dr. Kirsten Milliken
Tracy is delighted to welcome Dr. Kirsten Milliken to Episode #71 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women. Dr. Milliken is a licensed clinical psychologist, an ADHD Coach, and the Author of PlayDHD: Permission to Play. A Prescription For Adults With ADHD. Dr. Milliken lives in Portland, Maine with her two amazing children, her partner, Perry, and her two dogs. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Tracy is delighted to welcome Dr. Kirsten Milliken to Episode #71 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women. Dr. Milliken is a licensed clinical psychologist, an ADHD Coach, and the Author of PlayDHD: Permission to Play. A Prescription For Adults With ADHD. Dr. Milliken lives in Portland, Maine with her two amazing children, her partner, Perry, and her two dogs.
As a licensed clinical psychologist Kirsten has worked in a variety of fields including juvenile justice, geriatric mental health, school psychology, community mental health and nonprofit development. Currently, Kirsten has a private practice where she offers services to military veterans, provides diagnostic evaluations, and coaches teens and adults with ADHD.
Kirsten shares with Tracy:
- The circumstances surrounding her late in life ADHD diagnosis
- The symptoms she struggled with
- How she missed the diagnosis in herself
- What has changed since she was diagnosed
- How and why she educates her clients on the value of play, as a naturopathic treatment for ADHD
- The exciting project, World Without ADHD that she started with Kris Mitchell. Its goal is to increase the awareness of the positive impact of ADHD on society
- How to submit written and visual works for potential publication
- What ADHD traits she feels are responsible for her success
- Her favorite ADHD workarounds
Resources:
http://www.worldwithoutadhd.com/
PlayDHD: Permission to Play… A Prescription for Adults With ADHD by Kirsten Milliken, PhD., PCC
Episode 70: Social Anxiety and ADHD with Mental Health Clinician, Kelsie Elizabeth
Join Tracy in Episode #70 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women where she introduces you to Kelsie Elizabeth. Kelsie grew up in NH and went to a small liberal arts school in Massachusetts where she earned a BS in clinical and research psychology and a second BS in music with a concentration in piano. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Join Tracy in Episode #70 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women where she introduces you to Kelsie Elizabeth. Kelsie grew up in NH and went to a small liberal arts school in Massachusetts where she earned a BS in clinical and research psychology and a second BS in music with a concentration in piano. Kelsie was also three credits short of a third degree in social welfare because she couldn’t make up her mind. Sounds pretty ADHD, doesn’t it?
Kelsie was diagnosed with ADHD last year at the age of 25. At her young age, she has so much insight and wisdom and a remarkable sense of who she is. Tracy just knew that you would love Kelsie’s story.
Kelsie shares:
- The circumstances around her diagnosis
- What her symptoms were
- Her struggle with disabling social anxiety
- Her love of psychology
- Her early career struggles
- What she finally did to right herself
- How the correct diagnosis helped to regain her confidence
- What her favorite ADHD traits are
- How her ADHD makes her even better at her job
- Her keys to living successfully with ADHD
- Her ADHD workarounds
Resources:
Kelsie’s email - [email protected]
Episode 69: ADHD and the Arts with San Francisco Opera Singer Sally Mouzon
In Episode #69 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy introduces you to Sally Mouzon. Sally is a member of the acclaimed San Francisco Opera Chorus. She has appeared in numerous roles with the company, including Second Priestess in Iphigénie en Tauride, Second Bridesmaid in Le nozze di Figaro, Second Girl in Show Boat, and Second Orphan in Der Rosenkavalier. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Tracy introduces you to Sally Mouzon. Sally is a member of the acclaimed San Francisco Opera Chorus. She has appeared in numerous roles with the company, including Second Priestess in Iphigénie en Tauride, Second Bridesmaid in Le nozze di Figaro, Second Girl in Show Boat, and Second Orphan in Der Rosenkavalier. She has also created roles in three world premieres; La Popolana in Two Women, Joan in Heart of a Soldier, and Sister Lillianne in Dead Man Walking.
In real life Sally is an avid reader, union activist, baseball fan (Go Giants!), and single mother of a collegiate Shakespeare nerd. She is a dedicated alumna of the University of Virginia and now lives in the Bay Area.
In this delightful interview, Sally shares:
- How an article about time blindness resulted in her adult ADHD diagnosis
- Her ADHD symptoms which were present since childhood
- Her music filled childhood
- Why structure was so important to her academic success
- How she pivoted back into music and ultimately parlayed her love of music into an audition with the San Francisco Opera
- How her degrees in African American Studies and Russian Literature help her to be a better opera singer
- The ADHD traits that she feels are responsible for her professional success?
- The key to living successfully with ADHD
- Her ADHD workarounds
Resources:
Twitter, Instagram: @sallymezzo
Episode 68: How to Train Your ADHD Brain to Work with Fear
In Episode 68 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy talks about how to train your ADHD brain to deal with fear. This is an extension of Episode #66 and Tracy’s attempt at simplifying concepts so they can be applied today if her listeners are struggling with their emotions. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Tracy talks about how to train your ADHD brain to deal with fear. This is an extension of last week’s episode and Tracy’s stab at simplifying concepts so they can be applied today if her listeners are struggling with their emotions.
Learn about:
- Abraham Hicks
- The first place you should go if you’re feeling fear?
- How your inner guidance system (your intuition) can help you
- How fear can act as your rudder and is just information
- What it means to always reach for a better feeling
- Why controlling your environment doesn’t make you happier
- How to use your thoughts to always feel better regardless of the circumstances
- The importance of the journey
- The only freedom you will ever experience
- How to train your brain to always tune into positive emotions
Resources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-yhCO76xEU&list=FLPphZhYJuP72U1XDfWTf02A&index=18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DhHXoIC0iU&list=FLPphZhYJuP72U1XDfWTf02A&index=15&t=0s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqCJrbmCfIQ
https://www.abraham-hicks.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Law-Attraction-Collection-ebook/dp/B00EA8UFNU/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Abraham+Hicks&qid=1585184316&refinements=p_72%3A2661618011&rnid=2661617011&sr=8-3
Episode 67: Surviving a Very Difficult Adolescence, a Love of Accounting and Belonging to Yourself with Vera Bruursema
Join Tracy in Episode #67 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women as she welcomes her guest, Vera Bruursema. Like many of us with ADHD, Vera has crafted a diverse career path from volunteer firefighter/EMT, soccer coach, Trader Joe’s Assistant Manager and bookkeeper. While earning her MBA she worked as staff accountant for many different companies but still struggled to find her place. It all finally came together when Vera decided to seek help for her ADHD and open her own practice as owner and founder of Verafied Accounting. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Tracy wanted to talk to Vera because many believe that the ADHD brain is incapable of a career in accounting or finance. In fact, Vera is going to tell us how she took her nonlinear brain and created a really interesting niche for herself in accounting.
Vera shares with us:
- The circumstances around her ADHD diagnosis in sixth grade
- Her very difficult teen years
- The ADHD program in Wyoming that changed her life
- How she finally learned executive function skills
- How she ended up in bookkeeping and ultimately accounting
- The “social handbook” that she finally read that explained so much of her struggles with other people and helped her to build her confidence back up
- The THING she started to embrace that turned her life around rapidly
- Why accounting plays into one of her biggest strengths. Hint: it’s problem-solving
- How her dog Atlas gives her the structure she needs to succeed
Resources:
https://www.verafiedaccounting.com
Episode 66: Change Your ADHD Life by Managing Your Thoughts
Join Tracy in Episode #66 where she talks about the coronavirus, why we really struggle so much with uncertainty and how the only thing that we have control over are our thoughts even thought most people believe that they have no control over what they think. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Discover:
- What Mister Rogers taught journalist Tom Junod.
- Why anything that is mentionable is manageable
- How panic comes from uncertainty and trying to control what we can’t control whether we’re talking about a pandemic or anything else
- What you really fear when you’re feeling uncertainty
- Why worrying has nothing to do with being prepared
- Why the journey is so important
- The importance of our thoughts
- What dictates our feelings/emotions
- What fear really is
- How the ADHD brain is motivated
- The formula that involves our thoughts, feelings/emotions, actions and results.
- How to control your thoughts
- What mindfulness is
- How mindfulness helps ADHD
- Who connected mindfulness with brain science
- ADDitudeMag’s mindfulness acronym STOP
- Tracy’s list of 100 experiences, observations that generate positive emotion and wouldn’t have come about but for the coronavirus
Resources:
ADDitude’s FREE Mindfulness and Other Natural Treatments eBook
Podcast #53: Neuroplasticity, Mindfulness, Meditation and ADHD
Podcast #50: Meditation That Even You Can Do with ADHD Life Coach Diann Wingert
Episode 65: Managing our Children and our ADHD in the Time of COVID19 with Jaime Fisher
In Episode #65 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy introduces you to Jaime Fisher. Jaime lives in Connecticut where she is raising four kids and an infant while transitioning back into the workforce. With over 100,000 hours of parenting experience, Jaime is a strong advocate for both moms and babies. She runs a Facebook site called Hey New Mama, and is working on a book on the optimal care and feeding of new moms. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Jaime shares:
- the circumstances around her ADHD diagnosis
- why ADHD mothers make great parents
- how her and her husband manage their household of five children under normal circumstances
- how her family is actually doing in the midst of COVID19
- good news on the resilience of children
- what she works on paying attention to during this time
- her advice around learning and children
- why rituals are important during times of stress
- her personal ADHD workaround
Resources:
Episode 64: ADHD and the Creative Life with Francesca Rizzo
Tracy introduces you to Francesca Joy Rizzo in Episode #64 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women. Francesca Rizzo is an award-winning actor, writer, producer and director in theater, film, television and digital media. Her powerful and provocative ideas are fueled by her mission to explore, illuminate and celebrate the female experience with passion, humor and imagination. Fran believes that the way the world sees women becomes the way the world treats women so she employs female creativity to even things out. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
As a college dropout, Fran mined her creative talents for skills she could use to pay the rent in New York City. Along the way she carved out a career as a children’s book illustrator, professional actor, co-founder of a downtown theater company and eventually, as a filmmaker and CEO of MovieBaby Productions, a Tribeca-based media company creating innovative videos, independent films and tv promotional campaigns.
After 9/11, Fran went back to the basics, earning her degree in Media Arts as well as the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. While making her mark in the fine arts and interior design, she penned and performed three theatrical productions, curated The Cinema-Femina film series and, created Believe Women, a rape activist initiative that championed the Cosby survivors along their journey to justice.
Fran is one of the founding members of ADHD for Smart Ass Women and is now one of our administrators. I regularly introduce her as the most creative person I know. I have talked about her in my podcast and actually have women request to join the ADHD for Smart Ass Women’s FB group just because they want to meet Fran.
Fran shares with us:
- The circumstances surrounding her ADHD diagnosis
- Her ADHD symptoms
- How her symptoms got worse in midlife?
- How important interest is to her driven brain
- The ADHD traits that she feels are responsible for her success?
- What she feels is the key to living successfully with ADHD
- Some ADHD workarounds
Resources:
MESSAGES - Facebook PM
WEBSITE - http://www.francescarizzo.com/
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/francescarizzo
INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/francescarizzonyc/
GREAT DAMES MEDIA - https://www.facebook.com/greatdamesmedia/
FRANCESCA UNLIMITED - https://www.facebook.com/francescaunlimited/
IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0729883/
VIMEO - https://vimeo.com/francescarizzo
Episode 63: Choose to be the Hero not the Victim in Your ADHD Life
In Episode #63 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy talks about how complaining, venting, feeling sorry for yourself and playing the victim is the gateway drug to an unhappy life that puts you at the mercy of your ADHD, by completely focusing on your weaknesses and not your strengths. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Learn about:
- BMW - and it’s not the car
- The science behind why rumination is bad for our brains
- Why what we say to ourselves matters
- What my definition of high-functioning with ADHD looks like
- What kinds of people I choose to have in my life
Discover:
- A different way to see your ADHD and it’s not disordered
- What demotivates the ADHD brain
- What you need to focus on to drive your motivation
- How to become the hero in your own life
- The importance of mindset
- The importance of gratitude
- The easiest thing you can do to start slowly shifting your mindset
- What makes the ADHD brain happier
Tracy then shares an amazing lesson that a young woman in her FB group taught her about her own beliefs around the brain, honesty, her own power and abilities.
Resources:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adhd-and-rumination-ep-23/id1443678424?i=1000440657223
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learned-helplessness-and-adhd-ep-12/id1443678424?i=1000432464141
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-is-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-how-can-ithhelp/id1443678424?i=1000446344745
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tracys-strength-focused-adhd-book-list-ep-26/id1443678424?i=1000442848440
Episode 62: ADHD And Cannabis
In Episode #62 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy talks about ADHD and cannabis. She specifically focuses on cannabis and the adolescent ADHD brain. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Discover:
- The history of cannabis in the United States
- Why the name was changed from cannabis to marijuana
- How immigrants popularized the recreational use of marijuana
- What state first passed the Cannabis Prohibition law.
- How the propaganda film Reefer Madness effectively criminalized marijuana
- What happened to cannabis in the 60s and 70s
- What the reports commissioned by Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson said about marijuana
Tracy then shares why she initially thought that cannabis was safer than substances like alcohol and her experience at a cannabis dispensary close to her home.
Learn:
- The truth about whether or not there really are medicinal and or therapeutic benefits of cannabis to the ADHD brain.
- The two active compounds that make up cannabis
- If research supports the use of CBD oil as a treatment for ADHD
- At what age the frontal lobe is fully matured in the ADHD brain
- What THC actually does in the brain
- What the FDA has approved medical marijuana for
- What rates of cannabis use look like for adolescents and young adults.
- The negative affects of cannabis and how this mimics the symptoms of ADHD
- How dendrites help a healthy brain process and learn better
- How THC can alter the architecture of your brain
- Why fully formed brains are at much less risk for damage by THC
- If THC is a gateway drug
- Cannabis’ effect on the heart
- Cannabis’ effect on mental health
- If cannabis is addictive and if so, who is more likely to be addicted
- What it means to be chasing dopamine and why those with ADHD are at a greater risk for this
- What Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) is
- What the link between CUD and psychosis is
- Why cannabis is so appealing to the ADHD brain
- How to treat CUD and ADHD
Resources:
- 1-800-662- HELP to locate a treatment center
- https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/
- Reefer Madness! The Twisted History of America's Marijuana Laws
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4882033/
- https://www.additudemag.com/treating-marijuana-abuse-and-adhd/
- https://chadd.org/attention-article/adhd-recreational-marijuana/
- https://www.additudemag.com/podcast-marijuana-cannabis-use-disorder-adhd-brain-olivardia/
- https://www.additudemag.com/the-truth-about-adhd-and-addiction/
- https://www.additudemag.com/cbd-oil-adhd-symptoms-natural-treatment/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871613003025
Episode 61: Diagnostic Testing for ADHD With Laurie Harwood Peterson
Join Tracy as she welcomes her guest Laurie Harwood Peterson to Episode 61 of her podcast, ADHD for Smart Ass Women. Laurie is the owner and director of Diagnostic Learning Services. Her and her husband have five offices across the state of Texas and test for ADHD and learning challenges in children. She spends every day helping kids get identified and teaching parents how to help them. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Laurie has a bachelor’s degree in Special Education. She spent 8 years teaching students with learning disabilities in grades K-12. She has a Master’s Degree in Special Education with an emphasis on assessment and a second Master’s Degree in Professional Counseling. Laurie is also the mother of two boys.
Learn about:
- the circumstances around Laurie Peterson’s ADHD diagnosis.
- Laurie’s symptoms in childhood
- how she got into diagnostic testing
- the difference between neuropsychological testing and diagnostic testing
- where diagnostic testing falls in the ADHD picture
- what signs parents should look for in their kids when considering diagnostic testing?
- the cost of diagnostic testing?
- how testing for giftedness and ADHD differs from standard ADHD testing?
- how Laurie’s ADHD makes her better at what she does?
- what Laurie feels the key to living successfully with ADHD is?
- Laurie’s number one ADHD workaround
Resources:
How to use a bullet journal - https://bulletjournal.com/pages/learn
https://diagnostic-learning.com/
https://ediagnosticlearning.com
Episode 60: ADHD, Entrepreneurialism And Fearlessness With Dr. Brandi Noll
Join Tracy in Episode #60 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women as she welcomes her guest, Brandi Noll. Dr. Noll is currently Associate Professor at the University of Akron in Ohio where she teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses. She has 23 years of experience in education, which includes teaching children how to read and write, as well as teaching fellow adults how to best teach children to read and write. Brandi is also an author, presenter, and consultant in K-12 schools. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
She has co-authored a book related to preschool literacy curriculum, written numerous articles found within national journals regarding literacy instruction, and presented across the country at education conferences, sharing her knowledge and passion about how to best help students succeed. Brandi is also the mother of three.
In 2016, while recovering from her second major hip reconstruction due to hip dysplasia, Brandi founded the Bucket List Adventure Company Ohio. Her focus was on bringing people together by encouraging them to step outside of their comfort zones to overcome their fears.
Over the last few years Brandi has jumped out of a perfectly good plane, free-dived with sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, walked across fire, kayaked in alligator-infested waterways, ice climbed, rock climbed, and rappelled her way through much of the United State’s most strenuous and iconic trails.
No surprise that Brandi’s also one of us. She has ADHD!
Brandi shares:
- How she completed her Ph.D. in three years while working two part-time jobs with three children
- The circumstances surrounding her own ADHD diagnosis
- Symptoms that she always wondered about but now with the benefit of hindsight she recognizes as clearly ADHD?
- What has changed since her diagnosis?
- Why she decided to start her travel company?
- Why she started the “Adventure Club?”
- The knowledge that Brandi imparts on every one of her students
- What she believes the key to living successfully with ADHD is?
- Her number one ADHD workaround
- Her advice to a young woman just diagnosed with ADHD
Resources:
https://www.facebook.com/bucketlistadventurecompanyohio
Email: [email protected]
Episode 59: ADHD And Justice Sensitivity With Immigration Attorney, Taylor Levy
In Episode #59 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy introduces her guest Taylor Levy. Taylor is an immigration attorney in El Paso, Texas. She was the Legal Coordinator at Annunciation House, El Paso’s largest migrant shelter. During the summer and fall of 2018, Taylor worked with dozens of pro bono attorneys who traveled to El Paso from across the U.S. to provide free legal representation to immigrant parents separated from their minor children because of the “zero-tolerance” policy enacted by the Trump administration. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Attorneys volunteering with Annunciation House provided legal consultations and pro bono reunification to more than 400 separated families. Currently, Taylor focuses her work on asylum-seeking families who have been returned to Mexico under the “Remain in Mexico” program. She also mentors attorneys from around the country on these cases and does advocacy, media, and policy work centered on protecting vulnerable asylum seekers arriving at our border.
Taylor talks about an article that ProPublica just published about her clients, Honduran refugees Mirza, David and their kids.
Taylor also shares:
- How she ended up in law school while working full time and raising a child as a single mother
- The circumstances surrounding her own ADHD diagnosis
- Symptoms that she always wondered about but now with the benefit of hindsight she recognizes as clearly ADHD?
- What has changed since her diagnosis?
- How she ended up representing immigrants and asylum seekers before she even went to law school
- What she believes the key to living successfully with ADHD is?
- Her novel approach to medication
- Her number one workaround
- Her advice to a young woman just diagnosed with ADHD
- Information about the Mitchell Hamline School of Law Hybrid Program
Resources:
Taylor’s email: [email protected]
The nonprofit that Taylor mentioned: www.santafedreamersproject.org
And Taylor’s law school! https://mitchellhamline.edu/academics/j-d-enrollment-options/blended-learning-at-mitchell-hamline/
Episode 58: Five ADHD Hacks That Change How I Work
In Episode 58 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy shares five hacks that have changed her professional and personal productivity and play well with her ADHD brain. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
In Episode 58 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy shares five hacks that have changed her professional and personal productivity and play well with her ADHD brain.
They are:
- Stickies app for IOS (or Sticky Notes for Windows),
- Multiple Desktops which is available for both IOS and Windows,
- TabResize app,
- Bear app; and
- New Kajabi, a platform for online businesses
Tracy talks about:
- Her love - hate relationship with Post-it-notes
- The two things that new applications need in order to work well with her ADHD brain
- How to organize your computer workspace with multiple desktops
- How to automatically organize your desktop so it’s never a mess
- The application that keeps her the most focused because it allows her to stay within the four corners of one computer screen
- The application that ensures you will never lose another note, book or restaurant suggestion or link again
- The application that finally allowed her to understand all parts of her online business rather than delegating that which she didn’t understand
Resources:
https://support.apple.com/guide/stickies/welcome/mac
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/work-in-multiple-spaces-mh14112/mac
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209101
https://www.howtogeek.com/355173/how-to-get-macos-mojave-style-desktop-stacks-on-windows/
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tab-resize-split-screen-l/bkpenclhmiealbebdopglffmfdiilejc
Episode 57: A Mid-Life Diagnosis of ADHD with Sandra Centorino
In Episode #57 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy invites her good friend Sandra Centorino to the podcast to talk about her recent mid-life ADHD diagnosis. Sandra is currently the founder of RealWomenGoLive where her mission is to help, inspire, share and connect real women to the power of their voice through audio and video. Prior to that, Sandra ran a non-profit called The CUREchief Foundation where she recruited and trained thousands of volunteers for more than a decade. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
In Episode #57 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy invites her good friend Sandra Centorino to the podcast to talk about her recent mid-life ADHD diagnosis. Sandra is currently the founder of RealWomenGoLive where her mission is to help, inspire, share and connect real women to the power of their voice through audio and video. Prior to that, Sandra ran a non-profit called The CUREchief Foundation where she recruited and trained thousands of volunteers for more than a decade.
Sandra shares:
- Why she decided to seek a diagnosis
- How her symptoms got worse in midlife
- Her families response to her diagnosis
- What has changed since she was diagnosed
- Her experience with medication
- Her number one ADHD workaround
- Her advice to anyone who’s listening who has not yet been diagnosed
Resources:
https://www.realwomengolive.com/
Episode 56: Is it ADHD or Non-Verbal Learning Disorder? with Linda Karanzalis, M.S., BCCS
Join Tracy and her guest Linda Karanzalis, in Episode #56 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women. Linda is a board-certified cognitive specialist and parent/student coach who provides executive function training and social-emotional learning programs for people of all ages. Linda also just wrote an article for ADDitude magazine’s Winter 2020 issue on ADHD and Non-verbal Learning Disorder. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Linda shares with us:
- Her symptoms in childhood
- Her ADHD diagnosis
- How she figured out that she had something more than just ADHD
- Her Non-Verbal Learning Disorder (NVLD) diagnosis
- What NVLD looks like
- What percentage of communication is verbal vs non-verbal and why that matters
- Why those with NVLD actually talk more, not less
- What it means to not understand the meaning behind words and take things literally
- How to tell the difference between ADHD and NVLD
- Why those with NVLD are often misdiagnosed with ADHD
- Why NVLD is still not recognized in the DSM even though they are both brain-based conditions
- What happens to those with NVLD who are left untreated
Linda then shares the current treatment options for NVLD and explains why she believes they don’t work. She also shares what she has discovered does work.
Resources:
Join Linda's new Facebook Group, NVLD Pioneers here.
Addvantageslearningcenter.com
Symptom test for adults, Could I have non-Verbal Learning Disorder? https://www.additudemag.com/screener-nonverbal-learning-disorder-symptoms-test-adults/
Article that appeared in Additude magazine on NVLD: https://addvantageslearningcenter.com/adhd-vs-nv
Another article by Linda Karanzalis for ADDitude magazine.
https://www.additudemag.com/what-is-nonverbal-learning-disorder-symptoms-and-diagnosis/
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Episode 55: What I've Learned in the Year Since I Started my ADHD for Smart Ass Women Podcast
In Episode #55, of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy talks about what she’s learned in the year since she started her podcast, ADHD for Smart Ass Women. She is hoping that her story might inspire you to tackle that one big bucket list item that you really want to do but are scared to start. After all, she’s been there. MORE ---> SEE SHOW NOTES BELOW
Tracy talks about what she’s learned in the year since she started her podcast, ADHD for Smart Ass Women. She is hoping that her story might inspire you to tackle that one big bucket list item that you really want to do but are scared to start. After all, she’s been there.
Tracy shares:
- Why she started the podcast
- What her biggest fear was around having a podcast
- How she feels about planning
- Her thoughts about accountability vs. responsibility
- The importance of structure
- Why she listens more and talks less
- How her podcast helped her to develop more tools and strategies for herself
- The importance of reminders
- How starting a podcast solidified for Tracy, her beliefs around ADHD not being a disorder but rather a brain difference that just requires another way of doing things
- How those with ADHD are gold star people
- How the members of her ADHD for Smart Ass Women Facebook Group and listeners of the podcast helped her to grow in her knowledge of ADHD
- What her podcast taught her about confidence
Resources:
