Why Executive Dysfunction Makes Learning Hard for ADHD Kids. How to Help It with Michelle McKeon

When a child with ADHD struggles with emotional outbursts, anxiety, or everyday demands, how do we know what's ADHD, what's stress, and when overwhelm may be playing a larger role? Kate Brownfield talks with Dr. Aimie Apigian, double board-certified physician and author of The Biology of Trauma, about the connection between ADHD, chronic stress, trauma, and emotional dysregulation in children and parents. They explore why some children shut down or become easily overwhelmed, how disorganization can reflect deeper struggles, and why understanding what's beneath a child's behavior can help parents respond with more compassion and connection. Dr. Aimie also shares how parents can recognize their child's limits, reduce overwhelm patterns, and build a greater sense of safety and resilience at home. Learn more about Dr. Aimie Apigian and her work:https://www.biologyoftrauma.com/ ADHD parent coaching and resources with Kate Brownfield:https://adhdkidscanthrive.com

What should parents know about ADHD from a pediatrician’s point of view? Board-certified pediatrician Dr. Phil Boucher joins Kate Brownfield to talk about ADHD in children, what parents should understand, and the questions worth asking when a child is struggling at home or at school. Dr. Boucher, a pediatrician in Lincoln, Nebraska, and father of six, brings both a medical perspective and years of experience working with children and families. This conversation helps parents better understand ADHD, think more clearly about their child’s needs, and work more effectively with the professionals supporting their child. Learn more about Dr. Phil Boucher at DrPhilBoucher.com. For ADHD parent coaching, resources, and more episodes of the ADHD Kids Can Thrive Podcast, visit ADHDKidsCanThrive.com.

What if anxiety isn’t always something we need to get rid of? In this episode of The ADHD Kids Can Thrive Podcast, Kate Brownfield talks with Dr. Tracy Foose, a board-certified psychiatrist, Associate Professor at the UCSF School of Medicine, and former Director of the UCSF Anxiety Disorders Program. Dr. Foose helps parents understand fear and anxiety differently: as uncomfortable but protective emotions that can carry important information. Kate and Dr. Foose explore how parents can better understand anxiety in kids and teens, respond without becoming consumed by the anxiety themselves, and help children build a healthier relationship with fear rather than simply trying to make it disappear. Dr. Foose has spent more than 15 years studying and treating anxiety and continues to teach about fear and anxiety at UCSF School of Medicine. Learn more about Dr. Tracy Foose:https://www.drfoose.com ADHD parent coaching with Kate Brownfield:https://adhdkidscanthrive.com Free ADHD Parent Reset:https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/IUVgRZz

What if the goal of homework isn’t just getting tonight’s assignment turned in? When homework becomes a nightly cycle of reminders, frustration, missing assignments, and “Did you check Google Classroom?”, parents can easily end up carrying more and more of the responsibility. In this solo episode of The ADHD Kids Can Thrive Podcast, Kate Brownfield, ACC, ADHD Parent Coach, explores how to tell the difference between supporting your child’s executive-function skills and becoming the skill for them. Kate shares her experience helping her son manage school organization, why ADHD homework struggles are often about more than academics, and how parents can identify where the process is actually breaking down. She discusses task initiation, emotional resistance, after-school decompression, body doubling, practical scaffolding, and why the right support should match the child in front of you. Most importantly, this episode zooms out to the bigger goal: helping children with ADHD get through school in a way that builds capability, self-understanding, self-advocacy, and less shame while protecting the parent-child relationship from becoming consumed by homework management. In this episode:

My guest is Lorelei Brush, author of The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, a novel that explores what can happen inside a family when a young child begins showing signs of ADHD and neurodivergence. Lorelei is a former assistant professor of child development and the parent of a neurodivergent child, bringing both professional knowledge and lived experience to the story. We discuss the fear of labeling a child, ADHD across generations, school struggles, marriage and family dynamics, and why supporting a child with ADHD often requires looking beyond symptoms and strategies to understand the whole family. We also explore something different: the power of fiction. Research and expert guidance can teach us a great deal about ADHD, but a story can let us experience a family from the inside, sometimes offering insight, empathy, and even healing that factual information alone may not reach. We talk about the meaning behind a “butterfly mind,” the importance of recognizing a child’s strengths, and why there may not be one right way to help a neurodivergent child thrive. Learn more about Lorelei Brush and The Boy with the Butterfly Mind:https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Butterfly-Mind-Novel/dp/B0FWZZ39BH/ FREE ADHD Parent Reset7 Things to Do Differently When What You’re Trying Isn’t Working Get the free guide:https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/IUVgRZz For private ADHD parent coaching and the Anchor Your ADHD Family community:https://adhdkidscanthrive.com/ Timestamps (00:00) Lorelei Brush and The Boy with the Butterfly Mind(02:23) Why Lorelei wrote a novel about raising a child with ADHD(05:23) How fiction can create insight, empathy and healing(08:00) What does “butterfly mind” mean?(10:40) Helping an ADHD child—and the whole family—thrive(15:19) When school becomes the place a child’s differences are noticed(19:23) ADHD, family dynamics and neurodivergence across generations(22:53) The fear of labeling a child with ADHD(25:30) The parent trap of trying to research and “solve” everything(28:36) There is no one right way to raise a neurodivergent child