The Behaviour Coach Podcast

Your ADHD Child is Not Lazy

The Behaviour Coach Podcast

Show Notes

Your child wants to do the thing. They are excited about it. They have ideas. And they still can't start. In this episode I talk about the intention-action gap, why the ADHD brain runs on different fuel than the world expects, and what actually turns on motivation when importance alone doesn't work.

I share a client story about a 12-year-old who couldn't start a large school project, a personal story about my daughter and a sewing project, and the five motivators that I come back to again and again in my coaching practice. If the word "lazy" has ever been used about your ADHD child, this one is going to reframe a lot.

Mentioned in this episode: Dr. William Dodson (the interest-based nervous system) Dr. Ross Greene (kids do well if they can)

Connect with me: Instagram: @behaviourcoach

Subscribe to my Newsletter

More from The Behaviour Coach Podcast

Sep 15, 2026

Advocating for your ADHD kid at school is one of the most important jobs you have as their parent, and one of the most emotionally exhausting. In this episode, Erica reframes advocacy as bridging, not fighting. She shares the story of a high school student whose grade jumped two full letter grades from one small accommodation (his science teacher started emailing the lesson slides one day before class). She walks through a quick primer on IEPs, 504 plans, and informal support plans, plus her favourite categories of accommodations for the classroom environment, learning and instruction, transitions, emotional and behavioural support, and home-school communication. And she shares what to do when the school pushes back on an accommodation.

Sep 8, 2026

If homework in your house is a nightly battle, if the 20 minute assignment somehow takes 3 hours, if your kid was fine at school and is now falling apart at the kitchen table, this episode is for you.

Sep 1, 2026

If your ADHD kid is coming home from the first weeks of school completely fried, melting down over things that seem small, unable to do basic tasks they were handling fine in June, this episode is for you.

Jul 7, 2026

For years, I thought I was just an anxious parent around water and cars. I now know I was not anxious. My neurodivergent kids were baseline less safe. That knowing changes everything.

Jun 30, 2026

Summer is harder for ADHD families than we are told to expect. The structure just left. Your kid is burnt out from a school year of holding it together. You are too. Now it's two depleted nervous systems trying to navigate 10 weeks together without the scaffolding of school. If summer is hard in your house, you're not failing. This season is genuinely harder for our families. This week's episode walks through the five things that actually help: decoding what "I'm bored" really means, building boredom infrastructure that quietly does the work all summer, a real summer screen plan, how to prep summer camp counsellors so your kid can succeed, and downtime, for your kids and for you. Next week: travel with neurodivergent kids.

See all episodes →