“How I Met Your Mother” co-creator on parenting, disability, and language
Hyperfocus with Rae JacobsonShow Notes
Craig Thomas is best known for his work on TV. He co-created the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” and has written for “American Dad” and more. He’s penned songs for “Sesame Street” and essays for “The New Yorker.”
He’s less known for being a dad. For now, at least. He has a daughter, Celia, and a son, Elliot, who was born with Jacobsen syndrome, a genetic condition causing physical and developmental disabilities.
When Elliot was born, Craig’s career was taking off with “How I Met Your Mother.” “I was living an hour drama show at home and then driving to work and doing a sitcom,” Craig says. His upcoming novel, “That’s Not How It Happened,” is based in part on his family’s experience.
If you heard our series on the resurgence of the R-word, you’ll recognize Craig’s voice. The conversation with him was so good that we’re sharing more!
More from Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson
“Isn’t everyone a little ADHD?” If you have ADHD, you’ve heard it. Maybe you’ve felt the flash of rage, and the sadness underneath, because the question can make it sound like your life-altering brain difference is being reduced to a personality quirk. But there’s a more thoughtful version that could be worth asking: Is ADHD a spectrum?
Are you mad at me? It’s a question “Hyperfocus” host Rae Jacobson has asked more times than she can count.
We’re dropping into your feed a week early to announce a new investigative podcast from Understood.org. It’s called Zero Reject: The Uncertain Future of Special Education. This is episode 1. If you like it, follow Zero Reject wherever you get your podcasts. Beth Gellman-Beer spent her whole career fighting for kids with disabilities — first as a student written off as “lazy,” then as a federal civil rights attorney who found her dream job protecting students like her younger self. Then her entire office was eliminated. Reporter Anya Kamenetz traces Beth’s journey from an unfair fourth-grade classroom to the front lines of a sweeping overhaul at the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights — and what it means for the 25,000 families still waiting for a response to their complaints. With fewer people to enforce the law, what happens to the students the system was built to protect? For more on this topic Listen: Zero Reject Read: What is HHS, and what does it have to do with special education? Read: What is the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and what’s its role in special education? For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at [email protected].
Podcaster PJ Vogt has talked about his ADHD for years. Casually. Almost cheerfully. Then things changed. He decided to go off his ADHD medication, and he found the neuropsych report from when he was 13. It didn’t say what he thought.
How does ADHD collide with femininity and gender expression? This has been a big question on Rae’s mind. So recently, she sat down with her friend and colleague Cate Osborn for a chat on her podcast, Sorry I Missed This. We’re sharing that episode with you today.