"In this excerpt, Dad and I look at a photo of The Betty L, a construction derrick barge he salvaged from San Francisco’s Ocean Beach in 1983. He tries to teach me to think like a salvage engineer, to understand the importance of making quick assessments and taking preventative action to mitigate worsening circumstances. He’s talking about ship salvage, but it feels to me like he’s talking about my parenting. Dad anchored the Betty L to keep her in place, to prevent a grounding. I am deeply concerned with understanding how I might do something similar for Owen, to help him anchor himself, and prevent him from drifting or crashing into the metaphorical rocks of teenage life." #adhd #ADHDParenting #Adhdmom #neurodivergent #neurodiversity https://www.elizabethrynecki.com/chapter-9-the-betty-l/

I wrote a thing. I recorded a piece of the thing. I’m sharing the thing. Audio (and transcript) Chapter 9, Unmoored: The Betty L. It is about parenting, shipwrecks, and ADHD.
https://www.elizabethrynecki.com/blog/
#adhd #adhdparenting #neurodiversity #neurodivergent #neurodiverse #literaryADHD

When my son was first diagnosed at 10 with #ADHD, I questioned the diagnosis because I knew he could spend HOURS reading, playing with certain block building toys, and playing video games. What I thought I knew about ADHD was that it was all about an inability to focus. How could my kid who had intense interests that he spent hours doing have something that was exactly the opposite of fidgeting, distractedness, and inability to settle down and do a task? But hyperfocus IS part of ADHD. According to ADDitude magazine, "Hyperfocus is thought to result from abnormally low levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is particularly active in the brain’s frontal lobes. This dopamine deficiency makes it hard to “shift gears” to take up boring-but-necessary tasks." #ADHDParenting #Neurodiversity #ADHDMom https://www.additudemag.com/understanding-adhd-hyperfocus/?fbclid=IwAR34CqLCjuWJojVol8RUqQZKTLyrYtEPaGGdQANBsmyAQL5kNfpuK4_Xpyo

I got a little to grumpy today and didn’t handle myself well due to being over stimulated in the car, but it’s not always like that. It was a good day with good times. I have to remind myself that our brain likes to focus on the negative, when that was just a blip.

#ADHD #ADHDParenting #Parenting #WomenWithADHD

It's said that people who are neurotypical have a strong sense of time, and that people with ADHD struggle with it. Time for ADHDers tends to slip away more easily. So, for example, if I ask my son to do the dishes in the next half hour, he might agree, but then totally forget. If I want to make sure he starts the dishes in that time period, I need to have him set an egg timer or an alarm on his phone. But his biggest struggle with time has to do with what ADHDers call: Waiting Mode. As in, he wakes up at, say 10am, and knows he has a dentist appointment at 3pm, and this then distracts him from being able to do anything productive in the next 5 hours. In part this is because of the anxiety of going to the dentist, but in part because he has this sense that if he doesn't keep the dentist appointment at the front of his mind, he will forget he has to go to it (even though he knows I'll remind him and will take him). #ADHDParenting #ADHDMom #neurodivergent

Quick tips from @adhdjesse on helping your ADHD kid… #ADHDParenting #neurodiversity
https://www.extrafocus.net/p/adhd-parenting-how-to-raise-kids-with-adhd

“ADHD is not ‘something we did to our kid,’ and it’s not the end of the world.” #neurodivergent #ADHDParenting #adhd
https://www.additudemag.com/marriage-stress-parenting-child-adhd/

I wish I’d had this book years ago (it’s a pretty new release). I recently found a list of “helpful suggestions” from a therapist about ways to help my son with his ADHD. Looking at it today, it is so UNHELPFUL. This book is 100 times more helpful. It’s “in the trenches” advice from a woman who has ADHD, her real world struggles, her partner’s gentle insights, and their willingness to be so honest about it all while having a sense of humor. #neurodivergent #ADHDParenting

Es ist so weit!
Der Mann hat mich nach Kindern gefragt.
#adhdparenting #realtalk #Babytalk

Und in meinem Kopf geht das Karussell der Angst rum.
Hier eine Auswahl:
- was, wenn es so verkorkst wird wie ich
- bin ich dafür geeignet, wo ich doch meinen Freiraum brauche
- was, wenn ich emotional und psychisch kompletten downfall hab
- ich hab meine Aggression nicht gut im Griff
- ich bin ein emotionales Wrack

Lalalalalalala Angst

It's so personally frustrating to be disappointed with the behavior of your child based on your expectations, while at the same time know they're doing what they are able to do. And at the same time be so proud of them for being present and doing their best. #adhdivergent #adhdparenting

It's so personally frustrating to be disappointed with the behavior of your child, while at the same time you know they're doing what they are able to do. #adhdivergent #adhdparenting

"Your job as a parent is not to sculpt your child to fulfill your own expectations, but to be a guide, supervisor, provider, nurturer, and protector of their unique gifts and strengths. Use the “shepherd” parenting style and these 8 strategies for raising happy children and well-adjusted adults." https://www.additudemag.com/parenting-style-raising-children-adhd/?utm_source=eletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=parent_december_2022&utm_content=121722&goal=0_d9446392d6-69f3be5d89-318872490 #ADHD #adhdParenting #neurodivergent

I wrote a KQED Perspectives piece on my son’s ADHD. It aired this morning. https://www.kqed.org/perspectives/201601142851/elizabeth-rynecki-living-with-adhd #ADHD #ADHDParenting #neurodivergent