Surprise! You Have ADHD With Kevin Lam [Video]

By Understood

Kevin Lam’s parents never told him he was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. And they might never have told him, if it weren’t for something Kevin, now 23, noticed at a recent family gathering.

Kevin is just starting to learn about ADHD and his symptoms: Hyperactivity, fidgeting, and trouble focusing. And he has some “aha” moments throughout the interview: Why was he always the class clown? Does his ADHD really create challenges for him? He also talks about ADHD stigma in his Mexican family, and how it contributed to his diagnosis being hidden from him.

To find a transcript for this episode and more resources, visit the episode page at Understood. https://www.understood.org/podcast/ad…

We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.

Understood is a nonprofit and social impact organization dedicated to shaping a world where the 1 in 5 people who learn and think differently can thrive. Learn more about “ADHD Aha!” and all our podcasts at u.org/podcasts.

Copyright © 2022 Understood for All, Inc. All rights reserved. Understood is not affiliated with any pharmaceutical company.

Transcript provided by YouTube (unedited)

0:00
she
0:01
told my aunt
0:02
hey your daughter seems very energetic
0:05
she’s always like this and she was like
0:06
yeah she actually has adhd
0:10
and i used to have her medicated but i
0:12
don’t like the way it was making her
0:14
feel so i took her off of it and then my
0:16
mom casually out of nowhere was just
0:17
like oh kevin was supposed to be on meds
0:20
too when he was a kid and so i just
0:22
turned to her and i was like
0:24
what
0:26
she was like yeah you have
0:27
adhd the same as her you were very much
0:29
like her when you were younger
0:31
[Music]
0:35
from the understood podcast network this
0:37
is adhd aha a podcast where people share
0:40
the moment when it finally clicked that
0:42
they or someone they know has adhd
0:46
my name is laura key i’m the editorial
0:48
director here at understood and as
0:50
someone who’s had my own adhd aha moment
0:53
i’ll be your host
0:54
[Music]
0:58
i’m here today with kevin lam kevin is a
1:01
23 year old general contractor who lives
1:03
in south central los angeles hi kevin
1:06
hello
1:07
thank you for having me south central in
1:09
the house
1:11
love the energy thank you i have to hear
1:13
it again i have to hear you talk about
1:16
when you found out that you had adhd
1:18
i have this cousin who is nine years old
1:20
eight years old and i had never met her
1:23
in my life
1:24
and my mom had just recently came into
1:26
contact with her sister and we went to a
1:28
citywalk universal city walk here in los
1:30
angeles and my mom made the comment
1:32
where she
1:34
told my aunt
1:35
hey your daughter seems very energetic
1:37
she’s always like this and she was like
1:39
yeah she is always like this she
1:41
actually
1:42
has adhd
1:44
and i used to have her medicated but i
1:46
don’t like the way it was making her
1:48
feel so i took her off of it and i was
1:50
like oh interesting in my head i just
1:51
happened to be there for the
1:52
conversations i was like oh interesting
1:54
cool and now mom i don’t know we’re just
1:57
like if it’s not a big deal she’s like
1:58
oh yeah kevin too he was supposed to be
2:00
on that
2:01
and i looked at her and i was like
2:03
what
2:04
what
2:06
how are you gonna drop that so casually
2:07
on me
2:09
i could just say oh yeah kevin was
2:10
supposed to be medicated too but i never
2:12
did it
2:14
how old were you at this time this was
2:16
uh this year actually 2021 2021 um and
2:21
you’re 23 years old yeah 23.
2:23
and so your mom basically told you out
2:25
of the blue that as a child you had been
2:27
diagnosed with adhd yeah
2:29
yeah because
2:31
she didn’t think it was a big deal and
2:32
that’s just one thing that’s very common
2:34
in my culture which is mexican culture
2:36
so that’s why she casually just dropped
2:38
it on me like if it was not a big deal
2:40
okay so so many questions that’s wild
2:42
that must have been a wild experience
2:43
for you it’s wild for me just listening
2:45
to it how did you feel in that moment
2:47
were you mad were you sad were you
2:49
confused
2:50
give me your emotions oh no i was like
2:52
surprised and not necessarily shocked to
2:55
the point where i was angry or anything
2:57
like that it’s more like wow that makes
2:59
sense it’s like it clicked and i was
3:00
like ah that explains a lot that
3:02
explains a lot in my life yeah i was
3:04
just gonna ask you had you ever had any
3:06
inkling prior to that that you had adhd
3:09
i’ve had several i’ve had several
3:12
instances where people have told me like
3:14
why do you have so much energy why are
3:16
you like this why are you running around
3:17
it’s 2 a.m how are you still awake why
3:20
it is why that
3:21
and i have a mentor who i work with who
3:24
used to be a psychiatrist or a
3:26
psychologist i forgot it was and he said
3:28
i showed symptoms
3:29
of someone with adhd a while back i
3:32
disregarded it i disregarded it because
3:34
i didn’t think much of it not until my
3:37
mom told me of course
3:38
so have you talked to your mom
3:40
more about this i understand she didn’t
3:42
want you to use adhd medication but did
3:45
she
3:46
seek out any other supports for you when
3:48
you were growing up no none at all
3:51
because like i said in our culture it’s
3:52
not a very big deal according to them
3:54
but nowadays that’s changing so it’s
3:57
good because we have services for people
4:00
who just suffer from mental illness not
4:01
that i think that i i’m suffering from
4:03
mental illness personally i enjoy my
4:05
adhd it gives me all this energy that i
4:07
don’t know what to do with so it keeps
4:08
me busy
4:09
how did you do in school and with
4:11
friends and in life growing up
4:13
do you feel like you could have used
4:14
some support to cope with adhd
4:18
no i don’t think i could have used any
4:20
support i personally believe that my
4:23
adhd is just a part of me
4:26
and whatever i went through as a kid
4:29
with adhd is all worth it to become the
4:31
person i am today
4:33
and um
4:34
i got lost
4:36
i got lost that’s okay
4:38
adhd is also part of my identity it
4:41
shaped me into who i am today but i also
4:44
know that there are challenges that
4:47
it causes in my life that
4:49
you know i have to find ways to cope
4:51
with them do you feel like adhd causes
4:53
challenges for you you don’t have to
4:55
think back to when you’re a kid but even
4:56
now definitely i’m a hands-on learner i
4:59
was never someone who learns about
5:01
watching someone else and especially in
5:03
school and if i had those teachers that
5:06
were trying to write something on the
5:07
board and or had me reading from a
5:09
textbook it didn’t work for me at all i
5:11
lose my focus very quick
5:13
the only way i could actually learn in
5:14
school was if
5:16
they were to write something on the
5:17
board and they asked for volunteers to
5:19
come solve a problem or something that’s
5:21
when i’d step up and participate in the
5:23
activity because
5:24
that’s how things stick with me even now
5:27
as an adult when i work my construction
5:29
job
5:30
sometimes they’re trying to teach me
5:31
things like trying to learn how to frame
5:33
or something and
5:35
i forget immediately after they show me
5:37
they try to show me how they’re doing it
5:39
they’re like okay all you gotta do is
5:40
this is that that
5:41
and i’m like okay i got it i got it i
5:44
get confident i’m like okay i got it i
5:45
got it and then i’m on there and i’m
5:46
like wait a minute was it like this
5:49
damn
5:50
i need someone to watch me do it and
5:52
tell me no no that’s not what i did oh
5:54
okay so you did this yeah that’s exactly
5:56
what i did oh okay okay i’m getting it
5:57
i’m getting it do you feel like you have
5:58
trouble holding information and your
6:00
working memory basically like when
6:02
someone tells you something you have to
6:03
hold on to it for a little bit and so
6:04
that you can execute something yes i
6:07
have a tendency to
6:09
say huh after somebody somebody tells me
6:11
something
6:12
because i’m giving my brain time to
6:15
catch up to what they just said
6:17
like when i asking your question i’d be
6:19
like i’m sorry what was that and then
6:20
why are you repeating it although i’ve
6:22
already heard it i’m thinking about what
6:24
i’m going to say i’m just buying time
6:25
for myself
6:28
that is a small way of coping you know
6:30
good for you
6:31
in a small way like you’re advocating
6:32
for yourself by saying can you repeat
6:34
that yeah
6:36
the other option is you just keep going
6:37
and you don’t actually you know answer
6:39
the question that was posed you just
6:41
laugh and you pretend that you heard
6:42
what they said like yeah yeah
6:45
do you do that a lot sometimes
6:47
unfortunately yeah sometimes
6:49
but my girlfriend calls me out on it all
6:50
the time
6:52
it can be pretty endearing too you seem
6:54
like you’re someone you have a great
6:55
sense of humor right you have a pretty
6:57
energetic personality do you think that
7:00
any of that is related to your adhd of
7:02
course
7:03
no one else can match me when it comes
7:05
to to energy in my family at the very
7:07
least nobody else can really match me in
7:09
energy it takes a lot for me to get
7:11
really exhausted so i find myself doing
7:13
more things even after i’ve done
7:15
something like i i just can’t stay still
7:18
i can get released from work early and i
7:21
get home i cannot sit in my bed or sit
7:24
watching tv for too long because i’ll
7:26
get pretty sad i feel like i’m not doing
7:28
anything with my life and so
7:30
it gets me moving it gets me to do
7:33
exercise or start writing
7:35
or
7:36
mostly go out with friends and just
7:38
catch up with them even if it’s just to
7:40
eat or something sounds like you get
7:42
restless
7:43
yeah i get really restless my girlfriend
7:45
she constantly
7:47
pats me like hey you’re kicking
7:49
my leg is just shaking and i don’t
7:50
realize it
7:51
and she stops it
7:53
and then a few moments later starts
7:54
again and i don’t realize it
7:56
[Music]
8:04
you said earlier that your mom and your
8:06
dad were like it’s just not a big deal
8:07
right
8:08
do you think it’s a big deal to have
8:10
adhd to a certain extent i think it’s a
8:12
big deal i think it’s a big deal when it
8:14
comes to learning because
8:17
most often than not
8:19
growing up my parents
8:21
would yell at me or get angry with me
8:23
for not retaining information that they
8:25
give me
8:26
and there was just nothing i can do
8:28
about it i couldn’t explain myself if i
8:29
tried to tell them that i’m sorry i just
8:31
forgot
8:32
they
8:33
get angry it’s really hard when it comes
8:35
to that because
8:38
you know you can’t explain yourself and
8:39
they wouldn’t understand even if you
8:40
told them yeah they’d just brush it off
8:42
and be like no no no your problem is
8:44
that you don’t pay attention that’s your
8:45
problem right there that’s exactly what
8:47
i’m telling you i can’t pay attention
8:49
i’m trying to really
8:51
well it’s interesting because they knew
8:52
that you had adhd but how about now as
8:55
an adult now that you yourself have now
8:57
connected the dots and you know that you
8:59
have adhd and your mom confirmed that
9:01
you got diagnosed with adhd
9:03
if you have those kinds of conversations
9:04
with your parents
9:06
do you ever say now like mom i have adhd
9:09
no not really it’s not something that
9:10
comes up a lot not anymore because i
9:12
don’t live with her so when i do visit
9:14
her we don’t uh talk about it but my dad
9:17
on the other hand has begun to
9:20
acknowledge it because i work with him
9:21
sometimes and he tells me something like
9:23
i said i forget it immediately he he
9:25
makes fun of it but in a nice way we in
9:28
the hispanic culture have a bully
9:30
culture where we clown on each other but
9:33
it’s with love he’d be telling me things
9:35
like why don’t you pay attention with
9:37
your
9:38
attention deficit happiness and
9:44
hey that’s some progress though right i
9:46
mean
9:47
that’s how you communicate is through
9:48
humor and through that kind of clowning
9:50
around so i think that that’s cool yeah
9:52
like i said i don’t feel like it’s a i
9:54
never felt like i was suffering i enjoy
9:56
it on the other hand it just makes me
9:58
stick out more than most people and many
10:00
people have told me that they like that
10:02
about me they like my energy i get that
10:04
a lot everywhere i go all your energy or
10:06
you’re such a happy guy or you’re such a
10:08
nice person and not that that correlates
10:10
the niceness and you know the energetic
10:12
but
10:13
people
10:14
see that as a part of me and when they
10:16
describe me to others
10:17
it’s one of the first things to say oh
10:19
it’s a very outgoing dude who can’t stay
10:20
still
10:22
yeah i mean depending on your experience
10:24
i think that it can correlate i mean i
10:27
i didn’t get diagnosed until i was an
10:30
adult
10:31
but looking back i can remember i was
10:32
pretty popular and a lot of it was me
10:35
kind of bouncing around or maybe kind of
10:38
covering up the things i was struggling
10:39
with and just being like i’m gonna go
10:40
have a conversation i’m gonna go have
10:42
some fun you know it’s great to be
10:44
social yeah i was very much like that in
10:46
high school too and
10:48
that was one of the problems the teacher
10:50
had because i would finish my work i
10:53
would begin talking with my classmates
10:55
and it didn’t matter where she put me
10:57
where he put me
10:58
i would talk to anybody even if i had
11:00
never ever talked to them in my entire
11:02
life they could send me in the back of
11:03
the class away from everybody and the
11:05
nearest person i would just
11:07
be like hey what’s the answer for this
11:09
i got you on these answers what’s up
11:12
and we just become friends like that
11:14
there was nowhere you could place me
11:15
where i wouldn’t fit in i’m that
11:17
malleable jigsaw piece that fits
11:19
anywhere
11:20
so would you describe yourself when you
11:22
were growing up in school as a class
11:24
clown oh yeah definitely i even got it
11:26
on the yearbook too like two times
11:28
really yeah
11:30
i was in the yearbook as class clown
11:32
like two years in a row
11:34
and
11:35
i was just very social i played sports
11:38
and i also was part of the the band oh
11:41
cool what instrument
11:42
well i played the guitar the bass or
11:43
drums in the piano
11:45
so wow yeah
11:47
that was all around there was one time
11:49
where the band performed during our
11:51
halftime
11:52
in our football
11:53
at a football game and i joined the band
11:56
in full football gear playing my base
11:59
that is so cool that’s so much fun wow
12:02
boundless energy anywhere i went really
12:04
i just i’d have a good time anywhere i
12:06
bet people love to be around you then
12:08
yeah some people you know it also gets
12:10
me in trouble my adhd brain can get me
12:12
into trouble sometimes because
12:14
my mouth races at 100 miles per hour
12:17
while my brain is at 10 and i end up
12:19
saying things that i don’t necessarily
12:21
think of you know i could offend someone
12:23
or hurt someone um disregard others
12:26
accidentally without really
12:28
taking into consideration what they’re
12:29
telling me so it’s not all fun and games
12:31
when it comes to adhd it’s also a
12:33
problem with keeping communications with
12:35
people yeah i’ve gotten in trouble
12:36
plenty of times because i run my mouth
12:38
and
12:39
then did you just hear what you just
12:40
told me yeah
12:42
yeah you told me this i didn’t say that
12:45
but i did
12:47
but i did it can be more challenging for
12:49
people with adhd to like take that split
12:52
second
12:53
to think about what they’re gonna do or
12:56
say
12:57
before they act and with that comes
12:59
impulsivity or maybe saying things not
13:01
in a mean way not maliciously but saying
13:03
things that you maybe shouldn’t be
13:04
saying or oversharing that kind of thing
13:07
does that resonate right yeah yeah maybe
13:09
not on the oversharing part
13:11
okay maybe a little bit actually now i
13:12
think about it let me go back to it yeah
13:15
yeah you’re right a little bit like that
13:17
[Music]
13:28
so remind me what do you do for work i
13:30
do construction and
13:32
handyman work which is anything from
13:34
plumbing electricity anything that you
13:36
may need around the house do you like
13:38
your work
13:39
no yes and no yes or no i’ll say yes or
13:42
no because
13:43
i’m learning skills that i’m going to
13:45
apply later on in my life once i have my
13:47
own home and i get to save that money
13:51
and that’s the bright side to that it’s
13:52
just not something i enjoy i hate math
13:54
and most times you’re with a measuring
13:56
tape adding things or subtracting things
14:00
and that’s just not for me i don’t like
14:02
the technical aspect of this i like the
14:04
building and all that but figuring out
14:06
measurements and all that it’s not for
14:07
me i’m very slow for that too just
14:09
yesterday i had to run in with my uncle
14:11
because he was trying to explain
14:12
something to me regarding numbers with a
14:14
measuring tape and i was like okay but i
14:16
do it this way and this way works with
14:18
me i know but you’re doing it slower
14:20
yeah because if i try it your way i’m
14:21
gonna do it wrong it’s better slowing
14:23
correctly than doing it
14:25
fast and wrong or else i’m just gonna be
14:27
wasting my time because i’m gonna have
14:28
to do it again and again that’s actually
14:29
a great coping mechanism as well to know
14:32
that you need to slow down to do
14:34
something right that’s actually a skill
14:36
i acquired last year where i just told
14:38
myself i was gonna take my time if
14:39
they’re gonna get angry regardless i
14:42
might as well let them get angry for me
14:44
taking a slow rather than me messing it
14:46
up so yeah
14:47
that seems wise yeah the outcome is
14:48
gonna be the same at the end you’re
14:49
still gonna get angry so i might as well
14:51
do it right
14:54
how did you get into this line of work
14:56
uh it’s been in the family for a long
14:58
time i’m a writer and
15:00
an actor so when you’re chasing a career
15:03
doing that you need as much flexibility
15:06
as you can but you also need to pay the
15:07
bills so i’m blessed with that because i
15:10
know a lot of people in the industry
15:11
where
15:12
they can barely make the time they gotta
15:14
choose between
15:15
paying the bills or you know chasing
15:17
their career i’m thinking about you in
15:19
this role
15:21
in the role that you’re in right now as
15:22
a contractor and all of the movements
15:25
right all of the action that’s involved
15:27
in that do you feel like your adhd makes
15:30
you well suited to it depending on what
15:32
we’re doing on the day because there are
15:35
days where we might just have to build a
15:37
foundation for a home which means
15:40
digging for the majority of the day
15:42
which is what i’m good at i’m good at
15:44
all that heavy stuff i love it i love
15:45
the exercise
15:47
but
15:48
when you’re getting to the technical
15:49
aspect of figuring out
15:51
lengths of cables or something or wood
15:55
no definitely not for me i’d write down
15:57
the measurements okay were they
16:00
oh yeah that’s right
16:01
[Laughter]
16:03
what is it about writing that
16:06
draws you in i have an active brain i
16:09
just don’t know what to do even if
16:10
they’re ideas that come into my head for
16:11
a brief second i need to put them
16:13
somewhere
16:14
so i can see okay i don’t know why i
16:16
would write that but cool i guess it
16:18
works yeah i’ll figure it out
16:20
and it’s just a way to get my creative
16:22
juices flowing too to exhaust my brain
16:25
because
16:26
most often or not i get
16:28
really exhausted writing staying up late
16:30
letting this story flow from my brain to
16:33
the computer
16:34
and i get a really good night’s sleep
16:36
when i’m in my mode nothing can distract
16:39
me you can call me not throw my phone
16:40
away because i’m just in my mouth don’t
16:42
distract me this is me right now
16:44
it’s always been like that i i’m either
16:46
too focused on one thing or i try to
16:48
focus on several things and it just
16:50
doesn’t work out
16:51
hyperfocus can be related to adhd too
16:54
did you know that
16:56
no i didn’t know
16:57
i think some people would describe it as
16:59
one of the cooler symptoms of adhd
17:02
because adhd can make it really hard to
17:04
focus on things that you’re not
17:06
interested in
17:07
right so you get super distracted if
17:09
you’re like doing your measurements for
17:10
example that you’re not interested in
17:12
but if you’re doing something that
17:13
you’re really passionate about and
17:15
really driven to do you can get so in
17:18
the zone that it can make it hard to
17:20
shift your focus away from it you can
17:22
leverage that you know
17:24
that’s actually you you explained a lot
17:26
of things to me just now yeah
17:28
you just made me realize a whole bunch
17:30
of things are you distracted right now
17:32
and i’d say this just so in case anybody
17:34
listening is hearing sounds and it’s
17:35
totally fine kevin because i’m shaking
17:37
my legs right now as i’m interviewing
17:38
but kevin’s kind of moving around in his
17:40
chair kind of fiddling with things a
17:42
little bit are you distracted right now
17:44
or are you or no my cousin has this
17:46
stress ball and
17:50
it’s one of those squishy ones and it
17:52
was on the floor i just went for it i
17:54
was like okay let me pick it up
17:56
see if you are coping in ways left and
17:59
right you don’t even realize it kevin
18:00
really yeah that’s a fidget that’s a
18:02
sensory tool it can be really helpful
18:04
for people with adhd i use them you so
18:07
that you kind of you can keep yourself
18:09
focused when you can kind of transport
18:10
that energy into another object in a way
18:13
i don’t know that yeah before coming
18:15
into this interview actually i was going
18:17
to bring the dog in so i could have them
18:18
on my lap
18:20
just to distract myself but now i would
18:22
have no objection to that the only
18:24
reason i don’t have my dog in here is
18:25
because she’s really loud but yes to
18:27
answer your question yes i’m a little
18:28
fidgety i’m not necessarily distracted
18:30
because i am listening to what you’re
18:31
saying but i am looking around
18:33
everywhere just to see other things it’s
18:35
something that my girlfriend tells me
18:36
too because we’re in a long distance
18:38
she’s in in the netherlands right now
18:39
she’s dutch and
18:41
we face time a lot and she’s always
18:43
sending me what are you doing i’m like
18:46
oh i’m i was looking at the tv a little
18:48
bit she’s like why don’t you pay
18:49
attention to me
18:50
i know i’m trying to i’m trying to relax
18:52
and relax realize that i’m trying to i’m
18:54
trying to
18:55
she’s getting used to my bully culture
18:57
as well she’s met my family and she
18:58
knows how we work
19:00
and so she makes fun of me sometimes
19:02
hey sounds like she’s fitting in yeah
19:04
for her she’s great she’s great she’s
19:06
actually one of the people that started
19:08
to push me to
19:09
to realize that i have this
19:11
mental that i have adhd she’s very
19:13
strong advocate for mental health and
19:16
she actually did the research for me
19:17
when i told her that my mom told me i
19:20
had adhd
19:22
i never thought about doing any research
19:23
i was like oh i have adhd yeah whatever
19:25
i was doing fine my entire life with it
19:27
nothing’s going to change i’ve noticed
19:29
something as i’ve been talking with you
19:30
kevin and it’s that i hear you using the
19:33
term mental illness and even before you
19:35
said mental and then you stopped and
19:37
then you corrected yourself and you said
19:38
adhd nothing you’re saying is inaccurate
19:41
technically yes adhd is classified as a
19:45
diagnosis as a mental illness but that
19:47
term carries a lot of stigma and weight
19:50
right yeah which is why i’m trying to
19:52
find the actual word to to use because
19:54
it’s not an like i said i don’t feel
19:55
like it’s an illness at all there’s a
19:57
part of me and i’m happy to have had it
19:59
it makes me
20:00
stand out like i said it’s that great
20:02
spot in between illness and condition or
20:04
whatever you want to call it i just
20:06
don’t know the word for it
20:08
and listen you call it whatever works
20:10
for you you know it’s how you identify
20:12
the way i like to think about it is adhd
20:15
is
20:16
truly it’s your brain is wired slightly
20:18
differently than other people’s which
20:20
makes it hard to sometimes regulate your
20:22
behavior
20:23
or your impulses your focus etc it’s
20:26
nothing that is your fault number one
20:29
and i would like to think it’s nothing
20:30
to be ashamed of i’m not ashamed i agree
20:33
with you i’m not ashamed at all yeah
20:34
there are challenges related to adhd
20:36
like controlling your impulses
20:38
self-control
20:39
but also the strengths and the cool
20:41
things that can be related to adhd like
20:44
look at how that made you so social you
20:47
know there’s excitement about you i’m
20:49
excited talking to you you’re fun to
20:50
talk to thank you
20:52
yeah
20:53
and you know that’s not 100 related to
20:55
adhd but it’s related to your experience
20:57
with adhd yeah i’ve had more good
21:00
experiences than bad when it comes to to
21:03
having this and just being myself i have
21:06
one last question for you say you have
21:08
kids
21:09
and you discover that
21:12
your child has adhd your child gets
21:14
evaluated and gets diagnosed are you
21:15
going to tell your child
21:18
no
21:19
no no i’m gonna figure out for
21:20
themselves
21:23
why do you say that
21:25
it’s funner
21:30
i i don’t know i guess i just have to be
21:32
in the moment to see if i would or not
21:35
if the child expresses having a problem
21:38
with themselves if they were to tell me
21:39
like they’re really concerned about why
21:42
they’re like this of course i would tell
21:43
them i tell them what we are what we
21:45
have but i didn’t find out until now and
21:48
i like to think i turned out fine so far
21:50
so far i’ve been fine i think you turned
21:52
out just fine your child reaches out to
21:54
you and says that they’re struggling
21:56
and then you share then that’s a great
21:58
answer and here you are on a podcast
22:00
sharing your experience with adhd that
22:03
other people will listen to
22:05
and we’ll learn from and maybe it won’t
22:07
be your kids maybe not maybe not but
22:09
other people but if this helps out
22:11
somebody you’re not alone
22:13
we’re we’re all hyperactive here
22:16
and it’s good it’s not bad
22:19
don’t let anybody tell you this is bad
22:21
and if they tell you this bad make it
22:22
good
22:23
i don’t know i don’t know if it’s
22:24
optimism a side effect of this
22:28
so actually some experts would talk
22:31
about over optimism
22:33
as being related not a symptom but
22:35
sometimes maybe a result of having adhd
22:38
right not thinking everything through
22:40
that planning ahead i tend to be very
22:43
very optimistic and my girlfriends can
22:46
be pessimistic sometimes and she
22:48
overthinks things and
22:50
i’m over here like ah we’ll be fine
22:52
don’t worry whatever happens we’re still
22:54
gonna be fine all right it’s not a big
22:55
deal relax relax come on let’s watch
22:57
some tv
22:59
there’s nothing wrong with that
23:00
kevin it has been so much fun to talk
23:02
with you today you have such great
23:03
energy i love your perspective on life
23:06
thanks so much for being here thank you
23:07
very much and thank you for having me i
23:09
mean i didn’t realize the time flew by
23:11
it was fun
23:13
[Music]
23:17
you’ve been listening to adhd aha from
23:20
the understood podcast network
23:22
you can listen and subscribe to adhd aha
23:25
on apple spotify or anywhere you get
23:27
your podcasts and if you like what you
23:29
heard today tell someone about the show
23:31
we rely on listeners like you to reach
23:33
and support more people
23:35
and if you want to share your own aha
23:37
moment email us at
23:39
adhdaha understood.org
23:42
i’d love to hear from you you can go to
23:44
u.org
23:46
adhd aha to find details on each episode
23:49
and related resources that’s the letter
23:52
u as an understood dot o r g slash adhd
23:56
aha understood as a non-profit and
23:59
social impact organization
24:01
we have no affiliation with
24:03
pharmaceutical companies
24:05
learn more at understood.org
24:08
mission
24:09
adhd aha is produced by jessamine mali
24:12
say hi jessamine hi everyone justin d
24:15
wright created our music seth melnick
24:17
and brianna berry are our production
24:19
directors scott coshier is our creative
24:21
director
24:23
and i’m your host laura key editorial
24:25
director at understood thanks so much
24:27
for listening
24:32
[Music]
25:05
you

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This post was previously published on YouTube.

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