Last summer, I hit a breaking point. I was standing in the kitchen, staring at the pile of dishes in the sink while listening to my two sons fighting in their room, and I just lost it. Not in a loud, dramatic way but more like a quiet, exhausted collapse. My son had come home with a teacher’s note that he forgot to do his homework (again), a parent had called to complain about my son’s impulsive behavior toward her daughter and we had just been thrown out of my son’s soccer club because my son was spacing off too much during practice.

When I was a student, I hated oral performance grades. They always seemed to be somewhat unfair. I was a natural talker and participated quite a bit. But I was also easily bored and liked to chat with my classmates. Consequently, my teachers wouldn’t give me the high grade I thought I’d definitely deserved because they felt I was a distraction to my peers and disrespected my teachers by not paying enough attention.

My son and I used to have our fair share of battles over screen time. For him, it was mainly about Minecraft or Roblox since he was — and is — still quite young. But if he were older, we would have probably fought about social media such as TikTok and YouTube as well. I felt quite torn since screens are both an incredibly soothing tool for my son and a source of constant tension in our household.

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article about the challenges of reading social cues when we have ADHD. Today’s post takes that conversation in a different direction. A direction that’s equally important and equally challenging: networking when you're neurodivergent.

As an ADHD coach, I see it all the time: For many people with ADHD, the challenges don’t stop at focus, organization, or time management. One of the most overlooked and painful struggles lies in the challenge of finding meaningful social connections. Of course, not everyone faces the same difficulties. Some neurodivergent people are social butterflies, with great friendships and wonderful groups they belong to.

Test-taking anxiety is a common struggle for many students. When I was a professor, I saw it again and again: the fear in students’ eyes, the nervousness before an exam, the trembling of their voices when they had to give a presentation. Ultimately, I tried to eliminate as many tests as possible and had students do projects instead. Or I gave them a choice between several possible test modalities they could choose from.

As a mom of a son with AuDHD I know from personal experience that raising a neurodivergent child is a journey filled with love, growing, and challenges. There are endless lessons I have learnt – both about my child’s needs but also about myself and how I respond in certain situations.

What do we do if we’re stuck in a job that isn’t right for us? If we feel miserable day in and day out because we struggle at work and can’t figure out how to improve our performance? Do we look for a new job? And what if that new job turns out to be as hellish as the previous one, with us feeling constantly overwhelmed, frustrated or downright depressed?

In many of my workshops – and in my coaching practice –people with ADHD often tell me they’re burnt out. Functioning properly day-in, day-out can be a struggle when we never seem to get a break from all the daily stressors and challenges that keep coming our way. Since we’re constantly forced to fit into a world that was primarily designed by and for neurotypical people, it’s quite understandable that we feel drained, frustrated and exhausted.