ADHD and the Wall of Awful: Why Kids Get Stuck and How Parents Can Help
About this episode
This episode discusses the emotional barriers faced by children with ADHD and offers practical strategies for parents to help their children overcome these challenges.
Why can a child with ADHD know exactly what they need to do and still feel unable to start? Homework, chores, schoolwork, and everyday responsibilities can quickly turn into procrastination, avoidance, frustration, or conflict. But what if there is something happening beneath the behavior? In this episode of The ADHD Kids Can Thrive Podcast, Kate Brownfield, ACC, ADHD Parent Coach, talks with ADHD and executive function expert Brendan Mahan, author of Overcoming the Wall of Awful, about the emotional barriers that can make it difficult for people with ADHD to start, continue, or complete tasks. Brendan created the concept of the Wall of Awful to describe the emotional barrier that can build from repeated experiences of failure, disappointment, rejection, frustration, and shame. He explains five ways people try to get past the Wall of Awful and why some approaches work better than others. Kate and Brendan also explore practical ways parents can help, including creating a “door” through the wall, climbing it, body doubling, scribing homework, reducing pressure, and gradually fading support as a child builds confidence and independence. For parents who find themselves asking, “Why…
People in this episode
Host: Kate Brownfield
Guest: Brendan Mahan
Topics covered
- ADHD
- emotional barriers
- parenting strategies
- task completion
- executive function
Keywords
- ADHD
- Wall of Awful
- procrastination
- parenting
- executive function
- emotional barriers
- task management
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Overcoming the Wall of Awful
More episodes of The ADHD Kids Can Thrive Podcast
- The Boy with the Butterfly Mind: A Family’s Journey Through ADHD
- ADHD, Dyslexia & Belonging: Self-Advocacy for Neurodivergent Teens and Young Adults with Riley Mulcahy
- ADHD and Academic Pressure: Are We Raising Successful Kids or Stressed-Out Kids? with Dr. Denise Pope
- ADHD and Sleep: Practical Strategies for Neurodivergent Kids with Dr. Melisa Moore
- ADHD Parent Training: What If Your Child Isn’t the First One Who Needs to Change?
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