Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults: Unmasking, “Dropping a Ping,” and Building Friendship-Friendly Routines With Caroline Maguire
About this episode
The episode features Caroline Maguire discussing friendship skills for neurodivergent adults and strategies for building meaningful connections.
Shane Thrapp and Braden Young welcome ADHD coach, author, and speaker Caroline Maguire, who shares why she wrote her new book, ”Friendship Skills For Neurodivergent Adults,” after decades of working with neurodivergent people and hearing adults and parents ask for friendship help. They explore common themes Maguire found through interviews and surveys, including masking, people-pleasing, shame, rejection sensitivity, and the need to “find your people” through shared interests. Maguire explains why parent friendships can feel like workplace politics, and how to move from acquaintance to real friendship by building trust over time, using “dropping a ping,” and bridging interactions outside the usual context. They also discuss modeling social and mental-health skills for kids, balancing support with independence, and creating friendship-friendly infrastructure through structured, autopilot routines and connection needs.
More episodes of The DadDHD Podcast
- ADHD Lows: The Gray State, Dopamine Hunting, and How to Tell It From Depression
- The Cost of Silence: Neurodivergent Men, Masking, and Finding Support
- Beyond Mother’s Day: Building Daily Respect and Connection in ADHD Relationships
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