Chaos & Caffeine - ADHD Parenting Podcast

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Advocating for an ADHD child in the school system can feel like a full-time job—one with confusing acronyms, shifting expectations, and power dynamics that leave parents exhausted and second-guessing themselves.
In this episode of Chaos & Caffeine, part of our New Year, Less Chaos series, I’m joined by Natalie McCabe, an educational advocate with experience on both sides of the education system. Natalie breaks down what ADHD parents need to know about school advocacy, IEPs, 504 plans, and parent rights—without the jargon or the guilt.
We talk about:
Why ADHD kids so often fall through the cracks at school
What schools can legally offer vs. what parents are told is “not possible”
How to prepare for IEP and 504 meetings with confidence
The most common mistakes well-meaning parents make—and how to avoid them
How to advocate effectively without becoming “that parent” or burning out
If you’ve ever been told to “wait and see,” felt intimidated in a school meeting, or wondered if you’re asking for too much—this episode will help you understand the system, reclaim your voice, and show up for your child with clarity and strategy.
Because less chaos doesn’t mean less advocacy.
 It means knowing how to play the game—so your kid doesn’t lose.
Connect with Natalie 👉 Natalie McCabe 
This Month's Sponsors:
📱 Talkspace 
Therapy that fits real life. With Talkspace, you can message or chat with a licensed therapist right from your phone, no face-to-face required. Perfect if you’re shy, anxious, overwhelmed, or just communicate better in writing. 
🎒 Miacademy 
An online learning platform that makes school feel less like a daily power struggle. With engaging videos, games, quizzes, and built-in rewards, Miacademy helps K-8 kids stay motivated while giving parents tools to track progress without hovering. 
🛒 Insight Family Market
A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families. Insight Family Market brings together sensory-friendly clothing, adaptive tools, educational supports, and wellness essentials that are chosen with real life in mind — not trends or quick fixes. 
Join Our Newsletter and Find All of Our Faves! 
📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].
Support the show

If you’re an ADHD parent who feels constantly overwhelmed — even on days when “nothing big” happens — this episode is for you.
In this New Year, Less Chaos conversation, Danielle sits down with Amy Briggs, a speech-language pathologist turned tech founder, to talk about the invisible weight parents carry every single day: the mental load.
Amy shares what she saw firsthand while working with families — parents drowning in schedules, emails, school portals, and unspoken responsibilities — and why traditional organization advice fails neurodivergent families. That insight led her to create Aviva, an app designed to reduce cognitive overload instead of adding another thing to manage.
In this episode, we talk about:
What mental load actually is — and why ADHD parents feel it more intensely
Why “just get organized” doesn’t work for neurodivergent brains
How parental overwhelm impacts kids’ emotional regulation and development
What real support systems look like (hint: not more planners)
How to create less chaos without chasing perfection or burning out
This episode isn’t about becoming a better parent.
 It’s about building systems that hold you when your brain is already maxed out.
🎧 Perfect for ADHD moms, neurodivergent parents, and anyone craving less chaos and more capacity this year.
Connect with Aviva 👉 Aviva App
This Month's Sponsors:
📱 Talkspace 
Therapy that fits real life. With Talkspace, you can message or chat with a licensed therapist right from your phone, no face-to-face required. Perfect if you’re shy, anxious, overwhelmed, or just communicate better in writing. 
🎒 Miacademy 
An online learning platform that makes school feel less like a daily power struggle. With engaging videos, games, quizzes, and built-in rewards, Miacademy helps K-8 kids stay motivated while giving parents tools to track progress without hovering. 
🛒 Insight Family Market
A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families. Insight Family Market brings together sensory-friendly clothing, adaptive tools, educational supports, and wellness essentials that are chosen with real life in mind — not trends or quick fixes. 
Join Our Newsletter and Find All of Our Faves! 
📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].
Support the show

Join Our Newsletter and Find All of Our Faves!
Ever notice how your ADHD kid can’t start homework alone—but magically focuses the second you sit nearby? Or how you suddenly become productive when someone else is in the room?
That’s not coincidence. That’s body doubling—and it’s one of the most powerful (and misunderstood) tools for ADHD brains.
In this episode of Chaos & Caffeine, I’m joined by Maria DelCorso, ADHD coach and founder of New Agenda Coaching, to break down what body doubling really is, why it works for both kids and adults with ADHD, and how ADHD parents can use it without micromanaging, nagging, or burning themselves out.
We talk about:
What body doubling is (and what it’s definitely not)
The neuroscience behind why ADHD brains regulate better with another person present
How body doubling supports executive function, emotional regulation, and task initiation
Practical ways to use body doubling with ADHD kids for homework, chores, and routines
Why body doubling isn’t “dependency”—it’s scaffolding success
How parents with ADHD can finally stop doing everything the hard way
If you’re parenting a child with ADHD—or realizing you might have ADHD yourself—this episode will change how you think about productivity, support, and success.
Because sometimes the solution isn’t another strategy… it’s not doing it alone.
Connect with Maria 👉 New Agenda Coaching
This Month's Sponsors:
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Hallowell Todaro ADHD & Behavioral Health Center 
A strength-based practice co-founded by Dr. Edward Hallowell that actually gets ADHD. They offer evaluations, therapy, coaching, medication management, and parent support that focuses on what’s strong about your kid, not just what’s hard.  
✨ Social Thinking 
Social learning that helps kids, teens, and adults understand the why behind social behavior, not just memorize a checklist of “correct” moves. Their tools, curricula, and resources teach social cognition, perspective-taking, flexible thinking, and real-world problem-solving.
📱 Talkspace 
Therapy that fits real life. With Talkspace, you can message or chat with a licensed therapist right from your phone, no face-to-face required. Perfect if you’re shy, anxious, overwhelmed, or just communicate better in writing. 
🎒 Miacademy 
An online learning platform that makes school feel less like a daily power struggle. With engaging videos, games, quizzes, and built-in rewards, Miacademy helps K-8 kids stay motivated while giving parents tools to track progress without hovering. 
🛒 Insight Family Market
A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families. Insight Family Market brings together sensory-friendly clothing, adaptive tools, educational supports, and wellness essentials that are chosen with real life in mind — not trends or quick fixes. 
Join Our Newsletter and Find All of Our Faves! 
📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].
Support the show

Join Our Newsletter and Find All of Our Faves!
What if medication wasn’t the first step—but one of many options?
In this episode of Chaos & Caffeine, I’m joined by Dr. Amber Brooks, a pediatric functional medicine expert who helps families understand what’s really happening beneath their child’s ADHD symptoms.
We talk about why so many parents hesitate to start medication, what steps families can take before going that route, and how a more natural, integrative approach can reduce chaos without adding pressure, guilt, or unrealistic expectations.
Dr. Brooks breaks down how nervous system regulation, brain function, and root-cause support can play a powerful role in helping ADHD kids feel calmer, more regulated, and better supported—at home and at school.
This episode is especially for parents who:
Want to explore ADHD support beyond medication
Feel overwhelmed by conflicting advice
Are trying to make thoughtful, informed decisions for their child
Need reassurance that there is no “right” or “wrong” path—only the one that fits their family
We also discuss how to know when it may be time to bring medication into the conversation—and why that choice doesn’t mean you failed or gave up.
If you’re craving clarity, calm, and a plan that actually respects your child’s brain, this conversation is for you.
Connect with Dr. Brooks 👉 Healing Roots Pediatrics
This Month's Sponsors:
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Hallowell Todaro ADHD & Behavioral Health Center 
A strength-based practice co-founded by Dr. Edward Hallowell that actually gets ADHD. They offer evaluations, therapy, coaching, medication management, and parent support that focuses on what’s strong about your kid, not just what’s hard.  
✨ Social Thinking 
Social learning that helps kids, teens, and adults understand the why behind social behavior, not just memorize a checklist of “correct” moves. Their tools, curricula, and resources teach social cognition, perspective-taking, flexible thinking, and real-world problem-solving.
📱 Talkspace 
Therapy that fits real life. With Talkspace, you can message or chat with a licensed therapist right from your phone, no face-to-face required. Perfect if you’re shy, anxious, overwhelmed, or just communicate better in writing. 
🎒 Miacademy 
An online learning platform that makes school feel less like a daily power struggle. With engaging videos, games, quizzes, and built-in rewards, Miacademy helps K-8 kids stay motivated while giving parents tools to track progress without hovering. 
🛒 Insight Family Market
A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families. Insight Family Market brings together sensory-friendly clothing, adaptive tools, educational supports, and wellness essentials that are chosen with real life in mind — not trends or quick fixes. 
Join Our Newsletter and Find All of Our Faves! 
📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].
Support the show

Join Our Newsletter and Find All of Our Faves! 
What happens when your child is diagnosed with ADHD… and suddenly everything about your own life starts making sense?
In this episode of Chaos & Caffeine, I’m joined by Tracy Otsuka, ADHD coach, podcast host, and fellow late-diagnosed ADHD mom, for a conversation that so many parents don’t even realize they’re about to have.
We talk about:
Discovering your own ADHD after your child’s diagnosis
Why so many moms—especially high-achieving, high-masking women—are diagnosed last
The grief, relief, rage, and validation that come with a late ADHD diagnosis
Letting go of shame, perfectionism, and “why can’t I just handle this?”
And the reminder every overwhelmed ADHD parent needs to hear: it’s all going to work out
This episode is for the parent who:
Was “fine” until their kid was diagnosed
Suddenly sees their childhood, burnout, anxiety, and coping strategies in a whole new light
Is trying to parent an ADHD child while re-parenting themselves
Whether you’re newly diagnosed, self-identified, or quietly wondering if ADHD has been the missing piece all along—this conversation will make you feel seen, steadied, and hopeful.
Grab your coffee. Take a breath. You didn’t miss the boat. You’re right on time.
Connect with Tracy 👉 Tracy Otsuka
This Month's Sponsors:
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Hallowell Todaro ADHD & Behavioral Health Center 
A strength-based practice co-founded by Dr. Edward Hallowell that actually gets ADHD. They offer evaluations, therapy, coaching, medication management, and parent support that focuses on what’s strong about your kid, not just what’s hard.  
✨ Social Thinking 
Social learning that helps kids, teens, and adults understand the why behind social behavior, not just memorize a checklist of “correct” moves. Their tools, curricula, and resources teach social cognition, perspective-taking, flexible thinking, and real-world problem-solving.
📱 Talkspace 
Therapy that fits real life. With Talkspace, you can message or chat with a licensed therapist right from your phone, no face-to-face required. Perfect if you’re shy, anxious, overwhelmed, or just communicate better in writing. 
🎒 Miacademy 
An online learning platform that makes school feel less like a daily power struggle. With engaging videos, games, quizzes, and built-in rewards, Miacademy helps K-8 kids stay motivated while giving parents tools to track progress without hovering. 
Join Our Newsletter and Find All of Our Faves! 
📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].
Support the show