Chaos & Caffeine - ADHD Parenting Podcast

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If you’ve ever wondered whether screens are helping your ADHD child… or quietly making everything harder — this episode is your wake-up call (in the best way).
Today on Chaos & Caffeine, I’m joined by Dr. Michael Rich — pediatrician, researcher, and founder of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children's Hospital — also known as The Mediatrician. He’s spent decades studying how digital media impacts kids’ brains, behavior, attention, sleep, and emotional regulation… especially in neurodivergent kids.
And what he shares in this episode?
 It’s not the tired “just limit screen time” advice.
We’re diving into:
 Why screen time isn’t the real problem (and what actually is) 
 How screens can amplify ADHD symptoms like impulsivity, inattention, and emotional dysregulation 
 The difference between healthy vs. problematic media use
 Why content and context matter more than minutes
 How screens impact sleep, focus, and executive function
 What ADHD parents should do instead of constant restriction and power struggles 
 Practical, science-backed strategies to create calmer, more intentional screen habits
If you’re stuck in daily battles over devices…
 If you feel like screens have a grip on your kid’s brain…
 If you’ve tried limits, timers, threats, and nothing sticks…
This episode will help you stop guessing — and start parenting screens with clarity, strategy, and a whole lot less guilt.
🎧 Hit play, send this to a fellow ADHD parent, and let’s figure this out together.
Connect with Dr. Rich 👉 Digital Wellness Lab  
This Month's Sponsors:
🎲 Taco Cat Games
Helping ADHD families get off screens without triggering a full-blown meltdown… 
📱 My Screen Coach
Helping families raise kids who can actually unplug. 
🧠 Social Thinking
Helping kids build the social and emotional skills that don’t always come naturally. 
🌱 MaryRuth Organics
If you’ve got a kid who treats vegetables like a personal enemy, MaryRuth Organics might become your new best friend. 
🕹️ The Op Games
Building focus, connection, and social skills—one ridiculously fun, screen-free game at a time. 
Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves! 
📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].
Support the show
Danielle is the host of Chaos & Caffeine, a fast-growing ADHD parenting podcast where she interviews leading psychologists, clinicians, researchers, and neurodivergent advocates about what actually helps ADHD kids thrive in the real world. Through science-backed conversations and very real mom-in-the-trenches storytelling, the show helps parents navigate executive function challenges, emotional regulation struggles, learning differences, and the everyday chaos of raising neurodivergent kids.
Each week, Danielle translates complex ADHD research into practical tools parents can actually use — from building routines that support developing brains to helping kids strengthen focus, flexibility, and self-regulation skills.
Listen to the podcast and explore expert interviews at:
https://linktr.ee/chaosandcaffeinepodcast
Danielle frequently speaks and writes about ADHD parenting strategies, executive function development, emotional regulation, screen use and attention, learning challenges like dyslexia, and building resilient neurodivergent families.

Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves! 
If your ADHD kid turns into a completely different human after screens… you’re not imagining it—and you’re not alone.
In this episode of Chaos & Caffeine, I’m joined by Dr. Sajita Setia, physician and mental health expert, to break down what’s actually happening in your child’s brain when it comes to screen time.
We’re talking about the dopamine hit, the emotional crashes, and why ADHD kids are especially vulnerable to the cycle of screens → irritability → meltdowns → guilt (for them and for us).
Dr. Setia connects the dots between screen use, anxiety, depression, and emotional dysregulation—and explains why so many of us feel like we’re constantly putting out fires after the tablet turns off.
We cover:
 Why ADHD brains are more sensitive to screen-driven dopamine 
 How screen time impacts emotional regulation, focus, and behavior 
 What to replace screens with (that actually works for ADHD kids) 
 How to break the screen → meltdown → guilt cycle as a parent 
If you’ve ever handed your kid a screen just to survive—and then paid for it later… this episode will hit.
Connect with Dr. Setia 👉 Dr. Sajita Setia  
This Month's Sponsors:
🎲 Taco Cat Games
Helping ADHD families get off screens without triggering a full-blown meltdown… 
📱 My Screen Coach
Helping families raise kids who can actually unplug. 
🧠 Social Thinking
Helping kids build the social and emotional skills that don’t always come naturally. 
🌱 MaryRuth Organics
If you’ve got a kid who treats vegetables like a personal enemy, MaryRuth Organics might become your new best friend. 
🕹️ The Op Games
 Building focus, connection, and social skills—one ridiculously fun, screen-free game at a time. 
🛒 Insight Family Market
A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families.  
Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves! 
📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].
Support the show
Danielle is the host of Chaos & Caffeine, a fast-growing ADHD parenting podcast where she interviews leading psychologists, clinicians, researchers, and neurodivergent advocates about what actually helps ADHD kids thrive in the real world. Through science-backed conversations and very real mom-in-the-trenches storytelling, the show helps parents navigate executive function challenges, emotional regulation struggles, learning differences, and the everyday chaos of raising neurodivergent kids.
Each week, Danielle translates complex ADHD research into practical tools parents can actually use — from building routines that support developing brains to helping kids strengthen focus, flexibility, and self-regulation skills.
Listen to the podcast and explore expert interviews at:
https://linktr.ee/chaosandcaffeinepodcast
Danielle frequently speaks and writes about ADHD parenting strategies, executive function development, emotional regulation, screen use and attention, learning challenges like dyslexia, and building resilient neurodivergent families.

Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves!
Are screens actually rewiring your child’s brain… or are we just being dramatic?
In this episode of Chaos & Caffeine, I sit down with Dr. Jane Shawcroft to break down what research actually says about screen time, social media, and kids — especially for children with ADHD.
Because here’s the reality no one is saying loud enough:
 ADHD brains are already wired for dopamine, novelty, and instant feedback… and today’s digital platforms are built to deliver exactly that.
So what happens when those two collide?
We dig into:
 ✔️ Whether social media is designed to be addictive for kids
 ✔️ Why ADHD children may be more vulnerable to problematic screen use
 ✔️ The long-term effects of early screen habits on behavior and mental health
 ✔️ What actually works for ADHD families when limiting screen time feels impossible
This is not about guilt.
 This is about understanding what your child is up against — and how to support them without losing your mind in the process.
If you’ve ever wondered why your child melts down when screens turn off…
 why focus feels harder after device time…
 or if you’re “doing screens wrong”…
This episode will change how you see it.
Connect with Dr. Shawcroft 👉 Media Across Development    
This Month's Sponsors:
📱 My Screen Coach
Helping families raise kids who can actually unplug. 
🧠 Social Thinking
Helping kids build the social and emotional skills that don’t always come naturally. 
🎲 Taco Cat Games
Helping ADHD families get off screens without triggering a full-blown meltdown… 
🌱 MaryRuth Organics
If you’ve got a kid who treats vegetables like a personal enemy, MaryRuth Organics might become your new best friend. 
🛒 Insight Family Market
A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families. 
Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves! 
📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].
Support the show
Danielle is the host of Chaos & Caffeine, a fast-growing ADHD parenting podcast where she interviews leading psychologists, clinicians, researchers, and neurodivergent advocates about what actually helps ADHD kids thrive in the real world. Through science-backed conversations and very real mom-in-the-trenches storytelling, the show helps parents navigate executive function challenges, emotional regulation struggles, learning differences, and the everyday chaos of raising neurodivergent kids.
Each week, Danielle translates complex ADHD research into practical tools parents can actually use — from building routines that support developing brains to helping kids strengthen focus, flexibility, and self-regulation skills.
Listen to the podcast and explore expert interviews at:
https://linktr.ee/chaosandcaffeinepodcast
Danielle frequently speaks and writes about ADHD parenting strategies, executive function development, emotional regulation, screen use and attention, learning challenges like dyslexia, and building resilient neurodivergent families.

Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves! 
If screen time feels like it has a stronger grip on your child than you do… this episode is going to change the way you see everything.
Today on Chaos & Caffeine, I’m sitting down with clinical psychologist and globally recognized expert Dr. Jody Carrington to break down what’s actually happening in ADHD brains when it comes to screens, emotional regulation, and those next-level meltdowns that hit the second you say, “time to turn it off.”
Because this isn’t just about screen time.
 This is about nervous system regulation, connection, and why ADHD kids aren’t “addicted” to screens—they’re often using them to cope.
In this episode, we get into:
 Why ADHD kids struggle so hard to transition off screens 
 What’s happening in the brain during screen use (and why it feels impossible to compete) 
 The difference between screen “addiction” vs. emotional regulation 
 How dysregulation shows up as behavior—and what your child actually needs in those moments 
 Why connection beats control (and how to actually do that in real life) 
 What to do after a full-blown screen meltdown (without shame or punishment) 
 Practical ways to reduce screen battles in your home starting today 
If you’re exhausted from fighting the same screen-time battles on repeat…
 If you’ve ever thought, “Why does this feel so much harder for my kid?”
If you want real, science-backed strategies that actually work for ADHD families…
This conversation will hit different.
Connect with Dr. Jody 👉 Dr. Jody Carrington  
This Month's Sponsors:
📱 My Screen Coach
Helping families raise kids who can actually unplug. 
🧠 Social Thinking
Helping kids build the social and emotional skills that don’t always come naturally. 
🌱 MaryRuth Organics
If you’ve got a kid who treats vegetables like a personal enemy, MaryRuth Organics might become your new best friend. 
🛒 Insight Family Market
A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families.  
Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves! 
📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].
Support the show
Danielle is the host of Chaos & Caffeine, a fast-growing ADHD parenting podcast where she interviews leading psychologists, clinicians, researchers, and neurodivergent advocates about what actually helps ADHD kids thrive in the real world. Through science-backed conversations and very real mom-in-the-trenches storytelling, the show helps parents navigate executive function challenges, emotional regulation struggles, learning differences, and the everyday chaos of raising neurodivergent kids.
Each week, Danielle translates complex ADHD research into practical tools parents can actually use — from building routines that support developing brains to helping kids strengthen focus, flexibility, and self-regulation skills.
Listen to the podcast and explore expert interviews at:
https://linktr.ee/chaosandcaffeinepodcast
Danielle frequently speaks and writes about ADHD parenting strategies, executive function development, emotional regulation, screen use and attention, learning challenges like dyslexia, and building resilient neurodivergent families.

Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves!
Screens aren’t the enemy. But they are replacing something our ADHD kids desperately need: real-world skill practice.
In this powerful kickoff episode of the Chaos & Caffeine Screens Campaign, Danielle sits down with internationally recognized social-cognitive specialist Michelle Garcia Winner, founder of Social Thinking and one of the leading experts in how children develop the invisible social skills that shape friendships, emotional regulation, and real-life success.
And when screens take up more and more of childhood, those practice opportunities quietly disappear.
In this conversation we unpack:
• The social thinking skills screens are quietly replacing
• Why ADHD kids struggle with flexible thinking, perspective taking, and reading the room
• How screen-heavy environments impact executive functioning and emotional regulation
• The gap between digital competence and real-world social confidence
• How parents can intentionally rebuild the skills that make friendships and conversations work
• Practical ways to coach social awareness, frustration tolerance, and flexible thinking at home
This conversation launches our Chaos & Caffeine Screens Campaign, where we explore the complex relationship between screens and neurodivergent brains — not from a place of panic, but from a place of strategy.
Connect with Michelle 👉 Social Thinking   
This Month's Sponsors:
📱 My Screen Coach
Helping families raise kids who can actually unplug. 
🧠 Social Thinking
Helping kids build the social and emotional skills that don’t always come naturally. 
🎲 Taco Cat Games
Helping ADHD families get off screens without triggering a full-blown meltdown… 
🌱 MaryRuth Organics
If you’ve got a kid who treats vegetables like a personal enemy, MaryRuth Organics might become your new best friend. 
🛒 Insight Family Market
A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families. 
Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves! 
📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].
Support the show
Danielle is the host of Chaos & Caffeine, a fast-growing ADHD parenting podcast where she interviews leading psychologists, clinicians, researchers, and neurodivergent advocates about what actually helps ADHD kids thrive in the real world. Through science-backed conversations and very real mom-in-the-trenches storytelling, the show helps parents navigate executive function challenges, emotional regulation struggles, learning differences, and the everyday chaos of raising neurodivergent kids.
Each week, Danielle translates complex ADHD research into practical tools parents can actually use — from building routines that support developing brains to helping kids strengthen focus, flexibility, and self-regulation skills.
Listen to the podcast and explore expert interviews at:
https://linktr.ee/chaosandcaffeinepodcast
Danielle frequently speaks and writes about ADHD parenting strategies, executive function development, emotional regulation, screen use and attention, learning challenges like dyslexia, and building resilient neurodivergent families.