Twice exceptional: Raising a gifted son with ADHD (Emily’s story)
02/07/23 • 26 min
From a very young age, Emily Hamblin’s son would have meltdowns and get intensely angry. He was also really bright. He was ahead of the curve academically and scored in the 99th percentile on standardized testing. His teachers would say he was just “smart and quirky.” That didn’t sit right with Emily, though. She knew something else was going on.
Then one day, a friend suggested that Emily look into ADHD. Emily was skeptical at first. But when she learned more, it was clear that this was the missing puzzle piece. Her son was twice exceptional: He’s gifted AND he has ADHD. And this discovery even helped Emily recognize ADHD symptoms in herself.
Emily co-hosts a podcast called Enlightening Motherhood, which aims to help moms who are overwhelmed by their kids’ big emotions. Listen in to hear how Emily reframes ADHD symptoms in a positive light.
To find a transcript for this episode and more resources, visit the episode page at Understood. We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at [email protected].
Related resources
- The challenges of twice-exceptional kids
- 7 myths about twice-exceptional (2e) students
- Twice-exceptional Black and brown kids (The Opportunity Gap podcast episode)
Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give
From a very young age, Emily Hamblin’s son would have meltdowns and get intensely angry. He was also really bright. He was ahead of the curve academically and scored in the 99th percentile on standardized testing. His teachers would say he was just “smart and quirky.” That didn’t sit right with Emily, though. She knew something else was going on.
Then one day, a friend suggested that Emily look into ADHD. Emily was skeptical at first. But when she learned more, it was clear that this was the missing puzzle piece. Her son was twice exceptional: He’s gifted AND he has ADHD. And this discovery even helped Emily recognize ADHD symptoms in herself.
Emily co-hosts a podcast called Enlightening Motherhood, which aims to help moms who are overwhelmed by their kids’ big emotions. Listen in to hear how Emily reframes ADHD symptoms in a positive light.
To find a transcript for this episode and more resources, visit the episode page at Understood. We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at [email protected].
Related resources
- The challenges of twice-exceptional kids
- 7 myths about twice-exceptional (2e) students
- Twice-exceptional Black and brown kids (The Opportunity Gap podcast episode)
Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give
Previous Episode
ADHD inertia...and troublemaking (Nabil Abdulrashid’s story)
Nabil Abdulrashid was diagnosed with ADHD as a child growing up in Nigeria. Now a London-based comedian, Nabil credits his ADHD brain as an advantage in his comedy career. He’s quick-witted, both stifled and driven by inertia, tumbling into funny thoughts and scenarios as he speaks. He doesn’t even write down any of his material — it’s stuck in his head and just flows.
Nabil’s teachers in Nigeria thought he wouldn’t amount to much. They didn’t even want him in their classes. He got into fights and turned to sports to channel his energy. When he moved to the U.K. as a teen, he got into trouble there, too. As an immigrant, he was othered, and the rigid school structure didn’t work with his ADHD. He fell into the wrong crowd and eventually ended up in jail, where he discovered his comedic talents.
Listen in to hear Nabil’s “aha” moment and how he channeled his ADHD into a successful comedy career. To find a transcript for this episode and more resources, visit the episode page at Understood.
We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at [email protected].
Related resources
Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give
Next Episode
ADHD, mental health stigma, and music (John’s story)
John Hazelwood was diagnosed with ADHD shortly after he graduated from college. He was in therapy and had trouble with test anxiety. Music was the only thing that helped him study and actually remember what he read. Then he got curious about ADHD medication and talked about it with his doctor, who recommended an ADHD evaluation.
John, a mechanical engineer in Virginia, co-founded the Men’s ADHD Support Group, an organization aimed at helping men with ADHD find community and acceptance. John talks about facing stigma around ADHD and mental health in the Black community, what songs sound like ADHD, and much more.
Check out the Men’s ADHD Support Group.
To find a transcript for this episode and more resources, visit the episode page at Understood. We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at [email protected].
Related resources
- ADHD as a “white boy problem” (from The Opportunity Gap podcast)
- What I tell Black parents who worry about labels like “ADHD” for their child
- How ADHD medication works
Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give
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