PAP 063:

Helping Kids with ADHD Succeed in Athletics

with Susan Stout

There’s no disputing that — especially team sports — can be a difficult environment for individuals with ADHD to naturally succeed in. It’s not just developmental delays and social differences with peers that can make it tough. Things like emotional sensitivity and dysregulation, poor working memory, anxiety, and lagging executive functioning skills can also make it hard to meet peer and coach expectations, because they are set or neurotypicals. However, this doesn’t mean that kids with ADHD cannot succeed and thrive in athletic endeavors. Join me as I talk with Susan Stout, founder of My Own Beat, about the challenging areas of athletics for those with ADHD and how you can help your child succeed in sports that are interested in and/or passionate about. Even if your child just plays Little League or Peewee Football, you can’t miss this discussion. Listen now!

“Don’t just talk about what was hard for them, talk about how their ADHD was an asset.” — Susan Stout

Resources in this Episode

NOTE: Some of the resources below may be affiliate links, meaning I receive a commission (at no cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

My Guest

SUSAN STOUT

Susan Stout is an advocate for athletes who are wired differently and struggle to participate or reach their potential in sports. She specializes in ADHD, learning differences and anxiety and is the founder of Own Beat Athlete, a project to provide athletic coaches with the understanding and tools they need to help their differently wired athletes thrive. Susan brings to the work her perspective as a swimmer, coach, teacher, lawyer and mom to an avid and talented young athlete with ADHD and dyslexia.

After graduating from Duke University, Susan began her career coaching club and summer league swimming and teaching elementary and middle school. She later earned a Master’s in Education from the University of Virginia and a law degree from Georgetown University. At Georgetown and while in private litigation practice, she represented students with learning differences who were not receiving the services to which they were entitled in the District of Columbia public schools. She aims to equip others with what she wishes she knew when she was a coach, trying to support and bring out the best in the many athletes who didn’t fit the mold.

Website: OwnBeatAthlete.com
Facebook & Twitter

Thanks for joining me!

If you enjoyed this episode, please use the social media buttons to share it. Have something to say, or a question to ask? Leave a comment below. I promise to answer every single one. **Also, please leave an honest review for The Parenting ADHD Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and appreciated! That’s what helps me reach and help more families like yours.