Twice exceptional: Raising a gifted son with ADHD (Emily’s story)

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 ADHDAha@understood.org. 
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)



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ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work,
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