The ADHD Brain Isn't Broken, It's Different: An Interview with Kamden Hainsworth

Today I'm talking with Camden Hainsworth, a certified ADHD coach who was diagnosed herself at 36, has children with ADHD, and has spent the last several years helping people understand and work with their ADHD brains instead of fighting them.

We talk about what ADHD actually is (it's a difference, not a deficiency), why the nervous system of someone with ADHD can feel like a wobbly skateboard heading downhill, and how that shows up in everyday stress. Camden shares her own diagnosis story, what it was like parenting through burnout before she understood her own brain, and how she coaches parents of grown children with ADHD who want to help without overstepping.

We also get into the difference between helping and enabling, what a repair conversation looks like after a blow up, and why autonomy matters so much for someone with an ADHD brain. Camden leaves us with a powerful reframe: ADHD is a disability, and when we understand it that way, we stop expecting someone to just try harder and start building real support around them.

If you parent, coach, or love someone with ADHD, whether they're seven or thirty seven, this conversation will give you language and tools you can use right away.

In this episode:

• What actually happens in an ADHD brain under stress
• The skateboard metaphor for understanding nervous system regulation
• How to support an adult child with ADHD without taking over their life
• The difference between helping and enabling
• What a genuine repair conversation looks like after conflict
• Why ADHD is best understood as a disability, and why that reframe matters

Connect with Camden:

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-busy-brained-saint-podcast/id1647973464

Instagram: @kamden_adhd

Website: https://www.kamdenadhdcoaching.com/

Also mentioned in this episode:

Join us for my in person class on nervous system regulation, September 10th at the South Jordan Community Center. Link to register https://brookeoniki.com/emotional-regulation-workshop/

Let me know if you'd like a shorter version for social captions, or if you want me to pull a few standalone quote graphics from the conversation.