Latest / ADHDtime On Air / ADHD Community Matters
Transcript
- Daniella karidi: Hi everyone, welcome back to ADHDtime on Air. I'm your host, Daniella Karidi, and we're going to be talking everything ADHD related today. Specifically, I'm going to be talking with Suzanne. She's currently the president of CHADD, but one of the best people I love going to any ADHD event with. She is a good friend. But she's also a certified peer support pro specialist and a coach and passionate about advocating for the neurodivergent community. And in this conversation, I hope we have a chance to talk about community and how it's important so much. And you know, the whole idea of coaching, diagnosing, peer support, and of course, CHADD. So welcome Suzanne to ADHDtime on Air. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: I'm glad to be here. Daniella karidi: Thank you so much for joining me. I am so looking forward to this conversation because all our conversations are like so interesting. And I think that I feel like everyone is sitting, like we're sitting in a coffee shop and everyone is kind of like getting a chance to listen on our conversation. So so Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Love that. Daniella karidi: hopefully we get to speak about all those amazing topics. But let's start with we use that initial and I like to explain initials. We said CHADD So tell us what is CHADD Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Sure. It's children and adults with ADHD. And we are the nation's premier nonprofit that brings together all audiences that are touched by ADHD. So professionals, people with lived experience, adult children, and we serve individuals with ADHD throughout the lifespan because ADHD is a lifespan disorder. And We offer education, peer support, and we have a very strong advocacy group too. And it is a membership organization. So we have lots of members that are from all walks of life. Daniella karidi: I've been a member since 2007. And I can add the link to anyone that wants to join and also learn more about CHADD. Suzanne, what got you involved in CHADD? Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: So my son got me involved in CHADD. My son also got me diagnosed. I am a card carrying member of the AuDHD group. So I have both autism and ADHD. my diagnosis was many years in the making, but when I first came to CHADD, I was looking for a support group. I I actually came to the website looking for information. And I remember thinking, Well, I'm just gonna join because it's like maybe osmosis, like just by being a member, like I'll understand more about ADHD. but then a couple of weeks after I joined, I received a wonderful email from another parent who was the current coordinator for our local chapter in the Los Angeles area. And it was just so affirming and so welcoming and So I felt so understood just from the email that I was like, all right, I'm gonna check out one of these support groups that they have. And I think like literally my first one, I was like, How can I help with this? Because we have to keep these meetings going and parents need this support. because I I didn't know anybody with ADHD, which is crazy to me now because Everybody in my life, you know, pretty much has ADHD or some type of neurodivergence now. just because of of pivoting my whole life to do this work. So yeah, that's how I came to CHADD. That's how I got my diagnosis. It all started with my son's diagnosis. Daniella karidi: And that story is not unique in women. we find that many, at least I've I meet many women that get diagnosed because of their kids, and and I love the fact that we get that opportunity. When I was growing up, my mom said, you know, I'm severely dyslexic, and my mom said, you know, she might also have ADHD, and she was told girls don't have ADHD. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Wow. Daniella karidi: So I only got the ADHD label added to me in college. but luckily, I I was told instead that I just have redhead temper and that was kind of Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Well, I've been told that too, but I think two things can be true at once, so Daniella karidi: A hundred percent, a hundred percent two things can be true. So w we were talking about community. It came up a few times already when you're talking about CHADD. So tell me why you believe that community and peer support is so important to holistic care in ADHD. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Absolutely. So for me, my experience with peer support dates back probably about 22 years now. I first had my I've had my first experiences with group support in AA. I've been sober 21 years, just celebrated 21 years. And it it really taught me that feeling seen, feeling known, and having a sense of belonging that you're not in a challenge by yourself can be really, really affirming and can really be a part of implementing change. And as coaches, that's what we work with people on. So like I I do feel that my clients that engage in peer support, they have an advantage because they're constantly being reminded of things they've forgotten, which we all do. We remember, you know, I need to write notes when I go to the doctor because I need to have a list of what I'm going to talk about. But the last time I went to the doctor, I forgot to do that. So peer support can help us kind of remember the things that we forget. it can expose us to new ways to think about solving problems for ourselves. And it really can just help us feel seen. And for all those reasons, like People with diabetes, there's studies that show that they adhere to their regimens better when they when they do group support. and so I'm just a firm believer that it makes a huge difference. And, you know, there's practical reasons, but then there's also just the the feeling of feeling seen and known, which I I am such a a firm believer that if we can offer that to people. Especially when they're newly diagnosed, that it makes such a meaningful difference for them. Daniella karidi: Yeah, I I appreciate that and I agree a hundred percent that being seen and also feeling belonging because being neurotypical among the typicals, you feel sometimes as an outsider. So having that feeling of inclusion and belonging and being seen can really help and support, but also open doors to new knowledge and information. And talking about knowledge and information, I know you're a strong believer also in the idea of knowing self, being able to know yourself before you try to solve the problem. So tell us a bit about that. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Absolutely. on my Instagram, we have little handles, you know, what you say. And mine is always I help neurodivergent people know themselves and then build lives that fit because I really do what I've seen in my years of working with clients is that if you don't know yourself and you don't understand your strengths, your values, and even your patterns, then you'll try to build systems that don't work for you. They might be a system or a hack that You know, you saw on Instagram or you heard somebody else say works for them. But if it doesn't work with you as a person, then sometimes we spend time thinking, I'm failing at this, I'm failing at this. And really it's just that that system was not designed for you. So I think it's it's truly it's important for that reason, for that practical reason. And then It's important for growth. I mean, knowing ourselves really helps us to understand who we want to be in six months. And so I I feel like my clients that spend a fair amount of their time really trying to understand themselves in the beginning often end up like leap, I d I don't know what you want to call it, leap dogging or leap bounding over over clients that don't spend that time really trying to get to know themselves. Daniella karidi: What have you learned about yourself in the last few years that might surprise someone? Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Goodness. Well, I think one thing that a position in leadership has taught me is that boundaries are important. And I think that in my earlier years, and maybe this is true, I talk to a lot of women who are neurodivergent and going through either perimenopause or menopause who have this frame of mind. But, you know, no longer am I willing to kind of People please, my way out of situations that are uncomfortable. I have learned to set boundaries and in a really beautiful, like lovely, kind way. and that's really been a huge change in my life. And it's interesting because in our peer support groups, I think boundaries are something that come up a lot. And I don't really know. why that is for neurodivergent people. I mean, I imagine there's there's all sorts of things tied up into like the shame we feel when we fall short and all that stuff, but it's really interesting. Daniella karidi: Yeah, that that's a good one. That's that's an an interesting one. can you tell someone what your insights on? I I find many times when I say to people, I have a client with ADHD and autism, they look at me like with the googly eyes, like I'm making up something. I will tell the audience that until 2013, in the DSM you couldn't have in the in the statistical diagnostic manual, the one that psychiatrists use to diagnose. You could not have those two codes together. You couldn't have had ADHD and autism together. And the insurance won't let you do that. So if you're an older practitioner or doctor or psychiatrist, you're not imagining that this was impossible. But we d know that that is incorrect and that we can have those two conditions together. Tell me a bit about how that reflects in your own life and how you see it in the in the big world picture. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Well, AuDHD is very interesting because it is it's a push and a pull between ADHD and autism. So, you know, the way it presents in me, for instance, is I love structure. I love it. I love coming up with systems. I see patterns everywhere. I'm a systems thinker. I can fix problems like and get ahead of them. But my follow-through, not as strong. So I can set up really great systems. And I what I used to do as a as a business consultant was I would go set up systems for people, train them how to use them, and then I would say, see you later. And that's really ideal for somebody that is is AuDHD. but you're right, it it it's very interesting. So my son was born around 2012. And so when he got his ADHD diagnosis, his developmental pediatrician he wrote sensory issues on the page. And then he wrote ADHD down on one side and autism on the other, and basically said, well, it could be either of these. We know he has sensory issues, but we're gonna go with this one. And, you know, it At the time, I didn't know what I didn't know. So, you know, my son didn't get his diagnosis of autism until he was 11. And he was diagnosed with ADHD when he was like four. So, as you can imagine, for me, I was diagnosed with ADHD around 40 when he got his diagnosis. And then it took me another 10 years until I realized that I needed to go get myself. An assessment for autism. Daniella karidi: And wh why do you think the need to get a assessment, a label or a definition comes up? 'Cause I have an opinion about it, but I wanna hear yours. why do you think it is beneficial? Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: There's a lot of internalized ableism that goes along with both ADHD and autism. And so I think for a lot of people, what I have heard is that, you know, they aren't sure if things are really that much harder for them or if they're just having a hard time. And I think so much of autism is internal. My my autistic traits bother me far more than they bother anyone else. But for me, it was important to know, first of all, because I do hold a leadership position and I definitely, you know, would not rep feel comfortable representing a group of people that I didn't have an official diagnosis for. But, you know, I don't think that that needs to be true for most people. And my personal feeling about it is that it is very, it's a privilege to be able to be diagnosed with autism as an adult because it is confusing to figure out where you need to go. It is expensive. It is often not covered by insurance. So I know that there's many people in many communities in the country that don't Have the privilege of getting diagnosed. And their internal lived experience is always enough for me. We welcome people into our support groups. The one we run on Sunday nights is for people with ADHD and AuDHD. And self-diagnosis is absolutely 100% valid. You know, for me, I knew I was going to be an advocate. For me, it was important to have my diagnosis in order to be a r as vocal an advocate as I wanted to be. Daniella karidi: Yeah, I had Kat over and I interviewed her and she said something about there is no ADHD police standing on the door for the support group and there is no ADHD police standing at the entrance of the conference. Come, join, be be part of the community if you feel that it's the right place for you. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Absolutely. Daniella karidi: I'm a big believer in assessment and diagnosis at every age. I just refer to clients that is going to be turning 82 next week to get evaluated. I think that it helps in several ways. I think that the first one, it gives you a lens to look at your life, to give you that self-knowledge lens. It opens the door to support and help. If it's community support, if it's academic support, if you're younger and you need accommodations. if it is medical support, if you're willing to take meds. so I think that there it opens the door to that. And then my third reason, and I mean I think it might be very selfish, but I think that having people that are confident that this is the right diagnosis for them when they're going out into the world helps us other people that are in the world. But that is this little little additional thing. It doesn't mean you can't have services. and you can't get help and Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Right. Daniella karidi: there isn't a coach most coaches out there, most doctors out there, most support groups out there will take you in, diagnosed or undiagnosed. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Yep. Yep. Absolutely. And I do think, you know, something that we have to keep in mind when we are referring people out to be diagnosed is making sure that they have that support system. Because I will say from my own experience and the experience of colleagues who are AuDHD and people in our support groups that when you get that diagnosis as an adult, there is a lot of meaning making and identity shifting that happens for a lot of us things get worse before they get better because now all of a sudden say you have had autistic meltdowns all your life and I'm not gonna lie, I've been prone to them. And funnily enough, it can be the most like I'll just admit to what my triggers are. My triggers can be something like my hair. I am very particular. And so if like I can't get it to work and it I'm trying and I'm trying and I'm trying to get it to like be where it needs to be to be like symmetrical or something. You know, I have had times in my life as an adult since my diagnosis where I have had meltdowns over things like that. And to have your first meltdown and know what it is and not think, my God, I have lost control over something so like what other people would say is ridiculous. But for somebody who is sees symmetry so much different than neurotypical people, I mean, it it it is an actual thing that you can melt down over if you can't control it. and so I know that sounds like a really silly thing to melt down over, but I just want people who are autistic to know that there's no prize for the best thing to melt down over. It can be because you're overwhelmed at a conference, it can be because you're gonna be on a podcast and like, you know, you like I don't know, don't have something to wear, like these things that That impact us and flip that switch, they have so much to do with capacity and where we're at, like in that day. And so I think that there's a lot of kind of psychological work that needs to happen after a diagnosis. So I always really recommend people have good support systems, good therapists, because it's like the diagnosis is just the first part of all that like. meaning making and understanding what what it means for you. Daniella karidi: It's just the beginning of the process. I Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Yes. Daniella karidi: do say that a lot of my clients talk about a phenomena that I call grief relief when they get diagnosed. So they're really relieved to get a label, to get someone understanding them, to understand what's going on, but they're also grieving the other option, the life that could have been if they knew what's going on. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Yeah, I think that that is true for a lot of people. Oddly for me, I think for my my situation, I didn't feel that for myself. My son's diagnosis preceded mine. And what I felt with his diagnosis was definitely relief. Like, I there was a tension. It was a it wasn't like relief in a sense of like, wow, I'm so glad, you know, that like. To know that we actually have a challenge here, but it was relief of the tension of going, okay, something's going on and I need to know how to best show up for this. My son needs to know how to best show up for this. And so there was that relief and also concern about like, wow, this definitely means that, you know, things might be harder for him. you know, if I don't get all the right supports in place and stuff. And so I'm happy to report that he's doing amazing. But when it came to my own diagnosis, I think it was more along the lines of, yep, I figured. You know, I think that's where I was when I got my diagnosis. I was like, okay, thanks for confirming. But the diagnosis process was really interesting because. you know, things I thought about myself, the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. Like, yeah, in the process, like some of the things I thought about my childhood and where I had been doing really well, you know, my my assessor helped me to understand when we did the integration like work after, you know, that some of the things that I did were coping mechanisms as as a kiddo. And so it It was it was very interesting to rewrite Daniella karidi: Yeah. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: that story. Daniella karidi: I know that we talk a lot about diagnosis. I want to talk about something about how people with ADHD appear in the world and specifically how we're represented maybe in different environments, like in TVs or in books or in movies. tell me a bit about your thoughts about the stereotypical ADHD representation. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: It drives me sometimes it drives me nuts. when there's no context or nuance, it it can really for me, it'll turn me off. It'll make me go, they didn't do their research or like, you know, they didn't talk to somebody who was neurodivergent before they wrote this. There's there's a fantastic short called Trying that Sam Labrecque did. And it's It's so good because at the at the time she didn't realize that she had ADHD, but she wrote it, she directed it, she produced it. And the challenges in it are so real and so spot on that when I first saw it, I was like, you have to come show this at the CHADD conference because it speaks to people with ADHD. And I think it's so important. Like we have a responsibility to make sure that the stories that Are being told are accurate and respectful and authentic. yeah, so I'm I'm a big proponent of that. And it's one of my favorite parts of of my job that I get to do. living in Los Angeles, like my husband is a writer, my friend is a novelist, like, you know, we have this amazing community of people that are writing stories that get put out there. and so I always feel really honored when I get to contribute by helping with people's backstories or helping with character development. I have a client right now who's writing a book about someone in the UK with with ADHD, and she didn't realize how different the diagnosis process is over there. And so all those things are really important so that when, you know, other people read those characters or see those characters represented, they really have a sense of who who ADHD people are, who autistic people are. It's actually I I really feel like it's a form of advocacy. Daniella karidi: I love it. What do you think people are getting wrong these days on social media on those click bits when TikTok and etcetera, when we're they're representing the ADHD or or their autistic, what do you think they're getting wrong? Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: think the number one thing that will that turns me off and like always raises my alarm bells is anytime someone is absolute about anything. I mean there's there's evidence based information and that's what CHADD is really amazing at putting out. But I think a lot of times people on social media use their lived experience as their content, which I actually love. when they're clear that it's lived experience versus everybody with ADHD does this or everybody with ADHD does that or people with ADHD should never do this. I feel like it's so nuanced. you know even like five years ago, people that had ADHD and autism, there were a lot of people that would come to our support groups and they would say, well, I don't, I don't really feel 100% seen because I also do this or I also do that. And I think that you know, before we knew that you could have both, some people probably felt left out of the conversation because we were saying, well, everybody with ADHD is hyperactive and talks a lot. And, you know, some people were like, Yeah, no, that's that's not me. So I think it's absolutes that drive me crazy. What about you? What would what Daniella karidi: I mean, I I it drives me crazy that ADHD, I mean, the first thing I say, you met one person with ADHD, you met one person with ADHD. it Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Yes, Daniella karidi: we all have fingers and we all have fingerprints in them, but our prints are different. and I feel that that gets lost sometimes in the social media world. I also cannot stand people that are trying to cure my ADHD or solve it. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: a hundred percent. Daniella karidi: That like you know, like I have the miracle solution. This app solved my ADHD. I'm like, Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Yes. Daniella karidi: dude, if that app would solve my ADHD, believe me, I would buy it. But it's not Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Yes. I think Daniella karidi: the case. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: totally. And I think another one is I do not gravitate toward the ADHD as a superpower message because I mean I just feel like especially like as a coach and a peer support specialist, I have so many clients that are struggling so hard. And I also know that it it's kind of if you have enough support. it can be a superpower. So it kind of comes from a place of privilege to be able to call it a superpower. And it's it's not a superpower for everyone. I mean, yeah. Daniella karidi: No. And and I give the example that even if you look of like you if you think about the superheroes, they're handful of them. In every book and every TV series, it's not every person that's working on Earth during Superman has superpowers. So Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Right. Daniella karidi: even if we think about the ADHD population as indiv or the nordivergent population as people that have some superpowers, it will still be a handful in every group and not everyone. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Exactly. Exactly. Daniella karidi: and saying that I believe that every client I meet and every child I meet and every parent I meet with ADHD does have good qualities and have superpowers within them. And it's not because of their ADHD, it's because they're human. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Absolutely. That's one thing that I love to do. Like when when a client is new, a strengths assessment is always one of the first things I do because I I absolutely agree with you. I think when clients come to us, they often have been so beaten down by feeling like they're failing that they don't focus enough on their strengths. And they all have amazing strengths. Daniella karidi: Yep. And then I do think there's something that they do that social media is getting right and is it making it funny? Because sense of humor does help us ADHDers process things and it helps us remember things. So I like the humor in it. I like, you know, I like the the person, you know, driving away with the coffee cup in the car because I can relate to the funniness of that. So what is the things you do think that people are getting correct or you do like in the social media ADHD world? Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: think my my favorite thing for sure is authenticity. you know, the people that I really enjoy following talk about their day and like their challenges. Like I love watching Liz Lewis. Like, you know, she will she'll just she'll come on throughout the day and like tell you about like, you know, the three things she's doing that day. Like her top three things, which Daniella karidi: And by the way, she was a guest here not long ago because her new book came out and I talked with her about the book. So I'll put a link Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: I I love that. Daniella karidi: I'll put a link to her website and her g and and her book and our conversation. Sorry. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Her new book is so amazing. That's so exciting that you got to talk to her. But yeah, people that are authentic and they're they're not necessarily showing all ADHD all the time, but they're showing us their full lives and you know how ADHD fits into their lives. I I really I love that. And I also love anytime I see someone that has a big platform. form, acknowledge their ADHD. someone did that like I think just this past week, the star of the TV show Reacher, he is such a lovely guy. And he was talking about like leaving his coffee or no, he made food for himself and he left it in the microwave. And I was just like, my gosh, that's so relatable. Like, you know, who of us with ADHD hasn't left the coffee mug in there for like two days? So I I really like that kind of content as well. And then there's people I really admire, like Sasha Hamdani, who is such so knowledgeable and she's able to be authentic, but she's also bringing an evidence-based approach to the information that she puts out there. Daniella karidi: And again, all these examples you're giving are people that are not trying to solve your ADHD. They're authentic and they're not trying to make their information apply to everyone. They're not saying you must do this and then you get this. And they're not necessarily trying to sell us a magic pill, which is a Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Exactly. Daniella karidi: whole nother conversation about trying to sell us a $9.99 that will solve our problems. I Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Exactly. Daniella karidi: I'd love to also ask you something that I like to ask a lot of my guests. Now that you have all this knowledge about ADHD and about yourself, what would you tell young self? Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: That is a really hard question. I think I would tell her that you're not broken and you will find your people. Because when I was growing up, I constantly when I, you know, emotional regulation is a really big challenge for a lot of for a lot of people with ADHD. And I don't think we talk about it near enough. And I have always been a girl with big emotions. Like I love big, I hurt big. And I always thought there was something wrong with me because of that. And now I see it as such a tremendous strength because it it is what leads me to find compassion and have empathy for the people in our community that are struggling. And It you you know it it it just that is that is yeah that that's what I would tell her and I would let her know she's gonna find her people and that her first ADHD conference is gonna be amazing and she'll wanna go back all the time. So that that those are the three things that I would tell her. Daniella karidi: I I personally also love the ADHD conferences, as you know. We have one upcoming in December. I will put the link here in the bottom in the notes if anyone's interested. But I find it in exciting to learn a lot about ADHD, but also meet other people with AD, that community aspect of it. I find that Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Absolutely. Daniella karidi: really informative. In my case, I also like teaching others. So I like I'm going to be talking about memory and ADHD a lot across the lifespan. So Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: What I was gonna say. Like the other really great thing about conferences is getting to hear experts like you. I mean, like the last two times that you've spoken, like my mind has literally been blown. So I I Daniella karidi: thank you. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: that's that's one of my favorite parts of conferences, are you know, hearing from people that are so amazing and have so much they're synthesizing, you know, because there's so much information out there about ADHD. Right now. And it's like it's so easy to get fatigued. And I feel like people like you who have basically like you are able to take so much information and synthesize it into new information for us. That's what I felt like by your last two talks. So yeah, that's really exciting too. Daniella karidi: I do feel like there's a lot of information out there as but as much as there's information out there, I feel like the work that you're doing at CHADD and you're doing individually to advocate is very important. tell people that might be listening why you think even though that there's so much awareness already and so much we still have advocacy that needs to be done and awareness month that needs to happen and and why are those things still important. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Yeah, I think that the same, I think it's interesting. It's not, I don't want to use the the term echo chamber, but I feel like those of us who know about ADHD and talk about ADHD, you know, we're out there and sometimes we think just because our algorithms are showing us that there's a lot of talk about ADHD and Seems like people are like, you know, being more accepting and stuff like that. You know, we're still living in a time where public policy is not as supportive of of people with disabilities like ADHD and autism. And so I think it is really more important now than ever in my lifetime to be advocating for you know, the the rights and protections that we have as people that have ADHD and autism and other learning challenges. you know, I I think that that's one of the reasons why it's so important. One of the things that CHADD does that I absolutely am so grateful for is that we have an advocacy action center. And what it does is it educates people on current bills and things like that from a very bipartisan way and it lets people get in touch with their representatives. So you know, it it's really important that we be educated on the things that impact us and that we have easy ways to connect with the people that are going to vote on those things. Daniella karidi: Love that. I had someone ask me that last year when I was putting out stuff about ADHD awareness month. And they're like, we're so aware about this. I can't like, can we go five minutes with and I'm like, I I appreciate your your personal awareness, but I think that there's still so many people that are don't understand. And if I go around one more place and people tell me that I can't have ADHD because I have a PhD, so it means I can't have ADHD. Or you know, someone can't have autism because they're an adult and it's only for kids. There's so much wrong information out there that maybe we're not only doing awareness, we're also doing education and we're also fighting for rights, as you said. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Yes, absolutely. Daniella karidi: And there's still a lot more work to do. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Absolutely. I was in a meeting not too long ago. I get I have the privilege in this position of being in some meetings with people that I am amazed I get to sit in the meetings with. but we have a professional advisory board and then there's meetings with like other partner organizations. And I have to be honest, even in those meetings. When I disclose that I have ADHD and autism, I see the faces. the last time someone I have great respect for was like, like, like, what? And you know, so I think that we still have so much work to do to basically give the give the sense of like what what does ADHD look like? What does autism look like in in in like reality and not not just like what we think we understand. and that means lifting up other people's voices. And that's something that's super important to me is finding those voices out there that like aren't necessarily getting amplified, that speak for underrepresented communities. Because I think there's a huge problem. Like we might understand what ADHD looks like for little white boys, but As far as like Latino women or like women of color or you know Daniella karidi: Or some of those older adults that come to my to meet to work with me, the re like Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: A hundred percent. Daniella karidi: how does ADHD look in retirement? How does it that that that conversation, if I would have brought that up a few years ago, which I tried, people laughed at me. And Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Yep. Daniella karidi: now we understand that it doesn't like we I mean we understood then, but it was hard to bring it to the conversation that this is a lifelong condition and therefore it's going to keep on affecting you even in your retirement. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Yes. And that's why, you know, going back to we were talking about authentic voices on social media, that's why it's it's great to see, like, I want to see a 70-year-old woman who's talking about her ADHD and how it impacts her and being honest with her followers about it. Like I think those kind of things can change the conversation. So I know a lot of people are like, ADHD on social media, but like I really see its benefit. And and think that it it can it can be a method for telling stories that help people understand it better. Daniella karidi: Yep. So I like to ask also, what would you tell to future self? So we talked about what you told n young self now that you know a bit about ADHD and autism and everything related. What will you tell to future self? Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Good job. Good job. Because I think that, you know, where I'm at in my life right now is is true and authentic. And I'm, you know, following what I feel like is my is my work on this earth. and so I would just, yeah, I would say good job because I'm a firm believer that Life is an adventure and we have to go out there and experience as much as we can and use our voice when we have opportunities to. And I get super scared to do that because, you know, I feel like that is a large part of my autistic self. That if I don't know what a situation's gonna be like exactly, it makes me so nervous. But I keep pushing and putting myself out there because I really want to be of service. So I I've already in the past five years done so many things that have been scary and hard for me. So I would say to future self, good job. And I would honestly say to anybody out there that wants to make a difference, that is nervous or scared or who thinks, who am I? And, you know, everybody has a unique voice. And it is so important to like use it and live life to the to the fullest experience that you can. Daniella karidi: I would add to that, keep on going because your message is important and your work is important. And I am very fortunate to have you both as a friend, as a colleague, and as a guest here. Thank you so much for being here. Tell people where they can find both CHADD and you specifically if they want to work with you directly. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Sure. So CHADD is really easy. It is www.chad with two Ds, chad.org. And there's you can find our groups there. You can find our professional directory. You can become a member. So that's where to find CHADD information. And then I am at the Bravespace.com. And that is my my practice. So that is where you can find me. I'm also on Instagram, Suzanne dot sofos, I think. So yeah. Daniella karidi: And I'll put links for everything on the show notes. And and again, thank you so much for joining me today at ADHDtime on Air. It was a pleasure talking to you. Suzanne Sophos, CMPSS: Thank you so much, Daniella.