Latest / Let Them Fly - Heather Harries Ed Hub / The ADHD Teacher - Darren McCormick

Transcript

The ADHD Teacher - Darren McCormick · Let Them Fly - Heather Harries Ed Hub

• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: And welcome to another episode of Let Them Fly, a podcast series that aims to answer questions and inspire parents across the region.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're delighted to have Darren McCormick with us.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: And Darren is head of enterprise and innovation at GEMS Metropole here in Jabai.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: So welcome, Darren.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Now you're known across the region, I think, as the AI ADHD teacher.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Is that would that be fair?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think so, yeah.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it sounds nice to be known as that.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I try to apply my sort of knowledge of AI to my experiences, personal experiences at ADHD, and how it then can hopefully help others as well.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Amazing.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I know I've I've heard you talk before, and I it always you always fascinate me, and you have such a deep desire to support children and to ensure that teaching reflects how children learn.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think so.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I try anyway, yeah.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So um I think I think we'll we'll kick off with our first question.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you're known as the AD ADHD AI teacher, and you teach children to think like innovators.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I think in today's world that's so important.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: But what I really want you to talk about today is what do you wish every parent understood about how children actually learn?
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you want to begin?
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, it's uh it's kind of a huge topic, really.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is that I guess what I'd like people to know is that we all learn differently.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: And how as a parent I learn is different to how my children learn as well.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: So schools move on in their techniques and methods as well, mostly the same, somewhat.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: But then actually, what we learn from being an international school as well is that we get kids who come from different places, and that bit of maths I'm teaching them, like I don't get that, I do it this way, and we still get to the same end product.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so the thing is that we don't want to box our children into a method of learning.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: If they are learning and they achieve the goal, if it takes them to do something more physical than reading, it's fine.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's the way they're absorbing the information.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to get to the outcome.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: The journey, of course, is okay, but that's then somewhat unique to an individual.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And to understand really, and this is a frustration of parents, is that it might not be the same way as we learn, and take that little bit of a breath and go with them.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think the most common thing I hear these days is parents go, they're doing maths, but it's not the way I learnt it.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so if you could place one idea into the heart of every parent whose child learns differently, what would you say?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I would say let them learn the way they learn.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: And it's that bit about trying not to constrain them because our education system has to work for the masses.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And if you work differently all day, you're trying to conform to that way of learning.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a battle.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, then when it comes to learning after school and doing those bits with them, let them go the way they're doing, explore it with them as well.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: As a as a parent, one of the things I found interesting is when I'm not a teacher at home.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: I I think I do a good job as a teacher, but with my kids, they don't want a teacher, they want a parent.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's my job to guide and coach and make sure they're safe in that exploration of what they're doing, whether it's a physical thing or going parents worried about the kids learning online, where it's that, then you're there just to guardrails and you want the best for them.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: So let them go and understand them.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Once you understand them and how they learn, you should be able to help them so easily.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting to use that word.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: One of my favorite sayings is that as a parent, your job is to be both the guardrail and the mirror.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because children copy, but they also need boundaries.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so take me back to you as a boy in school, which I think was probably quite terrifying.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and for a child whose mind moves faster than the lesson that's being taught, and you probably fidgeted and drifted off quite got distracted.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: What was really going on um inside your mind?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: And how did you feel?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Did you feel like you were misread by the teachers?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think so.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, my uh I mean my memory isn't the best, but for sure what I do remember, and we still have the school reports to show, I got told off quite a a lot, and it wouldn't necessarily be for being naughty.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: I would, like I said, I would get distracted.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not that I'm trying to listen.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've heard what you're saying, and now I want to apply it somehow, and I'm not getting to apply it.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And now I've just got to sit and listen, okay, and now I'll write it down and go to those things.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it would become slightly boring.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think for some of ADHD, me personally, it's like when I'm bored, I like I feel it.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's not just like I'm bored, it's like an emotion.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: I literally feel it in my chest, and then I kind of need to claw out of it a little bit.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: So the fidgets help.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: I still do it as a teacher now, and I tell the kids in class, like, I have something in my pocket, I'm fidgeting with normally like my earbuds or something like that, and it helps me focus.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think adults and teachers are getting better at understanding that.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I think you know, we are moving in the right direction if people understand.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I got a little bit lost, which is kind of the nature of me, right?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: It is but I I'm following, I'm following totally.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: So you you carry on, we're good.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: I I mean, I remember in school and I I've obviously got um dyslexia and a slight ADHD as well.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I the boredom, the boredom of a lesson, you've got it in 10 minutes, and everyone thinks you're stupid because you've actually tuned out, but actually you're just bored.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and actually the point I was I was trying to head towards for me was that when I like learning, right?
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: I enjoy learning things.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And when we were at school, that's where you did it.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: You at school you learn.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for kids uh in our modern world, they've got access to so many other things as well.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where I think it becomes a bit more challenging where the kids get a bit bored because they've seen so much more, they know so much more.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas for me, I was already a bit bored and I just knew that little thing in school.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: If it was now, and I'm like, well, how about this?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: I know about this thing, I want to learn about this.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: I can go on YouTube and watch this video, and so I'm sitting there just yeah, waiting to get through the day essentially.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, all learning is good, you know.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, although I'm a teacher, I don't believe academics is everything.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so if your kid is learning and they're already developing a passion, run of it, they're kind of ahead of the game then.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: How did you get into teaching then?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: If you because obviously, I mean, if you're like me, I didn't can't say school is my favorite play.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: How did you come back into teaching?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so after I finished my degree, which is sports and exercise, I worked at the university in health, well-being, and quality of life.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: I did research into that.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of it was either with really old people at hospitals or with kids at school.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: And we put interventions in place.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Various, because it's sports and sciences, like physical interventions, healthy eating, and so on.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: But we also gathered data, the bit I specialized in with my boss, was what at the time they called soft outcomes, the psychological measures.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: And when we went into a classroom, you could see immediately some of those kids were so already so anxious and depressed.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: I remember seeing one girl, and her sleeves were the same as mine when I was younger, pulled up over the hands, chewed away.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, and when we measured them, something was scoring like at the highest possible measure on depression.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that just really like hurt, you know.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: It was I wanted to do something about it, and our measures were small and we're moving on.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, well, how can I do something about this?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: The best thing I could do is to get into school and give them a safe, happy place to be in for at least that part of their day.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then when they're safe and happy, they can start learning and feel better and so on.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what kind of drove me into teaching is that desire to give kids that space.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I guess you're, I mean, I I love teaching, but I only like teaching the children who everyone says else says they can't learn.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Give me one of the, give me a child who somebody says isn't learning, isn't achieving, and I'll show you, I'll show you what learning and achieving is.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's that and it's that understanding, it's getting to understand them, empathize with them.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: They're people.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: They're sometimes the old mindset of like kids, they should do as they're told, but they're still people.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And especially maybe ones like me who had ADH, ADHD, and so I'm gonna fight back a little bit too.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Just get that understanding and you'll go so far with them.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: And and change the style of learning.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: The problem with learning, like you said earlier, is that it's developed and designed for the masses.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're the five that don't fit in the class of the 25 these days, I guess, the learning's just not designed for you.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I always say that people and you know, dyslexia, neurodivergent, they need to see the big picture work down to small detail.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas school learning is designed to start with a small detail, by which point you're bored.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: You already see the pic picture, you saw the big picture the moment they gave you the title.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then you're going through these incremental bits to build this massive jigsaw, which you've got like five lessons ago.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and you're just you're just going going through the phases essentially.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: By which point you shipped out.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: You've lost that exploration, and then you start losing that love for learning.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And they and of course the kids then swit switch off.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: I I mean, I I I grew up thinking I was stupid, and I it was only when I was sat in my first board meeting and somebody looked at me and said, Hmm, actually that's you know, whatever.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: I sort of really picked up on it.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: And why didn't anyone else think like this?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I was thinking, well, I just think differently.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's only when you realize that, and I think it's so important that children are told from an early age, you think differently, and that's strong, that's good, use it.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's bringing you bring all those bits together, those bits that you're drifting off in your thoughts, where you're you know, you're applying it in your head at least anyway, what you'd like to be doing, uh, and while you're waiting to get through things, you're bringing different aspects together.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, for our source system, okay, you've got to go at least, but when you uh get the chance to then start picking your own subjects, you see these A levels, the direction you want to take in your life, those bits are gonna come in and are gonna shine through.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you I always I I mean I so many children I speak to, and I always say, you just need to get through school.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's so and it breaks my heart.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Every single time I say it, yeah, it breaks my heart.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's really difficult to say because you want them to have a great time there.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: It is what it is, and so we make the most of it.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: But once you pass those gates, then the world's yours.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I totally, because you literally see that big picture.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: So uh what would you say to a mum who is um who can only see struggle right now?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, it brett as a mum, it's the worst, it really is.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: And they get the meltdowns over homework because I can't do it, don't want to do it.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I think for certainly children who are struggling, they know they won't get, they can spend four hours on a piece of work and they're still not going to be the top student whose work's put on the wall on the board.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what's the gift in handling all of that?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um so the gift in all of that is your kid.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Your kid's the gift, right?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: They're all unique, all brilliant, all different.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: My two children sometimes will be similar, but are also completely different.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the gift.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a struggle for us as a parent, then when it comes to the homework and the meltdowns.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I've been there, yeah.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And we're like, oh, just come on, how can we do it?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then we stop fighting against that because it wasn't right.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I know for me still, when I come home, I need to decompress.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: And my daughter's the same, right?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: She really needs that time.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Chill out.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Some people are like come on, let's just get the homework done, get out of the way.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's it's just not the way we operate.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's getting you want to get the best out of them, and you're trying to.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: You think you're fighting for a good reason because come on, we're gonna get these times tables done, we're gonna get this done, and I want the best for you, but it's becoming a fight and it's disrupting your relationship, and it's gonna disrupt their relationship with learning things at home as well.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so if it's that much of a struggle, leave the academics kind of to school.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Do the things they want to love learning about, and through those things, those other bits will drop in because the school provides such good foundation across the breadth of and now you apply it.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: So find that thing, just enjoy them for being what they are, find out what they love and let them explore it.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if they're, you know, like me and many other ADH kids, we get told we we like things for about five minutes, then we move on to the next thing, we move on to the next thing.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: But then that goes back to what you said earlier about that breadth of learning and that idea that all comes in.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I've tried a thousand things now, all these different hobbies I've had, and then there's going to start to come together and one will stick.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll and again, that's something, and uh, we're getting a jump on our passion already.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I think also one of the things with neurodeficient children is that they have to be ready.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: So the more you push, the more they push back.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes, you know, tables don't have to be taught written one times eight is eight, two times eight.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it can be taught in so many different ways.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think sometimes I always say I always talk to parents about pivoting learning.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: And pivoting learning doesn't always mean that you end up with an outcome of homework as homework should be.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: And the number of times I used to send homework in that my children have done, and I I used to put a little note to the teacher going, we've done it, probably not the way you wanted it.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: But the point is we've learnt it.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think that's really important that parents start to have more dialogue with with with teachers.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think parents can be a little bit scared, they kind of think they've got the child that's not so clever and that the teacher doesn't like, and they they become very, oh thank goodness you've you've got through the day with my child.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: And that's not how it should be.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: There should be a dialogue, there should be a conversation.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: You are the advocate.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I no, I completely agree.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're right.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's uh it's difficult for the parent.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: And you, as the child as well, you start building a perception of yourself.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: You as a parent build a perception of yourself as the parent of that child, and a perception of your child based on what other people see and look at, but forget them.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's you guys, right?
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the thing.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Enjoy each other, enjoy your learning and and go from there.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: And enjoyment, it's got to come down to enjoyment, and it's got to come down to not fighting.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you're called the entrepreneurial teacher for a reason.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: And in plain terms, for a parent who feels uneasy about screen time, and we hear that conversation so many times, and technology.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: How can AI generally help a child who learns differently?
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, my thing with screen time, and uh when people ask me, we get this when parents come around to visit the school and stuff, it's like, well, what is your concern?
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, screen time.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: What do you mean by screen time?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, like we use the technology effectively.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: So in my class, we you we don't have books, everything is done on the iPad, but we treat the iPad like a computer.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: And here's one of the things like the iPad for most kids is just it's an entertainment device, it's not a computer.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's like going back to school.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: If I was at school, giving me a Game Boy and saying we can use it as a calculator.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: There's no chance I'm using it as a calculator.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna sit and play with it.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so that they need to change their mindset onto what it can do for them.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: And for AI in particular, the one that there's people are worried about AI because it opens up so much.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: What my kids can learn this, but now you can get things where you, as a parent, super easily can then go, right, what do you want to learn about?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm going to create that.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: So um, one of my kids that love baking and cooking and so on.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: And they most of the time they just want to go into the kitchen and do their own thing.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas, okay, you need to pull it back a little bit, and they don't want to hear it from me.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: And they don't want that bit where I accidentally maybe get frustrated or roll my eyes and so on, or when they ask a question that's completely off pace.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: The AI isn't going to roll its eyes at them, it's not going to lose patience.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't when I'm doing things.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I feel.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to ask these questions, I can keep asking them, and I can narrow down into that little bit, you know, and it's going to know most of the answers.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: So using the AI, but restrictively, in that you set the boundaries of the AI before.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: You want to learn about this?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Brilliant.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know much about it.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Let's create a little app, which is what I do, something like Base 44 or Claude.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't know those, they're brilliant.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, just tell them it'll do it.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it'll keep them within that boundary, but safe.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not wondering.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then I can leave that in the kitchen while I'm just kind of checking on and keeping an eye out for them.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: And they run it themselves.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: It gives them independence of learning at their own pace.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I do know what I completely forgot.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll go back.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of the big things.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've drifted off and I thought about something else.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: I've missed it.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'll go back.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's all right, I'm doing it in my own time.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I think could be really, really powerful in allowing them to take control and go, I miss things, but I've learned a technique to handle it now.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think, I mean, I think we I was funny enough, I was just talking on a panel this morning about AI.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I think one of the things about AI is it allows total individualization.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's personalization of a timetable of um a piece of work at the highest possible level.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think for a teacher, you can never personalize work to that level for 30 kids in a class, but you can totally within AI.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: But what worries me with AI, and and you you're not worried about it at all, I know, but but I always worry is we've personalized it, but but it's that human interaction.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: And that always worries me because when a child goes quiet, you need to know why they've gone quiet.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: And the problem with AI, or it's not a problem, I guess, but the thing that so a child learns when they find things difficult.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: If AI always finds the solution, the learning stops.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: And and there's the path.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, although I like I enjoy AI, I like in everything.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: I am very hands-on.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: I want people to make things like I enjoy carpentry.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna do it, like this should be to help your journey.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: And there's ways that we can train and ask the questions and change learning so that they don't just get the answer.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but also for like the kids I teach, especially the younger ones, they really get this.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: When they go on to, oh, can I generate this and can I do this?
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, but then it's not you.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want it to be you or do you want it to be the computer?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, no, it's my idea.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: So then don't do that.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: We start with you first, and we start with everything, and then this is here to support, and this is here to then adapt, and this is here to maybe like when when I'm trying to express a thought and no one else gets it, I can put it into there and it's going to rewrite it for me.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then I understand about it, they understand about it, and it's learning how to use the tool.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's you know, I'm trying to think as Carpentry, right?
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I'm not gonna give a kid a chainsaw straight away or a circular saw.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna start with the steps.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: So AI seems amazing, but you need to start with control and introduce the steps and show how it helps you learn, not help you get the product because you want to be the product, you want to be the creator.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think, I mean, I think at the end of the day, the child a child has got to have knowledge and they've got to have judgment.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: And AI can be amazing, but they've got to be able to use AI in the right way, because if you put a terrible property in, you get terrible information out.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: So they've got to have that certain level.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, I mean, I I I it's a very fascinating subject, and it's definitely the way the world is moving, yeah, but it's how we move it without losing that human.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: So for the mother listening tonight or listening today, sorry, whose child has been told that they have ADHD, obviously they're it's a devastating for for parents, they find that um devastating.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: I actually think it's great, you you know, but but a lot of parents don't don't see that.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and she knows that her child her child's not fitting into the heart of the sort of usual child, their mould is is slightly different.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: What do you want her to know most?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: And what should she try not to do?
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you said, it's not devastating.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: What you've just learned is something incredible about your child.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: You now know them better.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, before you were worried, you didn't know what was going on, I don't know how to handle it.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now someone's told me something about my child, I know them better.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be able to help them.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it shouldn't be something to then worry about.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: You I think you you then have been given the gift of knowledge.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: And although everybody is everybody is different, and we all uniquely show our bits of ADHD and neurodiversity and in different ways, you're gonna know your child, and you're now gonna know about these traits, and you can bring those together.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: And now you know when they come in, I need to wait until they're ready.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's a bit frustrating.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm ready, I've got things to do, and so on.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: But I need I know that now, and I give them that time, and you start learning the strategies together of how they're going to live their life, and you're gonna give them an amazing gift throughout.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've worked this out through my own time.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I didn't get diagnosed until I was uh much older, and but then it all made sense.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: And since then, I've been able to work on myself and learn these techniques to help me when I need a break.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: I have to have a break and so on.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get that for them now, and you're gonna make their life so much better, so much easier.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: They'll be able to handle it, they'll know all these bits.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: So don't take it as a worry.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's a gift for you to then help them.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I one of the things I always say to parents, because obviously they the the diagnosis is I don't people just find it devastating.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: I don't find it devastating, but that's because I live with it.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I, like you, was diagnosed very late, but I always say to parents, it's a bit having a neurodivergent brain is a bit like having a super engine.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: So when you go to have a new car and you're 18 and you're given your first car, and you're given a car with a 1.1 engine, and you get in it and you push the accelerator and it slowly takes off because you've got control of the engine because it's small.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's a normal brain, and that's a normal child.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: And a neurodivergent brain is like having a Lamborghini Boggini engine, and you get into the car as a new driver and you put your foot down and it's all over the road.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's like there's no control of it whatsoever.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: And you're learning, your child is learning to control their brain.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I think they have so much potential and it moves so fast.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's moving 300 times faster than all brain.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And the child is learning strategies to handle that.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a superpower, without a doubt.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, if somebody says, Can I have a, I don't know, a fiesta?
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a fiesta anymore?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what type of car, but like I can get a 1.1 car or a Lamborghini.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you want the Lamborghini.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: So hey, I you you've struck gold with your child, I always think.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that's a brilliant analogy as well.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's what you actually want.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: You think that's the sensible kind of tick you over, get you by.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want to get by.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we want excitement, we're fun, we want creativity, innovation, and you've got it.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think so.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I I use it for everyone and parent and kids love it because they kind of go, my Lamborghini.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: Lamborghini, let's let's put that engine to use.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: So just to wrap up, um, Darren, thank you so much for joining today.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a really interesting conversation.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you had to give a piece of advice to your seven-year-old self, knowing everything you know now, what would it be?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um buy some shares in Tesla.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I think that'll be a good one.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's it's really I'm trying not to give the kind of the usual thing that people say, like the generic thing, but it is to understand that you're awesome and you're okay.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's kind of no people worry that okay, there's the parents worrying, oh, my kids now not normal, and so on.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's there's no real normal.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's something that's a bit more common and so on, and you'll find the way you are.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: And although it might be difficult now, you're going to grow to learn and use this and create wonderful things and follow those interests, your intuitions to what you like.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: I like doing this.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to follow it.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's good, it's fun.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: I make mistakes and it's okay.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like you know, I feel mistakes really badly.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like I got for the people listening, I got lost on the way here.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: I felt really bad about it.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm trying to tell myself, no, it's okay.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: And again, that's something I've learned.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay to make mistakes.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so worried about what everyone else is thinking.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to do anything wrong.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I make a mistake, but that's okay.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's learning.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: All right, and we'll get and you'll get there.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: You'll be brilliant.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for joining us today on Let Them Fly.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: And you can download into our interviews always on Spotify, Apple Music, and we're on YouTube.