The DadDHD Podcast
We're Shane Thrapp and Braden Young, two neurodivergent dads talking about the things that matter to fathers who are neurodivergent, or who have neurodivergent kids. No perfect parenting BS, just what actually works when your brain's wired different. We're both certified ADHD life coaches, community leaders, and fathers who got our diagnoses as adults. We know what it's like to figure out parenting when you're also figuring out your own brain. And we're here to help you do the same. Each episode, we bring you practical strategies for neurodivergent parenting, the kind that actually fit into real life with real kids and real challenges. You're raising kids who might be neurodivergent. You might be neurodivergent yourself. Either way, you're dealing with executive function challenges, sensory issues, time blindness, and all the chaos that comes with parenting when traditional advice doesn't cut it. We break down the latest research on ADHD, autism, and neurodivergence into stuff you can actually use. We tackle spousal relationships, supporting your kids across different spectrums, managing your own regulation while helping your kids with theirs, and building systems that work with your brain instead of against it. You'll also hear from experts, researchers, therapists, and other father's navigating this journey. No gatekeeping, no misinformation, just evidence-based approaches delivered in a way that makes sense. This isn't about being perfect dads. It's about being dads who get it—and building lives that work for our whole families.
Episodes
Shane Thrapp of Creating Order From Chaos and Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions explore why Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can feel like it has a ceiling for neurodivergent parents who have reached stability and self-actualization but still ask “now what?” They discuss how neurodivergence can complicate safety, belonging, and esteem through masking, isolation, and shame, and why self-actualization shouldn’...
Shane Thrapp and Braden Young discuss “ADHD lows,” the flat, gray, low-arousal state where nothing feels worth the effort, and how it often leads to “dopamine hunting” like binge-watching, hyperfixating, scrolling, or other novelty-seeking. They connect the experience to anhedonia and “indifferent boredom,” framing it as dopamine dysregulation in ADHD rather than necessarily burnout or depression...
Shane Thrapp and Braden Young welcome social coach, award-winning author, and keynote speaker Caroline Maguire, who has worked with neurodivergent people for 21 years and has just released her new book “Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults”.
Caroline explains she wrote the book after years of adult clients and parents asking for friendship support, especially amid increased diagnoses since the pandemic, and she h...
Shane Thrapp and Braden Young discuss the “cost of silence” underlying masking, describing how men are conditioned from childhood to hide struggle, avoid asking for help, and “push through” quietly, which becomes especially damaging when layered with ADHD/autism challenges like executive dysfunction, sensory overwhelm, emotional dysregulation, and rejection sensitivity. Braden shares a story about his son id...
Shane Thrapp and Braden Young use Mother’s Day as a starting point to talk about how ADHD and AuDHD can make dates, gestures, and follow-through difficult, and why appreciation needs to be a daily practice rather than a once-a-year performance. Shane shares involving his kids, Liam and Harley, in choosing gifts to teach them to notice and value their mom, while both hosts emphasize that small, consistent acts of attention mat...
Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions flies solo and unpacks rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) and what it looks like when your child is the one experiencing it—especially in a neurodivergent household where a parent’s own ADHD and past rejection can get activated. He explains how perceived rejection can feel like overwhelming emotional pain, and how parents can accidentally shift into fix-it mode, over-advocacy, sto...
Join Shane Thrapp of Creating Order From Chaos and Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions as we get into one of the most charged conversations in parenting: spanking, discipline, and the cycle most of us were handed before we ever had a choice. We're digging into what the research actually says, why "I turned out fine" deserves a harder look, and what gentle parenting actually means — because the misunderstanding around that ...
Join Shane Thrapp of Creating Order From Chaos and Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions as they talk about the quiet distance that builds between neurodivergent dads and their kids when we keep our lives and theirs in separate lanes. Our hobbies over here, their stuff over there. Our downtime on one side of the house, them on the other. This episode is about closing that gap by including our kids in what we already love, letting ...
Join Shane Thrapp of Creating Order From Chaos and Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions as we tackle the conversation most neurodivergent dads avoid: therapy. Not coaching. Not podcasts. Not self-help books. Actual therapy. We dig into why so many dads resist getting professional help, what types of therapy actually work for ADHD, autistic, and AuDHD brains, and why relationship therapy isn't optional when you're in a neurodivers...
Join Shane Thrapp of Creating Order From Chaos and Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions as we tackle neurodivergent burnout and what it really means for fathers. Not the "I need a day off" kind. The kind where your brain and body hit a wall because you've been running at 200% just to meet baseline expectations. We break down the difference between burnout and depression, why they need completely different treatment, and what happ...
Join Shane Thrapp of Creating Order From Chaos and Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions as they talk about managing work life with ADHD, autism, AuDHD, and fatherhood. From the provider pressure their dads drilled into them to the careers they actually landed in, Shane and Braden get real about what happens when the work you do fights your brain and ...
Join Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions as he flies solo for this one and shares his legacy origin story. He talks about the biological father who said "I can't" and walked away, the complicated and often abusive relationship with his stepdad, and the mom who stepped in and showed him what choosing someone actually looks like. Braden opens up about...
Join Shane Thrapp of Creating Order From Chaos and Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions as we dig into masking—the pressure to perform a version of yourself that isn't really you to hide your ADHD or Autism. We talk about where masking starts (the "be a man" messages, the bootstrap CEO myth), how it shows up in our relationships and kills intim...
Join Shane Thrapp and Braden Young as they interview Brendan Mahan from ADHD Essentials. Brendan, the author of the upcoming book 'Overcoming The Wall of Awful,' shares his experiences of raising 17-year-old twins, the complexities of his childhood, and how they inform his parenting. The conversation covers fatherhood, ADHD strategies, the influence of upbringing, and key insights into maintaining a balanced family life while man...
Join Shane Thrapp of Creating Order From Chaos and Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions as they break down why the traditional "walk it off" mentality fails neurodivergent kids—and what actual resilience looks like. Through a real story about Braden handling his autistic son's scraped knee at school, they explain the difference between teaching resilience and teaching kids to mask their needs. This episode challenges father...
Join Shane Thrapp of Creating Order From Chaos Consulting and Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions as they discuss the phenomenon of afterschool restraint collapse. Learn about the challenges faced by both neurotypical and neurodivergent children, the impact on parents, and why co-regulation is essential. Discover practical strategies for managing stress and fostering a supportive family environment. Tune in for expert insights i...
Join Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions as he discusses a recent study from Washington University in St. Louis that reveals surprising findings about the effects of stimulant ADHD medications. The study examines how stimulant ADHD medications affect brain activity differently than previously believed. Key findings include the role of stimulants in enhancing arousal, wakefulness, and reward centers, rather than directly improvin...
Join Shane Thrapp of Creating Order From Chaos Consulting and Braden Young of Empower ADHD Solutions for our first official episode of The DadDHD Podcast. We talk candidly about our personal histories and our fathers, our experiences as fathers with ADHD and autism, our neurodivergent kids, and why we started this podcast. Learn about effective parenting strategies for fathers, advocating for your kids at school and with family, a...
Welcome to The DadDHD Podcast. This is where we start.
We're Shane Thrapp and Braden Young—two certified ADHD life coaches and neurodivergent dads who are tired of parenting advice that assumes everyone has a neurotypical brain. There's a massive gap between research and what actually helps you at 3 AM when your kid won't sleep and your brain won't shut up. We're here to bridge that gap.
In this episode, we introduce ourselve...
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