Navigating fatherhood with ADHD

Ever thought about what it’s like to raise kids with ADHD while also having ADHD yourself? Dion Chavis, the host of the Black People Parenting podcast, understands this experience very well.

In this episode, listen as Dion shares how he’s juggling parenting kids with ADHD and his own ADHD diagnosis. Find out when he started noticing the unique needs of his kids. And hear why he believes in the importance of responsible fatherhood.

We love to hear from our listeners. Email us at opportunitygap@understood.org.

Related resources

• Dion Chavis

• Black People Parenting podcast

• Black People Parenting podcast episode, "Mastering Tantrums and Meltdowns: Strategies for Parents of Black Children."

• ADHD and race: What Black families need to know

• ADHD parenting tips from a Black clinical psychologist

Timestamps

(03:32) Dion talks parenting a child with ADHD

(05:26) Dion talks early signs of learning differences in his daughter

(12:49) Dion reflects on his own ADHD diagnosis

(22:21) Dion’s “Dads In The Class” initiative

(28:26) Dion’s advice to other dads

Episode transcript

Julian: Imagine sitting in a classroom where your child finds it challenging to stay focused while the rest of the class progresses smoothly through their lessons. This is such a reality that so many parents face when their child has been diagnosed with ADHD. Now, add to that the added layer of cultural expectations and challenges, and you get a sense of the unique hurdles that Black parents encounter.

What's going on, OG family? Welcome to a new episode of the "Opportunity Gap." I'm your host, Julian. Today's episode delves into a topic that's both deeply personal and incredibly relevant: Raising a Black child with ADHD. We're thrilled to have Dion Chavis join us to share his insights and experiences.

Dion is a dedicated advocate and father with ADHD. Dion is the host of "Black People Parenting," an incredible podcast that we'll be actually sharing an episode of in this episode's show notes. Dion is also the force behind "Dads In The Class," which we'll discuss later in the show. Welcome to the show, Dion.

Dion: Thank you, good brother. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm glad to be in this space with you.

Julian: I appreciate you. We got to chop it up a little bit before we started recording, talking about music and, you know, mutual love of the original Jay-Z albums. But I would love to know, you know, we always start off our episodes asking our guests, what's bring you joy right now? What's bringing you joy in your life?

Dion: Oh man, that's a great question. I think one of the things that brings me joy in this moment, of course, you know, we're in back-to-school season. So, my daughter is 20. My son is six. I got him on both sides of the spectrum. I call him the bookends. I take as many prayers and kind words as I can get — thoughts, prayers, all that.

Julian: You got it. You got it.

Dion: So, today was actually my son's first day of first grade and my daughter, today is her second day of her junior year of college. So, I would say right now, this space that I'm in, I get joy from watching them journey into their next chapters. Watching my son, you know, who's on the autism spectrum, mature and watching him grow throughout the summer and be excited about going into the first grade.

And watching my daughter, who is a junior in college and watching her, you know, navigate this new landscape of being a quasi-adult, I guess we'd call her. But, you know, just watching her really navigate the space of becoming a responsible young adult, but still, like needing me, but not needing me like that. It's really, really, it's really, really dope.

Julian: So, yeah, let's jump into it. Today, audience, we're going to be talking a lot about parenting kids with ADHD. And we know we talk a lot about ADHD on the program. Raising a child with ADHD presents so many unique challenges, but opportunities, right? But we don't want to just frame it in the negative. We focus on both ends, and there's so many opportunities.

For Black families specifically, these challenges can be compounded by additional layers of cultural and systemic factors. So, we asked Dion to come on to really share his experience and share his expertise. So, Dion, tell the audience and us in general, what is parenting a child with ADHD looks like for you?

(03:32) Dion talks parenting a child with ADHD

Dion: For me, my daughter, again, she's 20, so she went through her, I believe it was like half of her sophomore and junior years in high school during the pandemic. And it was right around that time, maybe a little bit before when she got her diagnosis. So, understanding what she was going through and having to show empathy is something that I had to learn how to do, particularly being in an environment of a pandemic.

And, you know, for us, like you say, for Black folks, ADHD is it's something that we grew up acknowledging.

Julian: Right.

Dion: You know, our parents didn't necessarily acknowledge ADHD or learning disabilities or autism spectrum for a lot of folks back in the 80s and 90s. So, it was something that kind of took some adjustment in the way that I parented. So, I had to kind of pivot in the way that I parented and in the midst of the pandemic.

And also, we'll talk about it later, but not knowing that I was also suffering from and I don't want to say suffering from, but I was also experiencing or, you know, would that later down the line to be diagnosed with ADHD. So, it's been a learning experience. It's definitely been a lot of learning of all.

Julian: I mean, so just so many families discovered so many new things about themselves during this pandemic. And as I'm thinking about what it was like, you know, sitting in the basement trying to parent and trying to teach and trying to pay attention to the screen while our kids are, you know, doing their schoolwork, I can only imagine how difficult it might have been to, you know, receive this diagnosis in the midst of that.

How did you know? Like how did you know that something was going on? And what initial signs or challenges did you notice with your daughter that, you know, helped you decide to kind of go through this process?

(05:26) Dion talks early signs of learning differences in his daughter

Dion: Well, my daughter has always been extremely smart, right?

Julian: Ok.

But she's also been someone who has suffered from test anxiety throughout her entire life. And that's something that I've known about her. You know, as a parent, as someone who guided her through elementary, middle, and high school. I've always known that she suffered from test anxiety. She's not a good test taker. You know, whether it be standardized testing, whether it be, you know, just test in history. She's just not a good test taker. She always makes great grades, national honors society, all of those things, but when it comes to testing, she's just not great at it.

Julian: A lot of our listeners can relate to that, right?

Dion: Yeah. You become, you know, almost empathetic to that. When you see them, it's like I like I can't say that you're not studying. I can't say that you're not doing the work. I can't say that you're not putting in the effort because you are like, I'm I'm right here with you, right? I'm right here going through these things with you.

And like one of the signs for me, I think it might have been when she first got into high school, and I'm a history and English guy, you know, math and science, that's not not my jam. History, English all day, right? So, studying for those subjects almost came, like, came natural to me. So, she would tell me things like, you know, she would excel in math and science, but when it came to, like, history, like, she wouldn't get it.

And to me, history is just like, you're just memorizing like, dates and events like World War II was this day. Columbus came to America on this day, like, you know, it's just it's not really a lot of science to it. You know, we were going over some stuff, getting ready for a test and like, she didn't know how to study. And I was like, "Wait a minute. What do you mean you don't want to study?"

So, I gave her one of the techniques that I had learned in middle school, like literally my middle school teacher, I remember her telling me, like, "You put all in the information that you want to learn on the left side of the paper, you draw a line on the middle and the right, the questions on the right side. And then, you know, you go through the questions down the line and you should be able to answer the question. And if you can't answer it yet, you just take a peek at it and look at the answer on the left side of the paper."

Julian: That's old-school teaching.

Dion: Old school. You know, that's just classic 80s and 90s education. So, once, you know, that kind of set off an alarm to me that there was something going on.

Julian: So, as you went through this process, right? You get the diagnosis, and you and your daughter kind of start to figure out what's next. How did you all and especially, again, as you said earlier, you and I are Black men. We come from that same you know, I grew up in the 80s and 90s as well. We come from that same background of ADHD it's not really a thing when we were kids. How did you navigate that now raising a daughter in this environment?

Dion: I navigated it with a lot of grace and empathy. You know, I almost had to kind of walk on eggshells. But this is all new territory for me. This is all totally new. This is, I don't know anything about being diagnosed with ADHD. I don't know anything about being diagnosed with depression as a teenager. All of these things are new to me. So, I'm parenting and a lot of it is trial and error, to be honest with you. Like a lot of this...

Julian: That's just ,that's parenting, right? You gotta fake until you make it.

Dion: Yeah. Yeah, A lot of it is, yeah, pretending that you know what you're doing when you absolutely have no clue, right?

Julian: Exactly.

Dion: And just hoping and praying that you came up with the right resolution. So, for me, it was really trying to be sure that I was giving her a lot of grace because, again, there were other things going on. And the bottom line is that for me, I wanted to be sure that I didn't lose my daughter to anything, right?

Julian: Right.

Dion: So, being a little bit more lenient to her when she might have come home with a C on a test when I know she could have gotten A or a B, right? Or being a little bit more lenient when, you know, she was a senior and her SAT scores weren't as high as I thought they could be, right? And all of that had to play into effect because I'm looking at the whole child. I'm not just looking at one person.

"Yes, I want you to be the best you can be academically. Yes. I would love if you made all A's. Yes, I would love you to all of these great things. But even if you don't, I'm still here to love you. I'm still here to be the safe landing for you when you need me to be." And I put that above any and everything else while still giving her the guidance while still supporting her.

Julian: I'm wondering, you know, just again, from your perspective, what are some of the challenges that you may have encountered as you're trying to raise a child with ADHD? What are some of the things you had to deal with and had to figure out as a parent?

Dion: So, I think the navigation portion for me specifically came with somewhat of an apprehension initially to her being on medicine, right? I didn't object to it, but when it was brought to my attention, like when a doctor said, "You know, we may want to put her on, you know, on this medicine," I'm like "Wait a minute. Hold up." Because that's just how we were taught.

Julian: Right, right, right. It's funny, our first episode of the "Opportunity Gap" was about is ADHD medicine a white people thing? Like that literally was the first episode we talked about.

Dion: And I'll say this, you know, so many things that happen in this world, in this country for and to Black folks are rooted in white supremacy, right? But I think it's important that we understand that even, even at the core, that apprehension is rooted in white supremacy because of the disparities in health care and particularly mental health care between Black folks and white folks, right?

We don't have the opportunity, right? For lack of a better word, to get the care and to get the treatment and to have a teacher sit down with our child and say, "This is what's going on." I know, you know, this child is acting out. I think I listened to one of the episodes and you were talking about the school-to-prison pipeline. We go straight to the school-to-prison pipeline, right?There is no, there's no buffer.

Julian: I like that you called it out and just said exactly what it is. There's an individual level, but on a systemic level...

Dion: For sure.

Julian: This is a centuries old issue. So, that's why I really I think this type of conversation is important because we're real people and we're experiencing this day to day. You know, we spoke about your daughter at length, but I want to talk a little about you.

Dion: OK.

Julian: So you, as a parent, you found out that you also have ADHD.

Dion: Yeah.

Julian: Which obviously adds a giant layer of complexity to, you know, this journey that we're on with parenting. I'm interested to know, you know, what was your reaction when you found out that you were diagnosed with ADHD?

(12:49) Dion reflects on his own ADHD diagnosis

Dion: So, my reaction, it was, I don't know if I was surprised necessarily, but it was kind of like now it all makes sense. Like this is the "aha" moment. Now I get it, right? I worked in radio for 20 years as a radio personality. Of course, once the pandemic started, I ended up being laid off because advertisers aren't paying for, you know, spots and all of those things. Radio stations cut budgets. So, I ended up getting a job as a project manager with a national nonprofit, very well-known national nonprofit organization.

And this was the first time that I had a job that required me to have deliverables. And there came a point where my productivity wasn't really what it should have been. And my manager calls me in and I just tell her, "I can't really, I'm having trouble concentrating. Like I'm working from home, but I'm having trouble concentrating like I'm supposed to be, you know, working. And I've got this report due, but instead I'm like Googling how tall was Tupac?"

Dion: Right. I'm looking up like, how many points did Michael Jordan score against the Pistons in 1989? Like I just told her, I said, "You know, I'm struggling with some things in terms of my mental health. And, you know, I've been in therapy. I've been in therapy for a couple of years. I talked to my therapist about it and she suggested that I get tested for ADHD. She said, 'Why don't you get tested for ADHD? Because what you're telling me sounds like that's what it is.'"

So, I go to the psychiatrist and basically get tested and I don't know the name of the test, but it seems like it's 100 pages long and they ask you about your childhood and they ask you about what people would say about you and what type of student you were and how did you get work done and all of these things.

And I'm answering the questions, it's like a three-part series over three days and meet with the woman, and she says, "Well, according to the test, you know, you have ADHD and a form of depression." And I said, "OK." She said, "Well, do you find yourself like, losing things a lot?" I said "Yeah. I couldn't tell you what my keys are right now." She said, "Do you find yourself just kind of like losing your train of thought?" I said, "Yeah. While you're talking, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to eat for dinner."

And it just was all of these things, man. And it all just kind of came together as, oh OK. This is why I lose things all the time. This is why I can't, you know, keep track. This is why I walk into a room and can't remember what I came in here for. This is why I have 25 tabs open on my Google, on Google Chrome, right? All of these things. Now it just makes sense to me.

Julian: Wow! One, thank you. I mean, I've been asking you some pretty personal questions, so I just have to put that out there. Thank you.

Dion: For sure.

Julian: You know, just being real about what your experience has been. But Understood has another podcast that talks all about adults who are diagnosed with ADHD. And so many of the stories mirror your own, where these things that you know have been happening in your life, your entire life, and you didn't know why. You just kind of, "This is who I am. This is what it is." Some people mask it. Some people use coping mechanisms. Some people get super organized because they know that they struggle with these basic things.

And having this diagnosis, it just opens up. To make you realize "Wait, now I know why."

Dion: Yeah. Yeah.

Julian: "Now I understand why." And I imagine you've used the word empathy a bunch of times in this conversation. When you speak with your daughter, now that you've gotten this diagnosis, does it change anything?

Dion: The only thing that I would say that it's changed is that now we have a common bond, right? So, now we kind of, we bond over this, this thing that we have in common, right? Because, of course, we know ADHD is it is genetic, right? So, more than likely, she probably got it from me.

Julian: Right.

Dion: I just found out that I had it at 40, 43 or 44 years, probably 43 years old. She was fortunate enough to find out that she had it as a teenager. I think that the conversations that this has allowed me to have, it's made it easier because I can relate to her now. I relate to her even more.

I would probably say, you know, when you, when I look back, if I were to look back at and compare where she was in high school, in middle school, and how she performed and where I was and how I performed in middle school and high school and how I kind of managed like organizing and things like that. Like I wasn't, right? I didn't, I had a Trapper Keeper. I don't know if your listeners know what a Trapper Keeper is, but I had a trapper Keeper every year. And I can...

Julian: I always one it one, but...

Dion: Never had a Trapper Keeper? Oh man, you gotta get it.

Julian: No, Mom, she never bought me one. Mom, if you listening, sorry I'm not trying to play you but, you never bought me the Trapper Keeper.

Dion: Look, so my joints they were, like by the second third week of school they were never organized. Like they would go into the school year with every subject and every folder. I would have science in the social studies folder and math and it would just be all over the place. And that's just things that I remember like right now, right?

Julian: Right.

Dion: My daughter, on the other hand, I can remember when she was around that same age, you know, she was a bit more organized. But of course, you know, back, you know, at that point, you know, they didn't have like they even have to bring books home and all of that stuff. So, I was a little bit different. But I know that she was a bit more organized than I was at that age.

So, now even as an adult, like I have to be mindful to put my keys in a certain place, or put my wallet in a certain place or, you know, I have to implement tools to help me. Like I have the thing in my wallet that, you know, you can't find that you airtag, the Apple airtag in my wallet that I use to help me and allmy keys.

So, helping her to navigate through the journey has been, it has been kind of therapeutic for me because I know what she's going through and I can have more grace and more empathy for her because I know that like it's something that she is struggling with at times.

Julian: Right. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I think you and I are about the same age group. You know, we have the same references, at least. And you're 44, I'm 42, so we're close. And, you know, when I find myself, when I'm out with my boys, you know, whether we go catching a game somewhere or we just at the bar together doing whatever, we're always talking about our kids, right? We're always, we wind up somehow the conversation circles back to our kids and the different things we're dealing with.

Dion: That's how you know you washed. Washed. The highlight of your night is conversing about your kids. Washed.

Julian: No, no, we're not washed yet. Don't say it, don't say it.

Dion: Hey man, listen, I'm just, I'm accepting of it. I already know. Like, washed.

Julian: I guess you're right. I guess you're right. But I'm asking because, you know, for me, I really think it's the value of friendship at this stage in life is so important. And, you know, I have long time brothers. You know, we've been friends for 30 years, going way, way back.

And a lot of times I find myself like talking about some of the struggles that I'm dealing with as a parent, or we might just be chopping up. Same thing. We might talk about sports and then we jump right into "Men and I got to deal with this" and "My son did this today." And then somebody might talk about what their therapist told them. So, I'm wondering, is it the same for you where you've shared some of your experiences with your boys? Like, do y'all kind of chop it up together like that too, or is it something you keep to yourself?

Julian: For sure. No, no, no. So, for me, I always tell my guys like "I'm the sacrificial lamb," right? Because my daughter is the oldest out of like all of the kids in my direct friend group, I tell them, I go through what I go through, and I come and tell you so you'll be prepared for it when you go through it, right?

Julian: Got it.

Dion: I'm here and I give this information willingly because I know how hard it can be. I know how much of a struggle it can be for us to navigate because quite honestly, Black men, we don't have a lot of safe spaces at times, right? Oftentimes we don't feel like we can have certain conversations about certain things.

So, I think it's important that we normalize these types of conversations, not just about our kids, but about like, what emotions are we feeling, right? How is it affecting us? Like, how are we coping with certain things? Are we coping with these things in a healthy way? Because if you my man and you know, I know you're going through something and you tell me that you're coping with it in a way that's unhealthy, then it's my responsibility to call you out on it, right? I really just want us to to be healthy, man and mentally in a space where we can help each other as much as we can.

Julian: I think that's a perfect segway into the real reason that that I brought you on. I want to hear about "Dads In The Class." Can you tell us just, where did it come from? What is it? Tell us about it. "Dads In The Class."

(22:21) Dion's "Dads In The Class" initiative

Dion: So, "Dads In The Class," is, it's my new baby, honestly. So, with my daughter, I noticed that while I was highly engaged in her education growing up all through elementary and middle school, you know, I moved from Virginia to North Carolina just so I could be closer to my daughter. I walked her into school on the first day every year up until middle school. Once you got into middle school, there was a little different, you know, she wasn't as cool to have your pops walking in a class in middle school.

But, you know, up until the end of every year, we're there. So, I was always engaged and I've done work through, you know, what I was doing with the radio. I would go out to schools and, you know, mentor kids, and I would talk to principals. And I've done work on fatherhood for years. But what I would notice is that there was a disconnect in two things in the number of dads who were also engaging, you know, in their kids education, but also in how I was, I don't want to say treated, but how I felt going into the classroom as one of few dads, right?

Because it just felt different. It didn't feel, it didn't always feel warm and welcoming. It didn't always feel like I was the dad who was putting in as much effort as I was. And, you know, quite honestly, I put in a lot of work. You know what I mean? Like summertime, we go through flashcards and workbooks and all of these things, but it didn't feel like it was necessarily a welcoming environment all the time.

So, once I got laid off from the radio station, I started doing more public speaking, started traveling and stuff like that. But within the last year or so, I decided to create an initiative to help schools understand the importance of engaging with fathers and help them create strategies to engage with fathers. Because the way that you engage with Dad may not always be the same as you engage with Mom, right?

Julian: Right.

Dion: And a lot of the family engagement in our schools it is very mom-centric. It is very based on, you know, how can I connect with Mom? I've even had a teacher say to me, well, you know, I told the teacher something and, "Well, what does Mom have to say?" "Well, I'm Dad, so, you know, I'm right here."

So, you know, I want to be sure that and it's almost a level of cultural competency because you have to be conscious of the way that you are connecting with these dads. You know, the data is there that shows that when dads are involved in their kids' education, the kids are less likely to drop out of school. They're more likely to make all A's and B's, less likely to engage in risky behaviors and things like that.

It would be wise for schools to do everything that they can do to get fathers engaged in the school. So I, you know, I've taken that initiative. I turned it into a podcast. The podcast is something where I talk to not just dads, but I talk to just people in education about family engagement, about how we can connect with kids, about literacy, about how to navigate the IEP process, all of these things.

Just because I am a dad and I know a lot of times for us, we're going into these situations naive and we don't have an understanding because we, you know, whatever apprehension we may have about the school system, right? Because we don't feel welcome or because of the fact that we might have come up at a time where the schools were not favorable for us.

So, I feel like the more knowledge we as parents have, the more knowledge educators have on how to connect with dads or how to connect with kids using hip-hop and pop culture, the better off we'll be. So, I just kind of use "Dads In The Class" as a focal point to kind of bring all those things together.

Julian: I love it. I absolutely love it. I mean, it's a lot of the same things that we talk about on this podcast, I mean, we're kind of on the same boat in terms of really giving access to the information that's needed and breaking it down in a way where people can understand. So, I have really loved the fact that "Dads In The Class" is being proactive about giving some of those strategies, trying to help out. I'm interested to know, do you have any success stories or impactful moments from the initiative?

Dion: So, for "Dads In The Class," it's really something that we are just getting off the ground this school year.

Julian: OK.

Dion: But I have worked in fatherhood and worked with schools, pre "Dads In The Class," it just wasn't under that name. There was a school in Michigan that I worked with some years ago and they were having trouble getting dads engaged. And I kind of went in almost as a consultant almost just to kind of see what they were doing and to see how they were handling dads. And, you know, it was nothing spectacular, I'll be honest with you.

They were just, you know, scheduling PTA meetings and things at — not PTA meetings, parent-teacher conferences, I'm sorry — without any regard to like dads' schedules or, you know, the fact that a lot of dads work or they can't come to events during the day, right? Like a lot of dads, we aren't off until 5 or 6:00. So, I kind of gave them some things and some tips that I thought that they could do. And I talked to some dads in that school community and just kind of gave them, you know, what I felt like would be some good tips.

And they implemented those things over the course of that next school year. And they saw engagement from dads increase drastically just by making small changes, just by, you know, doing things like a dads reading corner or, you know, leaving a note for the dads in the school newsletter or asking the dads when they come in, what's your preferred method of communication? Like, are you a texter? Are you a you know, a person who actually talks on the phone.

Just making those small things or doing those things, like you said, like a chili cookoff, I think those things make a world of difference, man. And I've been just, you know, traveling the country over these last few years and connecting with schools.

(28:26) Dion's advice to other dads

Julian: What advice would you give to other fathers or parents who are struggling, whether it's how to advocate for their child's needs or just how to parent a child with ADHD? What advice do you have?

Dion: Yeah. I think that the first piece of advice that I would have, I think that we have to parent our children for the world that exists now, not the world that existed, I'll say pre 2020, but even pre, you know, going back to when we were growing up, right? Because that world of, you know, the 80s and 90s of of no technology, no social media, no cell, that world don't exist no more. Like it's gone, it's long gone.

So, if you think you are going to parent your child the way that your parents raised you and be successful, I'm not saying that you won't. I'm saying that it's going to be a whole lot of challenges as opposed to you shifting your mindset and accepting the fact that the world has changed. The pandemic put this world upside down and we are still trying to find our way back from it, right? But even before that, it was a different world.

But if you are parenting a child with ADHD, if you are parenting a child with depression, if you are parenting a child who is on the autism spectrum, who you suspect might have autism, you can't be afraid of meeting that child where they are, getting them what they need, and not caring about labels because labels don't do anything for anybody, right?

The important thing is what are you doing to give that child what they need in the moment that they're in? That's our job, to give them what they need while they're in that particular moment. That's what we can do. And that's really the advice that I have.

Julian: Brother, I could talk to you all day. You know, I just can't thank you enough for sharing your experiences.

Dion: For sure.

Julian: You know, sharing who you are, sharing your family, sharing your whole self, your journey through parenting, and your advocacy. Really, like really deciding not just to talk about it, but you're doing something about it. It's inspiring. And I learned a lot tonight. So, just from me to you, you're doing really important work and I appreciate that.

Dion: Thank you, good brother. I appreciate it. I was raised by a strong Black woman. I just want to shout out my mom and I know she's going to watch this at some point. I'll be sure to send it to her. But I do this podcast and I do these things and I never shout her out. So, I want to be sure to shout my mom out and show her some love, man. I wouldn't be here and none of this would even be possible without the love of and guidance of my mother.

Julian: Well, I got to say the same. Shout out to Michelle Saavedra. Mom, you already know. You already know. She does listen to these, so she knows.

Dion: Every episode, I'm sure.

Julian: So, how can the audience get involved with or learn more about "Dads In The Class"?

Dion: For sure.

Julian: Like, how can they find you? Where do they go?

Dion: If you are an educator, a school district leader, a principal, you can book me to speak. You can book me to speak. I do professional development, I do keynote, I do workshops. Feel free to reach out to me. Dion, D-I-O-N, @DionChavis C-H-A, V as in Victor, I-S.com. On social media at Dion The Glad Dad, on Instagram and on Facebook it is at The Glad Dad.

Julian: The Glad Dad. Y'all hear that, The Glad Dad. Check it out. Check it out. I mentioned earlier in the show we'd be sharing an episode from Dion's podcast, "Black People Parenting." The episode is "Mastering Tantrums and Meltdowns: Strategies for Parents of Black Children." That is a real one. Listen to it. It is incredible. Y'all check it out and let me know what you think. Like, let us know because we want to share more resources like this. I listened to it and it is fire.

OG family, be sure to check out some additional resources from today's episode on the "Opportunity Gap" page on Understood.org. That wraps our episode for today. We hope you found this discussion both informative and empowering. I know I did. Until next time, family.

Thanks so much for listening today. We love hearing from our listeners. So, if you have any thoughts about today's episode, you can email us at opportunitygap@understood.org. And be sure to check out the show notes for links and resources to anything we mentioned in the episode. This show is brought to you by Understood.org. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences like ADHD and dyslexia. Learn more at understood.org.

The "Opportunity Gap" is produced by Tara Drinks and edited by Daniela Tello-Garzon. Our theme music was written by Justin D. Wright, who also mixes the show. Ilana Millner is our supervising producer. Briana Berry is our production director. Neil Drumming is our editorial director. Our executive directors are Laura Key, Scott Cocchiere, and Seth Melnick. Thanks again for listening.