187: Is It Normal or Is It ADHD? with Dana Kay
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
Release Date: 12/04/2025
194: Minerals & ADHD Explained with Caroline Alan
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
Most parents are told ADHD lives only in the brain, but what if the real issue starts much deeper? In this episode, we explore a powerful and often overlooked driver of ADHD symptoms: mineral depletion at the cellular level. You’ll hear why calm, focus, sleep, and emotional regulation are literally built from minerals and how many kids are trying to regulate big emotions while running on empty batteries. Dana Kay is joined by Caroline Alan, co-founder of Beam Minerals and author of The Mineral Reset, to break down complex biology into parent-friendly language. Caroline explains how minerals...
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193: Talking to Kids About Sex, Boundaries, and Relationships—Without Making It Weird with Logan McIlwain
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
Many parents worry that talking about sex, boundaries, consent, or online exposure will open doors too early—but real-world clinical experience shows the opposite. In this episode, Logan McIlwain explains why ongoing, everyday conversations actually reduce risky behavior and help kids feel safer turning to their parents instead of the internet. Dana Kay brings a deeply personal perspective as a mom of a teen and a tween, naming the fear so many parents quietly carry: “Am I too early… or already too late?” Logan gently dismantles the pressure to get it perfect and replaces it with a...
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192: Screen Time Meltdowns in ADHD Kids with Sondra Bakinde and Mariana Gordon
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
A child can appear calm on a screen and unravel seconds after it turns off. That reaction isn’t bad behavior or poor discipline — it’s a nervous system crash driven by dopamine, overstimulation, and an abrupt loss of regulation. In this episode of The Soaring Child Podcast, Dana Kay sits down with Sondra Bakinde and Mariana Gordon, co-founders of Mindful Mantis, to unpack what’s really happening in a child’s brain and body during screen time. They explain why screens activate the sympathetic nervous system, how dopamine crashes trigger fight-flight-freeze responses, and why kids with...
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191: Overcoming Parental PTSD: Lara’s Story
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
Imagine sitting on your front porch, enjoying a quiet moment after school drop-off, only to suddenly find yourself in the grip of a panic attack—not because something went wrong, but because nothing went wrong. For Lara, this was the reality of parental PTSD. After years of daily phone calls, school expulsions, and crisis management, her nervous system had forgotten how to feel safe in the calm. In this emotional episode, Lara shares her family’s incredible journey from “survival mode” to thriving. She opens up about her son Oliver, who was once on three different medications and...
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190: Executive Function Skills for ADHD Kids with Hannah Bookbinder
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
What if the biggest struggle your child faces isn’t motivation at all, but a hidden set of brain-based skills that help them start tasks, stay organized, manage time, regulate emotions, and follow through? These are executive function skills and for kids with ADHD, they can feel nearly impossible to access. In this episode of The Soaring Child Podcast, Dana Kay welcomes executive function expert Hannah Bookbinder, a licensed social worker and educator with almost 30 years of experience helping ADHD kids build these skills in practical, meaningful ways. Hannah explains what executive...
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189: 3 ADHD Podcasts Every Parent Needs to Hear
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
If you’re trying to support your child with ADHD naturally and feel overwhelmed by where to start, this episode is for you. ADHD health practitioner Dana Kay shares the three podcast episodes every parent should listen to first. She explains exactly where she would send you if you were sitting together over coffee asking one simple question: “Where do I even start?” Dana breaks down why understanding what’s really driving ADHD is the foundation, why traditional ADHD treatments don’t always lead to lasting change, and why hearing another parent’s real journey can shift everything....
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188: Homeschooling ADHD Kids: How to Build Education That Fits with Leslee Dirnberger
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
Let’s be honest, public school wasn’t designed for kids with ADHD. Too often, these kids are labeled, misunderstood, and pushed into systems that don’t fit how their brains learn best. But what if the problem isn’t your child, but the system itself? In this episode of The Soaring Child Podcast, host Dana Kay, ADHD health practitioner and founder of the ADHD Thrive Method for Kids speaks with Leslie Dernberger, founder of Aspire Education, mom of four, and one of the nation’s leading experts in K–12 education for neurodiverse learners. Drawing on her legal background and over...
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187: Is It Normal or Is It ADHD? with Dana Kay
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
Is it normal…or is it ADHD? That’s the question that keeps so many parents of neurodivergent kids up at night, especially when old behaviors resurface after months or years of progress. In this episode of The Soaring Child podcast, Dana Kay, board certified holistic health and nutrition practitioner, 2X international bestselling author, and mom of a child with ADHD, opens up about the emotional whiplash that can come with raising a neurodiverse child. She shares what it’s like to second-guess every behavior, even the ones that might just be typical childhood moments. Tune...
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186: Repairing Parent-Child Connections with Ashley Gobeil
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
What if the words you speak in frustration are slowly eroding the relationship you most want to protect? In this deeply honest episode, Dana Kay welcomes back Ashley Gobeil, our resident child and family therapist, to explore how parents can repair, reconnect, and rebuild trust after conflict. Ashley shares why ADHD behaviors are rooted in nervous-system dysregulation and why healing begins when parents learn to co-regulate and model emotional accountability. Together, they unpack why traditional reward and punishment systems backfire, how to set firm yet compassionate boundaries, and what...
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185: Raising Holistic Kids Naturally
Soaring Child: Thriving with ADHD
Ultra-processed food isn’t just junk. It’s engineered to hijack kids’ brains, emotions, and habits. But what happens when kids themselves decide to fight back? In this powerful episode of The Soaring Child Podcast, host Dana Kay sits down with four inspiring brothers, Abdullah, Zain, Emaad, and Qasim Ansari, known as The Holistic Kids. They are leading a wellness revolution for their generation. These young changemakers, ages 10 to 17, have ditched junk food, launched their own health podcast, and co-authored The Teen Health Revolution, a guidebook helping kids reclaim their...
info_outlineIs it normal…or is it ADHD?
That’s the question that keeps so many parents of neurodivergent kids up at night, especially when old behaviors resurface after months or years of progress.
In this episode of The Soaring Child podcast, Dana Kay, board certified holistic health and nutrition practitioner, 2X international bestselling author, and mom of a child with ADHD, opens up about the emotional whiplash that can come with raising a neurodiverse child.
She shares what it’s like to second-guess every behavior, even the ones that might just be typical childhood moments. Tune in to discover the difference between developmentally typical behavior and patterns that signal deeper dysregulation.
Links Mentioned in the Show
▶ https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/breakfastguide
▶ https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/tool
▶ https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/supplements
▶ https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/parenting
▶ https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/book
Key Takeaways with Timestamps
[00:16] Why calm can trigger panic for ADHD parents
[02:41] The “Is this normal or ADHD?” fear spiral
[04:27] What counts as developmentally typical behavior
[06:05] When patterns—not moments—signal deeper concerns
[06:53] Why one meltdown feels heavier after progress
[08:26] A client story: panic when the school didn’t call
[10:12] Why children (and adults) naturally have off days
[11:34] How biology—gut, nutrients, inflammation—affects behavior
[12:20] Questions parents can ask when behaviour worries them
[14:17] Why hyperactive boyhood isn’t pathology
[16:42] Tracking patterns over time rather than reacting to one-offs
[18:13] Validation that every parent needs to hear
Memorable Moments with Timestamps (Exact Quotes)
“If peace somehow feels unsafe, it’s not your fault.”
“I felt my whole body tighten… that hot flush that runs through every bone in your body.”
“One school phone call… and we spiral.”
“That fear doesn’t mean everything is unraveling. It means that you care.”
“Progress hits harder when you finally experience peace.”
“For years, silence meant brace yourself—something bad’s coming.”
“It means they’re human children.”
“We’ve been conditioned to expect our children to behave better than most adults do.”
“These aren’t signs of ADHD symptoms returning—these are signs of life.”
“Let them be messy. Let them be human. Let them be in process.”
Dana Kay Resources:
🔗WEBSITES:
▶ https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/
▶ https://dana-kay.com/
👋SOCIALS:
▶ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ADHDThriveInstitute/
▶ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdthriveinstitute/
▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ADHDThriveInstitute
▶ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adhd-thrive-institute/mycompany/
▶ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/adhdthriveinstitute/
▶ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adhd_thriveinstitute
📕INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLING BOOK:
▶ Thriving with ADHD – https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/book/
💻FREE MASTERCLASS
▶ Free Reduce ADHD Symptoms Naturally Masterclass - https://bit.ly/3GAbFQl
⭐COURSES & PROGRAMS
▶ ADHD Parenting Course – https://info.adhdthriveinstitute.com/parentingadhd
▶ ADHD Thrive Method 4 Kids Program – https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/packages/