My guest this week is clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Saporito. Karen has a particular interest and specialty in diagnosing and treating kids and adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder. We focused in this conversation on ADHD. I know from my own clinical work that this is a really important topic that doesn’t get enough attention, no pun intended.

There are so many people who are struggling to finish assignments in school, or organize their home lives, or meet the deadlines and demands of work, or get places on time, and they don’t realize that they might have undiagnosed ADHD. And sadly the person who’s struggling can assume that it’s their fault, and that they’re just lazy or incapable, when in fact it’s just the way their brain works. Karen does an excellent job explaining why the diagnosis is often missed, especially among girls and women, and the signs and symptoms to look for.

Topics we got into included:

• What Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is
• The stereotype of a person with ADHD as a hyperactive young boy
• Externalizing and internalizing symptoms
• Ways that girls and women defy the stereotypes of ADHD
• “People-pleasing” presentations of ADHD in girls
• Recognizing the predominantly inattentive presentation of ADHD
• Anxiety and ADHD
• Emotion dysregulation
• Prevalence of ADHD by gender
• The role of estrogen in ADHD onset and symptoms
• Differences in age of onset for ADHD by gender
• The frequent failure to recognize and diagnose ADHD, even well into adulthood
• Reactions to finally getting a diagnosis of ADHD
• Self-criticism because of difficulties paying attention and related symptoms
• Evidence-based treatment for ADHD
• Overlap between ADHD and the autism spectrum
• Mindfulness and emotion regulation in ADHD treatment
• Adrenaline-based responses
• Apps to help with ADHD
• Keeping track of one’s time
• Developing self-reliance
• What to do if one suspects their child has undiagnosed ADHD
• Navigating the challenges and frustrations that parents of kids with ADHD can face
• Common delays in development among kids and adolescents with ADHD

Karen Saporito, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and has an office based in South Jersey.

She has been in private practice for over 20 years and founded Integrative Psychology Associates of South Jersey, LLC, a group practice.

Karen sees a wide range of clients with varying issues, but has a particular interest and specialty in diagnosing and treating children and adults with ADHD and Autism spectrum disorder.

She is passionate about educating medical and mental health providers, as well as clients, about the different presentation of girls and women with neurodevelopmental disorders.

She is a member of the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD), as well as the World Federation of ADHD.

When she is not working, she is raising her family, gardening, cooking and trying to practice all of the things she teaches her clients.

Find Karen online on her website and Psychology Today.