Attention Different | Adulting with ADHD It’s Not A Character Flaw, It’s A Skills Gap — with Sean McCormick
💡 You know exactly what you need to do, but you still can’t make yourself do it. Sound familiar? You keep telling yourself “just start”, but your brain won’t cooperate. Why does this happen?
In this episode of Attention Different, hosts Stephen Tonti and Aaron Smith sit down with executive function coach and former special education teacher Sean McCormick to unpack what’s actually behind the daily struggles of ADHD. From missed deadlines to emotional overwhelm, Sean shares how the system often overlooks the skills people need to function in real life, and what to do about it.
Sean, founder of Executive Function Specialists, has trained hundreds of coaches worldwide and built his work around helping people organize their thinking, take action, and follow through. Drawing from both his professional experience and his own ADHD journey, he breaks down why ADHD isn’t a character flaw, but a skills gap.
✨ Highlights✨
✔️ What executive functioning actually means (and why it matters)
✔️ Why ADHD struggles are about execution, not intelligence
✔️ How rejection sensitivity (RSD) can derail your life decisions
✔️ The “POSITIVE” framework for building real-life skills
✔️ A step-by-step system (PEMDAS) to turn overwhelm into action
✔️ Your brain is a pattern-recognition supercomputer; use it
✔️ You can develop skills to compensate for how your brain works
“Oftentimes your greatest skill is your unfair advantage, something you’re so good at, you don’t even notice it.” — Sean McCormick
This episode is for anyone who’s ever thought, “Why can’t I just do the things I know I need to do?” and is ready for a more honest, actionable answer. This will help you understand why and what to do differently for anyone who’s been trying harder but still feeling stuck.
We are Attention DIFFERENT not DEFICIT An advocacy and edutainment podcast centered on radical acceptance and neurodiveristy. Attention Different aims to de-stigmatize and build community by exploring the intricacies of living life and "adulting" with ADHD in the modern world. We periodically feature experts, special guests and influencers in the ADHD community.
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