Summary of How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe: An Insider's Guide to Working with Your Brain (Not Against It)

By Justin Reese

DISCLAIMER

 

This book does not in any capacity mean to replace the original book but to serve as a vast summary of the original book.

Summary of How to ADHD by Louis Ferrante: Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia

IN THIS SUMMARIZED BOOK, YOU WILL GET:

• Chapter astute outline of the main contents.
• Fast & simple understanding of the content analysis.
• Exceptionally summarized content that you may skip in the original book

 

Jessica McCabe, creator of YouTube channel How to ADHD, shares her insights and strategies for living with the condition. Diagnosed at twelve, she struggled with a brain that she didn't understand, leading to constant loss and difficulty completing projects. At 32, she decided to explore her ADHD challenges and found that the key to navigating a world not built for her brain was to understand and work with it. McCabe explains how ADHD affects everyday life, including executive function impairments, rejection sensitivity, and attention regulation difficulties. Strategies for adapting to ADHD include boosting focus, managing less, building time wisdom, and understanding emotions. The book includes quotes from McCabe's online community and shortcuts for the neurodivergent reader.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: jUSTIN REESE
• Release date: Jan 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224172047

Book preview

Introduction

The author, a person with ADHD, has written a book called How to ADHD, which serves as a user's guide to ADHD. The book is a tangible resource that provides insights, research, strategies, and validation on how our brains work. It aims to make the invisible obstacles faced by those with ADHD visible for as many people as possible, so they can understand how to navigate them.

The book was written by and for ADHD brains, ensuring it is ADHD-friendly. The pages have white space, paragraphs are short, and the book feels good to hold. Reading shortcuts, pull quotes, bullet points, and bold subheadings are included throughout the book. The author worked closely with their editor to make the text as ADHD-friendly as possible.

The book is divided into four sections: 1) The EXPERIENCE OF..., where the author describes their lived experience of the topic, which tends to be relatable to those with ADHD. Sometimes, the author uses metaphors, hyperbole, or jokes to make them more fun to read.

2) The OPTIONS FOR..., where the author discusses the options available to those with ADHD. The book also includes a list of tools that can help manage ADHD, such as the How to Feel, How to Heart, and How to People chapters.

In conclusion, How to ADHD is a valuable resource for those with ADHD and those who want to navigate the challenges they face.

The author shares their journey and insights on ADHD, compiled from credible sources such as peer-reviewed studies, ADHD coaches, doctors, and researchers. They also provide a toolbox section with strategies that work with the ADHD brain, including research-backed tools and ways to use them. However, the author emphasizes that these tools are not magic wands that can eliminate obstacles. The author suggests adding more tools slowly as you become comfortable with them.

The author's perspective on a topic often changes, and the final section in each chapter shares stories to remind readers that there is no single way to look at any topic. The author's journey began as a personal project, but it quickly became a group project, with support from Brains, Hearts, ADHD experts, and researchers. They have shared long discussions about what it means to have ADHD, highlighting that being functional means behaving in less neurotypical ways to be more mentally healthy, happy, and generous humans.

The author is proud of the book's outcome and encourages readers to explore it as they please. The book was written for the brain, and the author welcomes the community to learn and grow.

A Note on Language

Language plays a crucial role in accessibility for many people, including those with disabilities. Some language can decrease or deny access, such as disability, which provides legal protections and accommodations, while others create access through terms like impaired thinking and working memory. Colloquial language like doom spirals and brain smoothie makes discussing challenges more accessible to those who didn't attend grad school and helps build community.

There are also language used to identify oneself or their loved ones, such as identity-first language, person-first language, or terms like neurodivergent or neurotypical. The use of specific language can deny access to those who need it most, such as those with the least cognitive flexibility or ability to remember and get it right. It can also alienate or isolate those who are more comfortable using different terminology for themselves or are at a different place in their self-identity and self-acceptance journey.

The author's policy is to use the language that an individual person prefers, called brain-holder's choice. The hope is to combat the underlying stigma surrounding ADHD through education and understanding, and normalize the experience of having ADHD enough that the meaning can be assumed to be respectful regardless of the particular language used.

The author shares her mother's story of being disabled and the stigma around disabilities, which she believes helps her openly speak about her disability and encourages students with disabilities to learn to communicate. Her mother modeled language for her students, allowing them to speak back how they could, increasing their sense of safety and efficacy. This approach has been adapted in her book and beyond, helping to promote inclusivity and communication for all individuals with disabilities.

How to Fail at Everything

The author reflects on her life of feeling like she was failing to be the person she was supposed to be. She was always expected to be neat and tidy, but she could sometimes exceed these expectations. In school, she took standardized tests and even excelled in writing an essay about ducklings. In college, she took music classes to support her boyfriend, a musician.

The author's expectations for herself included being a good daughter, helping her mother with her broken back, and starting an acting career at fifteen. She tried therapy and mediated between her brother and parents, but ultimately failed to meet the basic ones.

Paying attention in class was another challenge. By middle school, she struggled to focus and manage assignments independently. Around twelve, she was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD), which helped her focus and improve her GPA. However, medication added new expectations, making it seem that there was no excuse for her failure to be the gifted student who received straight A's and was a delight to have in class.

The author's experiences highlight the importance of overcoming personal and social expectations to achieve success and fulfillment. By embracing her potential and embracing her unique qualities, the author can overcome challenges and achieve her full potential.

The author struggled with various aspects of life, including schoolwork, extracurriculars, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They missed out on college due to missed deadlines and missed the opportunity to complete course requirements. They took fencing, music business, ballet, opera, and Italian instead of journalism, which led to a poor grade in statistics. This discouragement led them to drop out of college.

To reach their potential as a student, they tried acting again after dropping out of college. They pursued acting with enthusiasm but faced fewer opportunities due to unhealthy eating habits. Their manager and agent tried to boost their career by offering weight loss programs, but they couldn't sustain