René Brooks has taken a late-life diagnosis and used it to uplift others. After being diagnosed with ADHD 3 times (age 7, 11, and 25), at 25 she was able to get the treatment she deserved. She is the founder of Black Girl, Lost Keys, a blog that empowers black women with ADHD and shows them how to live well with the disorder. In addition to Black Girl, Lost Keys, René has written for Healthline and is a Patient Contributor to TEVA Pharmaceutical’s Life Effects project. She has spoken at The International Alliance Of Patients Organization’s 8th Annual Congress. Today we’re talking about what led to her diagnosis, how she now uses ADHD as her super power, working with your brain instead of against it, and about what it’s like to be a gifted person of color who happens to have ADHD.  This is awesome- enjoy!!   ***CORONA VIRUS EDITION***   In this episode Peter & René Brooks discuss: 00:54-  Intro and welcome Rene 2:07-  So you grew up in the 1990’s, and you’ve been diagnosed 3 times now. Tell us how that played out? 4:00-  So your diagnosis wasn’t really complete, or helpful in the way it was provided? 5:30-  On the testing gifted kids in the 90’s 6:05-  What prompted your third diagnoses at age 25? 7:50-  So when you got properly diagnoses at 25, was that a lightbulb moment for you? 8:30-  About the wrong labels…  9:09-  What are you doing to make ADHD your superpower? 10:18-  Talk about ADHD and being black 11:00-  On stereotypes, race, and being neurodiverse 12:00-  What kinds of things are you teaching your readers on your GREAT blog Black Girl, Lost Keys 13:24-  On control versus being the control, and working differently 14:30-  Society’s way or working, is not often our best way of working 15:54-  Working with your brain instead of against it 17:06-  How can people find you?  Via her website: www.blackgirllostkeys.com  and @blkgirllostkeys on Twitter and Facebook   17:30-  Thank you Rene! And thank YOU for subscribing, reviewing and listening. Your reviews are working! Even if you’ve reviewed us before, would you please write even a short one for this episode? Each review that you post helps to ensure that word will continue to spread, and that we will all be able to reach & help more people! You can always reach me via peter@shankman.com or @petershankman on all of the socials. You can also find us at @FasterThanNormal on all of the socials. STAY HEALTHY - STAY SAFE - PLEASE WEAR YOUR MASK.. until next time! 18:14-  Faster Than Normal Podcast info & credits As always, leave us a comment below and please drop us a review on iTunes and of course, subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already! As you know, the more reviews we get, the more people we can reach. Help us to show the world that ADHD is a gift, not a curse! Do you know of anyone you think should be on the FTN podcast? Shoot us a note, we’d love to hear! PS: If you're looking for that special gift this holiday season for someone in your life who has ADD, ADHD, or any kind of neurodiverse brain, how about a conversation with me? I've finally been convinced to join Cameo, where you can request videos, shout-outs, birthday greetings, even a one-on-one talk about how ADHD is a superpower! You can find me on Cameo here!​   TRANSCRIPT:  My name is Peter Shankman. You are listening to Faster Than Normal, and I have been told to change how I introduce every episode. So that is exactly what I'm doing. I hope you're happy, Steven, my producer. [Yes, I am & thank you- and your voice sounds better too now btw]. Okay. Welcome to faster than normal today on the podcast, we are talking to a woman named Rene Brooks. Rene Brooks took a late in life diagnosis and uses it to uplift others. She was being diagnosed ADHD at three times, age seven, 11 and 25. I'm guessing the first two didn't stick at 25. She's able to get the treatment she deserved finally. And then she went and founded Black Girl, Lost Keys, a blog that empowers black women with ADHD and shows them how to live well