My name is LaShawn. I am a black, single, menopausal, ADHD mother, sharing a diagnosis with my young adult son. My son was diagnosed at a very early age, but I was only diagnosed a few years ago, in my 50’s, when I discovered that we share many similar symptoms; that is when I learned ADHD is highly hereditary. I got so tired of being judged, shamed, misunderstood, ridiculed, etc. simply because I couldn’t perform or keep up with the executive tasks of every day life [work, home, relationships] and I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just “get it together”!

I was an adult with a child, so why couldn’t I just get it together and be the strong, single, black woman and mother that everyone expected me to be?

I got so tired of feeling like everything was always my fault…that I was somehow a “faulty version of normal”! Unfortunately, I didn’t know how or why I couldn’t get it together which resulted in alot of shame, blame and guilt for me…but no more…I am lifting my ADHD Black voice to help stomp out the stigma and shame of this highly, misunderstood diagnosis.