Brandon Gimbel (00:00)

A lot of what you're describing sounds to me like what I would call ADHD. Of the clients that you see, how many, what percentage would you say experience ADHD and what would other presentations be if not ADHD?

Maggie Schwalbach (00:13)

Yeah, it's such a good question. When people come through referrals of doctors, then they usually have a pretty good sense of what it is the diagnosis looks like. Those who come with a diagnosis are high percentage. It's probably at 80%, 75-80% come into EF coaching with the diagnosis. And then there's the other 25-30% that will come saying, "I suspect I may have ADHD." Whether or not you meet that diagnostic criteria to have ADHD or you don't, if you come to me and say, "it's difficult for me to sustain attention," we're going to work on that. And we may be working exactly on that skill and we may be looking at other skills that impact your ability to focus, like organization, like prioritization, like emotional regulation. So it's a wonderful question to ask about what's the relationship between ADHD and executive function. My short answer for clients is all those with ADHD have executive functioning challenges, 100% of the time. But the inverse is not necessarily true. We work with plenty of folks that may not have ADHD.

Brandon Gimbel (01:18)

That makes really good sense. What you're describing is that the diagnosis, in terms of your treatment, becomes irrelevant. You're doing your own evaluation distinct from the diagnosis and treating the client that way.

Maggie Schwalbach (01:31)

Yes, yes, and yes. 'Irrelevant' is a strong word, right? I want to take into consideration diagnosis, but I hear what you're saying.