Episode Details

In this episode of Conversations with Kristi, Kristi is joined by Sharon Collon - ADHD educator, coach, speaker, and founder of The Functional Family - for an honest and practical conversation about neurodiversity, online safety, learning differences, and what actually helps families thrive.

Sharon is also host of the ADHD Families Podcast, where she supports parents navigating life with ADHD and other neurodivergent profiles. Having supported tens of thousands of families, Sharon’s work focuses on turning overwhelming information into clear, doable strategies.

Together, Kristi and Sharon unpack what parents are truly crying out for - not more theory, not more labels - but practical tools that make everyday life easier.

This episode weaves together neurodiversity, digital safety, emotional regulation, learning styles, rejection sensitivity, impulsivity, and body safety education - highlighting how prevention and support must be adapted for how children actually process the world.

This is not a conversation about fear.
It’s about understanding how your child’s brain works - and meeting them there.

What This Episode Explores

1. The Reality of an ADHD Diagnosis

Sharon shares her own journey of receiving her son’s diagnosis - including the overwhelm of being handed outdated information and left to figure it out alone.

She explains why families don’t need more generic ADHD content online - they need:

• Clear, practical strategies

• Real-world application

• Emotional validation

• Support that reduces shame, not increases it

2. Processing Modalities: Why Talking Isn’t Always Enough

Sharon explains that children process information in different ways, including:

• Conceptual (needing to understand why)

• Auditory

• Visual

• Verbal processing

• Emotional

• Intuitive

• Tactile (hands-on learners)

When parents rely only on talking, many children simply don’t absorb the message - especially neurodivergent children.

This becomes particularly important when teaching:

• Body safety

• Consent

• Online safety

• Social boundaries

• Risk awareness

Kristi shares how role play - not just verbal instruction - helped her daughter internalise body safety rules. Sharon reinforces the importance of repetition and experiential learning over lecture-style conversations.

3. Online Safety, Gaming & Neurodivergence

Kristi and Sharon have a grounded conversation about what’s actually happening in online spaces — especially for neurodivergent kids.

They explore:

• Impulsivity and posting without thinking

• Dopamine-driven reward pathways

• How predators exploit attention and validation

• Difficulty reading social cues

• Why online interactions can feel safer than playground dynamics

• The very real impact of Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD)

Sharon strongly encourages parents to understand RSD - explaining that for many children with ADHD, rejection can feel like physical pain.

Rather than banning technology outright, Sharon recommends:

• Curiosity over confrontation

• Coaching conversations (not interrogation)

• Moving gaming into shared spaces

• Researching games before approving them

• Using tools like Common Sense Media to review age-appropriateness

• Understanding that shame shuts down learning

This episode reframes tech supervis