How to Claim Disability Tax Credit in Canada for ADHD?

As a certified coach specializing in ADHD, Maria discusses the importance of understanding neurodiversity and empowering individuals to thrive. She shares insights into her coaching practice, helping clients navigate challenges and unlock their full potential.

Read the full blog here to learn about ADHD advocacy, and gain valuable perspectives on resilience, strength, and positivity in the face of adversity.

Show notes:
Maria Soledad Coaching
Tango for the Soul

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https://www.achenhenderson.ca/

Transcript

0:14

Welcome to another episode of Your Business Unleashed podcast for entrepreneurs to help them get off the treadmill and build a life that they want to have today.

0:23

We have a wonderful guest, Maria Soledad de Bilbao. Am I saying that correctly?

0:29

We have been friends for, oh boy, like 15 years or something, maybe nearly 20. We met in university way back and Maria is a serial entrepreneur, I would say. She owns a few businesses from Tango for the Soul dance instruction as well as Maria Soledad Coaching.

0:49

Thank you so much for being with us today, Maria.

0:50

Thank you for having me.

0:53

So, I like to start at the beginning. I like to start at sort of where the journey began. And I think that you have a really, really cool story for entrepreneurs out there.

1:06

So why don't we go back to when we met in university and sort of where maybe even before that and how you decided to come to Canada.

1:12

Yeah. So, yeah, I came to Canada without speaking the language. I decided that I needed to learn English. I was 21 and I hopped on a plane, and I got to let pressure and yeah, I did a program ESL for six months and then I started university under Kinesiology Degree and that's when I met you and a whole lot of friends that I still have from back then.

1:46

And yeah, I completed a degree in Kinesiology and then after that with honors, I wrote a thesis and then I went on completing a master’s degree in dance at York University.

1:59

And that's how sort of my dance company started. I teach Argentine Tango to adults, and I did for a little bit. It was the artist in residency for Calgary Board of Education Schools.

2:13

And once I had children, I kind of decided to drop that and then focus more on the adult side of things. I organized festivals for the tango community here in Calgary. And I hold classes weekly. And that's one side of my entrepreneurship.

2:32

The other side of my entrepreneurship is almost four years ago. I got into coaching. I started with life coaching. And then the path led me to become a certified ICF coach and ADHD coach.

2:47

Awesome. So, I mean, I could have guessed probably from right when we met, you know, when we met you were going, this is a person who came here from a different country who barely spoke the language when she arrived, fought her way down to Lethbridge of all places to go to school, learned English in six months and then ended up a few years later getting honors. And I think, did you get a scholarship in Toronto?

3:12

Yes, I got a scholarship at the end of my undergraduate degree and then I got a full scholarship for the master's degree.

3:22

Yes, I mean, it sounds kind of nice when you're summing it all up at the end. You know, or, well, we're not at the end, we're only part of the way through, but there's a lot of struggles through that, right? And so that's where I could have, you know, I'm going, this person's an entrepreneur. We're sort of kindred spirits here, I would say, and I knew that of you right away just from your fight, right.

3:43

Me, I was working, I was running stores full time while attending university. I think when we met and I think that's sort of how our connection went, maybe we both had a tremendous amount of adversity that we were facing or that maybe we craved it. I'm not sure. But we fought through it. And now, you know, sort of a little bit through the journey, a lot of journeys left. But if you look back and reflect, it's like, wow, that was a pretty good ride. That it's the same with entrepreneurship, isn't it?

4:13

Yes. And I think that's one of the things that sort of like, draw me to the friendship with you Clay, is that out of all my friends in university, you were one of the few that are actually holding a full-time job while going to school. Because for me to go to school, I also had to do that as an international student.

4:30

I had to pay international fees which normally are double than what Canadians paid. And so, I didn't have parents that had the means to actually pay for my study. And so, I had to do it on my own and I had so much money that I saved back in Argentina and that wasn't enough to put me through four years of school.

4:47

So, I had to work, and I did. There were times that I worked up to three jobs to be able to actually pay for my studies.

4:56

And like, most Canadians, they take the summer off. I didn't, I worked through my summers, and I actually did school through my summers because I couldn't take more than three courses at a time because it was too much money. So, I made it up during the summer.

5:10

So, I was never behind, but I was always in school, and I was always working.

5:15

Yeah. Right on.

5:17

It is crazy to think about. And so how did you know, I mean, it must have been at U of T when you were doing your Master of Dance that you decided you wanted to make money from this.

5:32

Yes, that's right.

5:34

So, I completed my master's degree and then in the meantime, I met my husband and my husband lived in Edmonton and then he moved to Calgary.

5:45

And so, then I was in Toronto, and he was in Calgary and he asked me to marry him. And so, I actually ended up finishing my master's degree here in Calgary. The writing portion of it.

5:59

And that's kind of when I started teaching and I actually out of everything, I actually started teaching private lessons, not group lessons. People would just see me dancing and they would just ask me to come and do a couple of private lessons.

6:18

And then from that it grew like I put a couple of like workshops and then from that grew, you know, group lessons for x amount of weeks. And then from that, one very good friend of mine, Kate Mckenzie was a teacher at that time, and she asked me to come and do some stuff for her kids.

6:39

And so, I ended up actually coming back for several years to that particular school being the artist in residency and teaching children how to dance and doing special projects with the older kids. We even had like the mayor coming in. And actually watching Nanji, he came and watched one of the performances that we put together.

6:59

So that was a highlight of my career sort of working with children and helping them to express themselves.

7:08

That's really neat. And you know, your husband's an entrepreneur as well. So, it's a whole family of entrepreneurs in your house. So, there's a lot of different businesses going on in your house.

7:20

And you know, tell us a little bit about the struggles with that and how you overcame them or how you're overcoming them still, I imagine it's still ongoing, right?

7:32

So, yes, so it is not easy. I am gonna say it. So, if you are working and you are thinking to go into entrepreneurship, it is not an easy transition. It has a lot of highlights, but it also has a lot of lows.

7:49

You know, I became a full entrepreneur. I wanna say three years ago when I stopped working for the city of Calgary because all along, I was an entrepreneur, but I also held a full-time job. And three years ago, I just let go of that and I became a full entrepreneur.

8:07

But it is a struggle, you know, and sort of like getting out and finding clients and sort of like finding this place is where you find your rhythm, right? Because I feel that entrepreneurship is, you have really highs and you have really lows and sort of like finding a sense of stability which my husband has done really well.

8:31

And I am still sort of like traveling through that stage where I do have really highs and really lows at times, especially having two companies, right? I think that's where my challenge lies half the time having just two companies.

8:47

Yeah, right on. And so, tell me a little bit about because you've shifted in and out of like, you've done this for the city a little bit and tell us how that sort of came into the journey.

9:01

Yeah. So, I finished my master's degree. And I was teaching dance.mAnd then an opportunity came to work for the city of Calgary as a recreation program specialist. So, I led one of the facilities here in Calgary for the better of 13 years. And I led a team of about 50 employees and ran everything related to fitness and wellness and yoga and children's programming.

9:28

I had a wonderful team. And then COVID happened and then things shifted and changed. But that gave me a big understanding of, sort of like what people needed and wanted from the perspective of like that wellness and that fitness.

9:47

And to do with wellness now, the move in the last few years has been to get into life coaching. And I think, you know, I don't want to speak out of turn, but I think that relates in part to the adversity that you faced or were facing in some of the specific challenges that you were facing. And you know, some really good things came out of that in terms of where you wanted to head with your career. So, tell us a little bit about that.

10:13

Yeah. So, I been like, working for the city was wonderful. And it allowed me to sort of create wonderful relationships and see what people really needed, but there's so much that one can do just in that environment and I felt that there was a need for more within the wellness realm, to really dive a little bit deeper into what it is to sort of like, live a life where you actually thrive instead of sort of, you know, bringing your boat slowly and feeling that you're not sort of like moving to that other end.

10:55

So that's kind of where I strive to help people, you know, in my coaching practice to sort of live a life that with no restrictions if you want to call it.

11:07

Yeah, we were doing a lot of mountain biking at the time, you know, and being outside and finding ways to find peace in our worlds, right? And so, tell us a little bit about the life coaching.

11:21

Yeah. So, I started my journey with the Human Potential Academy as a Human Potential Coach which involves, you know, like health and wellness and performance.

11:32

And from there, just from the conversations that I had, with some of my classmates at the word executive coaching and ADHD came to my world and I was like, ok, what is that? It kind of like perked my ears.

11:49

And the reason why is because we live with neurodiversity in our household. And so, I got really interested and sort of led me through a journey of going to putting myself through school for about a year and a half and becoming a certified ADHD coach and my focus today is more onto that ADHD world.

12:09

Working, my specialty is working with children, but I also work with adults. I run adult ADHD coaching through Fox & Associates. So, a psychological practice. I do 1 to 1 sessions, I do presentations, and I try my best to advocate as much as I can for the condition.

12:29

OK. So, let's talk a little bit about how the coaching, you know, so somebody who has ADHD, what are you doing specifically to help them?

12:37

And I realize that's probably a tricky question to answer because I imagine everybody's got a specific set of circumstances. But why don't you talk about the condition a little bit and the ways that you can help?

12:47

Yeah. So, for me, it's a bit of a journey. You know, some people come to me knowing a lot about ADHD and some people come to me really not knowing a whole lot of it.

12:57

And so, there is a big psycho educational component to what I do. And certainly, when engaged with me in a group coaching session, there's different modules that we go through and there's that learning, but there's also that this discussion and it sort of learning that you're not alone and that there's a lot of people that actually go through the same thing.

13:21

Yeah, a lot of education at the front and then we help where I help clients to sort of develop strategies and develop a lot of self-compassion and empathy towards themselves or if they are not themselves but they are, you know, a spouse or a child sort of learning.

13:43

What is it like to actually step in the shoes of a person with ADHD? Because there's an invisible part of the condition that most people actually don't get to see, they see a normal person, but the perception of the world is very different. Their neurochemistry is very different, right?

14:02

And so, ADHD is considered a developmental disorder but it's invisible and so most people actually don't see the struggle.

14:13

And so, I help my clients to sort of come to terms with the fact that they are different and not to try to fit into a box because they certainly neuro diverse people don't fit into a box. And if they do, they actually begin to create a lot of damage to themselves and to others.

14:34

Interesting. So, what would be some of the main indicators?

14:38

I mean, maybe somebody who has ADHD that doesn't know or isn't on the radar that they have ADHD is, has kind of stumbled across this podcast. And so, what would be some of the indicators that, you know, maybe you need to have a look at this. What are some of the things?

14:53

Yeah. So, you know, usually people with ADHD struggle with executive functions and executive functions is that part of your front lobe. So, I always call it sort of like the motherboard of your computer, right?

15:07

And so it's really, you know, skills that help you to sort of or get organized, manage your time, curve impulses, pursue like academic goals or pursue a career, things like that, that it's always with a goal in mind and sort of when you have trouble accessing your executive functions and then it's really hard to sort of do things of the living.

15:41

And so, it comes into the symptoms of, you know, what most people might equate ADHD to would be hyperactivity and a bit of a lack of focus, right? But that's just the beginning, there's so much more to the condition, right?

15:57

And so really, it is important if you're feeling, you know, like that, there's something that is off, it's really important to actually get officially diagnosed either by a physician or a psychologist and truly begin to understand who you are.

16:16

And, you know, in my practice, I focus on strength and positive psychology. And so really with the clients, we try to really work on what are the best traits that you bring to the table.

16:32

And then from there seeing what are some of the skills that need to be scaffolded and just help you to live a life where you can thrive.

16:42

Yeah, right on. And recently you did a blog post for us. Well, I mean, I asked you to do it and I really appreciate you doing it because you've had some experience getting certain folks, not everybody but certain folks who have diagnosed ADHD that meet a certain set of criteria to get and this is where it stepped into my word is the world is to get approved for the disability tax credit, which is a really great, that's a lot of money, right?

17:08

When you can get approved for that, if you are eligible for it, that's a lot of money that you can save on your taxes, right? So, tell us a little bit about that.

17:14

Yeah. So, my son has ADHD and it comes in our family, it moves from you know, grandpa to everyone. So anyway, we knew that our son had ADHD very early on his life. And last year in 2021 we got an official diagnosis. And the reason why I did this is because we were struggling at school.

17:48

And unfortunately, schools can't provide you with modifications unless you actually have an IPP. So, an educational plan and to be able to have an educational plan, you need to have an official diagnosis. So, we went to a pediatrician, and we got diagnosed and as I go more and more into my career and studying about ADHD, I begin to understand the power of having a psychoeducational assessment.

18:11

So, I reached out to the psychological practice I work for and one of the psychologists there did a psychoeducational assessment for us. And what yielded out of that is for us as parents to learn a little bit more what executive functions are that our son struggles with a lot.

18:27

But also, we learned that he is actually gifted. And the term for those that are not familiar TWO-E that is called to is twice exceptional, meaning that you are gifted, but you also have a disability and ADHD is considered a disability and most people actually don't know this.

18:46

I didn't know that until a couple of, you know.

18:50

Yeah. So, because it is your executive functions are being compromised.

18:57

And so, anyway, so we got the psychoeducational assessment and then chatting with one of my coworkers, she revealed to me that she has a child with a disability and she's like, I was telling her about the psycho conditional assessment and she's like, I think you should apply for the disability tax credit and it was a journey to say the least, because I didn't really understand it.

19:21

So, I started sort of chatting with a lot of institutions that help you sort of like fill paperwork. I spoke with the psychologist that did the psychoeducational assessment for us and I feel like we should be willing to actually fill this out and she did, so I began to educate myself on to what is it that I need?

19:41

And how do I should be filling the form to actually get approved for it because certainly we do have a bit of a struggle and so anyway, so that's how it came to be.

19:54

It took me a bunch of months to actually come to complete it and then I sent it and I forgot about it until recently. 

20:00

As you do when you send something to the CRA and it takes months and months and months to come back.

20:12

Yeah. So, we got approved as a disability tax credit.

20:18

And we published a blog and so I think, a really key takeaway here is maybe I think it's so interesting that all of your entrepreneurial journey, you're seeking to, I think, help people and whether it's through dance, which has a, you know, a huge amount of physical and mental wellness benefits to it. And you've always believed in that and you've managed to turn that into a career, which is amazing.

20:49

And now into this life coaching that relates to your personal experiences and how to help people understand what they're dealing with when maybe they couldn't otherwise understand it.

20:58

And I'm just, I'm totally inspired by that, and I think it's amazing. I do taxes. So, I'm not even close, right.

21:04

It's just, you know, people who have the drive that you do to help other people is, I'm honored to have you as a friend, and I appreciate knowing yourself.

21:21

Anybody who's dealing with ADHD there's really good alternatives to get some help out there and to understand what you're dealing with and to maybe get some access to government benefits and to start living your life better.

21:34

So, yeah, I usually do a top three at the end of these things where I say, listen, if somebody is considering becoming an entrepreneur, what are the three tips that you would give them?

21:51

So, I would say number one, it's like be ready for the ups and downs because they are going to be there. You know, as you get more and more into your entrepreneurship journey, they might become less of those downs and more of like that constant but just be ready for those ups and downs.

22:12

I think my second one would be just to be open to things that are happening around you and helping yourself to reframe where you're at just by checking in with yourself daily and making sure that you check in with your strength, right?

22:30

From a strength perspective that you're really it's easy to forget when you're in the downs that you have a lot of strength. And so just reminding yourself that those strengths are there and that might, well, there might be a low those strengths will bring you back up.

22:49

And then my third one, I don't know, keep it positive because becoming an entrepreneur is wanting to add to this world in a very different way, in a way that not everybody is thinking in that way. And most likely you're the only one or the few ones that are thinking that way. And so, reminding yourself that you're here to make a difference.

23:20

Yeah. Right on, Maria Soledad de Bilbao. Thank you so much for being on the podcast and making the time for us.

23:31

Thank you for inviting me, I appreciate it.