Indispensable People
Making the Gospel Accessible to people of ALL abilities so that they may know Christ, grow in Him, and serve Him with the gifts He has given them.
Indispensable People
ADHD, Church, And Real Help Now
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We unpack ADHD through the lens of executive function, time awareness, and urgency, then translate those insights into simple, repeatable discipleship strategies. We challenge the “extra time” reflex and replace it with small steps, clear cues, and supportive check-ins.
• the scale of disability and church attendance gaps
• defining ADHD and executive function challenges
• the now and not now framework
• impact on school, work, and mental health
• stigma, myths, and treatment options
• why extra time fails without structure
• breaking tasks into small, timed steps
• check-ins, routines, and visible start cues
• designing discipleship that fits ADHD brains
• accessibility as a path to spiritual growth
If you want to dive deeper on your own, you can check out the Indispensable People blog or my books on Amazon called The Indispensable Kid or Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People
Hey, hey, my name is Tracy Coral, and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a pastor, a teacher, a missionary, a mom, a wife, and I believe that every person should have access to the gospel so that they can know Christ, grow in him, and serve him with the gifts that he has given. Over 65 million Americans have a disability. That's 15 to 20% of every community. And over 85% of those individuals do not attend church. 90% of pastors believe that they are a disability-friendly church, but only 20% of parents and families agree. Let's dive deep into hard topics, big questions, perceptions, stereotypes, and so much more. Hey, hey, and welcome to this episode of Indispensable People. Today we're talking all things ADHD. So what is it? How does it impact life? And what are the best strategies to help in navigating ADHD and the church? So ADHD is a neurodevelopmental, oh goodness, it is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent patterns of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and often stemming from executive functioning deficits, which has a lot to do with decision-making, planning, scheduling, that kind of stuff, time management. And studies suggest that it may not differentially benefit students. And this is in consideration of the word time. Okay. So we're going to dive into the one of the biggest strategies that I will tell you in my experience, especially in writing IEPs, one of the things that you see extra time, extra time, extra time, extra time. And today we're going to dive into an understanding of why extra time may not be beneficial to individuals with disabilities, especially ADHD. Now, that doesn't mean we don't look at time differently. It just means that the way in which we help with time might be different. So what are the core issues with ADHD? Time awareness is huge. Scheduling, that executive functioning impulses, and they often lead to chronic lateness, procrastination. And we're going to get into this now, not now kind of thinking, which now not now is kind of like, okay, what is pressing? What has to be done right now? And then there's the not now category, which is everything else that doesn't matter. So it's not even on the forefront of thinking or scheduling or how it's going to get done or priorities. So how does that impact? So as a student, as an adult, how does this impact their life? Obviously, it has to do with academic and job performance, increased accident rates, whether that's, you know, personal injury and activity, that kind of thing, and also increased mental health conditions. So what does that look like? How does that impact the way that these individuals are living? If an individual with ADHD has issues completing tasks, um, prioritizing, making decisions on what should do and what shouldn't be done, obviously in a job situation, they're going to incur issues with getting their job done. So a lot of systems and setups need to be in place so that they can be successful in that way. So ADHD has, it's not new, it's newer in its prevalence, right? Over the last several years. Probably I would say from the 90s on, it has become much more prevalent. And you hear all things from, you know, it's not real, suck it up buttercup, they just need a quick, swift kick in the pants, just saying these are all things that I've heard or been told, or it's an excuse, maybe it's bad parenting, maybe it's discipline, all of those kinds of stuff. And really what it boils down to is it's actually strategy, right? Being aware that there is an issue and building into your life the strategies that help you in in working through the issues that you might encounter. That doesn't mean you do it perfectly. That doesn't mean you figure it all out. And then there is some natural approaches where people will take things like magnesium, you know, different things that they do throughout their day to reset their their minds and and that kind of thing. And also there are individuals who take prescription medicine that uh greatly helps their need. It's really personal preference and what works best for each individual body, right? No person is created the same. Some people will say that maybe their ADHD was so mild that the natural approach really worked for them and they don't need any more. And others will say that their ADHD is so severe that medication is the answer for them. Or they'll say, listen, I tried the medication and I don't like the way that it makes my body feel. So it's not something I want to do. And as you grow from children to adults, children are less aware of the situations that they're working through and dealing with. And so therefore, the strategies that they need to come up with don't get developed as necessary. They need the support of an adult or another person in their life to help guide and direct them there. And then as you get into an adult, if you're aware of your situation and you have had a healthy approach to understanding and dealing with your ADHD, then you may have been able to build in strategies. I love it. One of the definitions that I came across from an ADHD definition said that basically that kids have it and sometimes as an adult they don't have it. No, their ADHD doesn't just go away. Maybe they've been able to treat it with natural or prescription or through strategies. It exists, it's not just something that comes and goes. It can be intensified or, you know, more easily dealt with with medications or strategies or natural approaches. So one of the biggest new things that I have been hearing about is the now not now, which I already explained to you, which is like understanding that a task really kind of falls into one category or the other. And if it's in the now, it's like hurry up, we gotta do it. It's gotta be, for example, a student who might have a five-page essay due tomorrow at seven o'clock at night, it's become the now and it's pressurized and needs to get done. So therefore, their brain is fully focused on it. And the not now is like that's two days away. I'm not even thinking about it, don't even have a consideration for it. And we're just not even gonna, we're not gonna give it any time, not any thought, not any preparations. Not, you know, I have this big project and I'm probably gonna need a poster board. So let me go to the the store so I can grab that and have it for when I need to work on it in another day. That's not a consideration. The next thing is talking about time management. Okay. So first understanding the now, not now thinking allows you to understand the ADHD brain and make strategies based on that, right? So urgency is what might need to be felt for that person to move into completion of the project. So breaking things into smaller tasks with time expectations built into them might be a way to strategize a little bit better. One strategy that schools often do is extra time. And the problem with extra time is that if you give them an extra day or an extra week or an extra whatever, that task now moves into the not now box. And if it's in the not now box, it's not getting done, it's not being thought of, it's not being considered. And so extra time sounds like a really great strategy because that's being thoughtful, that's giving them extra chances to get things done, but really it is not a strategy that's technically going to help. However, here's what you can do with time that might be more beneficial. And that is again breaking things down. You can give them breaks within their time. You can give them, you know, strategy breaks down breakdowns and again smaller chunks of things to complete. If they're reading their Bible and you want them to read, complete the book of John by the end of the week. So then we're gonna go, okay, chapter one, chapter, you know, you're gonna break it down into the days of completion so that it doesn't become a not now. And then they're only reading it in a rush right before it's it, it's they're gonna come back and talk, you know, through it in their youth group or whatever. A Bible study that's gonna be better broken into days and tasks to do within that day. Maybe even have check-ins with the leader to help them to engage in those kinds of things. And the ADHD brain typically works on the dopamine doses that they receive, which is usually happens upon completing a task or the feeling of urgency to do things. So if you give the timeline and they have the ability to check that off, that's kind of helping them to positively move into completing those tasks. And I know this sounds like a heavy school-based thing. However, when especially when engaging in discipleship, having these strategies of breaking down information and expectations and guidance with it really helps the ADHD brain be able to interact with the information, see it as a now situation, and be able to engage with the information. Typically, a lot of individuals with ADHD are very intelligent, but because of their impulses and not completing tasks on time and things like that, it tends to make it look as if they are unintelligent. And that's typically not the case. Now, you will have an ADHD diagnosis alongside of other diagnoses, and so that complicates things. However, when you're looking at ADHD solely, you're looking at a very intelligent individual who needs strategies that work for the way that their brain works. And that's not going to be exactly the same for every individual, but we can come up with these understanding the now, not now, breaking things up, giving goals that can be easily achievable along the way, and understanding the extra time is not necessarily the key strategy, but providing time broken up and then completion upon smaller pieces that come together to make the whole. Whether, like I said, you're reading through the scriptures or doing a Bible study with a group or, you know, checking in with each other, all of that kind of stuff, those are going to aid in greater availability and greater completion and greater spiritual growth, which is what we want to come to, right? Understanding the ADHD brain isn't a priority just because we want to understand how someone thinks. Understanding how someone thinks helps us to disciple them in a better way that gives them more growth. And that's what we want to do. We want to see people grow towards Christ and um living out that life of sanctification and growing more like him. And that is how every person gets the opportunity to know Christ, grow in him, and serve him with the gifts that he has given. I can't claim to have all the answers. I can't claim to know all the things, but here's what we are gonna do. We're gonna keep this conversation going. We're gonna make the accessible gospel available to individuals with disabilities in our churches and in our communities so that every person has the opportunity to know Christ, to grow in him, and to serve him with the gifts that he is given. If you want to dive deeper on your own, you can check out the Indispensable People blog or my books on Amazon called The Indispensable Kid or Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People.
