For Naomi Myrick, MSN, APRN, PMHNP-BC, understanding ADHD is both professional and personal. Diagnosed later in life, she turned her own experience into a passion for helping others understand theirs. The psychiatric nurse practitioner and CEO and practice owner of Cardinal Care Psychiatric Services has spent the past five years focused on ADHD—work that brings her face-to-face with adults searching for answers and parents navigating challenges with their children.
“I see so many adult patients come in unsure of what’s wrong with them, along with parents struggling with schools. I realized that we, as clinicians, were not prepared enough to handle this influx and address it effectively,” Dr. Myrick tells BlackDoctor.
Determined to help address that influx, she founded Cardinal Care Psychiatric Services in 2020.
“My passion is identifying ADHD early so children don’t become adults who never understood why they struggled or felt different,” Dr. Myrick shares. “Even more so, I’m passionate about helping adults now because we don’t have enough clinicians who address ADHD in adults. We have pediatricians who can focus on children, but adults are often left trying to figure things out on their own.”
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Dr. Myrick’s own diagnosis has shaped how she assesses patients. When teaching other clinicians, she emphasizes that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and its criteria matter—but they do not always capture the full picture.
That is why she also looks for the “soft signs” people live with every day.
One question she asks patients, especially adults, is: What is running your life right now?
“As adults, people don’t come into an appointment thinking, ‘Well, I fit this criterion and that criterion.’ They’re sitting across from me because something in their life is falling apart. That’s what I want to know,” she says. “Then we back up from there and figure out why it’s falling apart. For a lot of adults, we find that it’s because of executive dysfunction. These small difficulties happen all week, and suddenly life starts falling apart because of them.”
Her lived experience also shapes the questions she asks and the details she listens for.
“I’m listening to a person’s life story. We use screeners and all those tools, but when I hear how someone got to where they are today, I can often identify aspects of ADHD woven throughout their story,” Dr. Myrick notes.
Many people do not realize that everyday struggles—from driving problems to financial disorganization—may be connected to ADHD.
“They’ll say, ‘I couldn’t take my kids to the fair this weekend because I found out I had 17 parking tickets I hadn’t paid, and the city decided to freeze my bank account.’ Things like driving problems, financial issues, and organizational challenges aren’t in the DSM criteria, but there is a lot of data showing the impact of ADHD on those areas,” Dr. Myrick notes.
Knowing that from her own experience helps her recognize it in other people and see beyond the checklist and diagnostic criteria.
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Emotional regulation is also a significant part of ADHD.
“One of the conversations happening is whether emotional dysregulation should become part of the ADHD criteria,” Dr. Myrick explains.
Recognizing that connection can be especially important for Black children.
“Unfortunately, especially for children of color and underserved populations, this aspect often gets overlooked for many reasons,” she adds. “Children in underserved communities are frequently in schools that are under-resourced. A teacher may want to spend time understanding why a child is having a difficult day, but they may simply not have the time. They might have 20 or 30 students in the classroom.”
A child with ADHD may have had a difficult morning. They may have missed breakfast. The likelihood that one of their parents also has ADHD is fairly high, so the morning may have been chaotic. They may arrive at school frustrated, unprepared, or already feeling teased or bullied.
By the time the child gets to school, they may seem upset, aggressive, or unprepared. This can lead to ongoing messages like, “You’re not listening,” “You’re not prepared,” or “You’re not doing what you should.”
That language can have a damaging effect on children during a developmental stage when fitting in feels especially important.
“They’re constantly hearing that they’re not fitting in. It’s not because they’re not trying. They simply struggle to move from one step to another,” Dr. Myrick notes.
Often there may also be challenges at home. So now they’re at school, already upset before the day has even begun. Who can concentrate on learning algebra when they haven’t eaten breakfast and have already been reminded all morning about what they haven’t done well?
“Friends may not want to talk to them because they impulsively interrupt and dominate conversations. All of this adds to emotional dysregulation,” Dr. Myrick says.
Adults often see only the attitude or behavior. The question they may not have asked is: Why?
“I tell parents and teachers all the time that no child wakes up and decides they want to be awful today. Children are responding to their environment. They’re frustrated, tired, confused, and often don’t understand why they can’t do what everyone else seems able to do. People keep telling them they should be able to do it, but nobody has stopped to figure out why they can’t and what accommodations or interventions might help,” Dr. Myrick adds.
So how can parents and educators distinguish ADHD symptoms from more typical childhood behavior?
Typical childhood behavior can often be redirected with a standard reminder. A teacher says, “Please stop that,” and the child generally does—at least for a developmentally reasonable amount of time.
“With ADHD, the impulse is much stronger. The child may look at the teacher, acknowledge the instruction, and genuinely understand it. But the moment they have something to say, it comes right out. They have a very difficult time stopping themselves,” Dr. Myrick explains.
ADHD symptoms can also present differently in boys and girls.
Boys tend to be more physically active. They run around, take other people’s things, move constantly, and have trouble sitting still.
Girls often present differently.
“Parents should pay attention if their daughter seems to have a lot of friendship conflicts, becomes very anxious around tests or performances, daydreams frequently, procrastinates on assignments, or always finishes homework at the last minute. She may still be passing her classes, so no one notices how much distress she’s experiencing internally,” Dr. Myrick advises.
If your daughter seems quiet most of the time but occasionally has emotional breakdowns, withdraws, or says she hates everything and wants to be left alone, it’s worth exploring what’s going on.
“Girls often don’t talk about their struggles. They simply know they’re in turmoil,” Dr. Myrick notes.
Everyday routines, including homework, can be challenging for families raising children with ADHD.
Dr. Myrick says simple is always best, whether your child is three or 17.
“This is not a reflection of intelligence. It’s about processing and follow-through,” she shares. “I tell parents to keep instructions as simple as possible. Don’t overload them with multiple directions at once. They’re trying to hold all those instructions in their mind while also trying to do the task correctly.”
Another big tip: when children get home from school, don’t immediately start asking them to do things.
You may be thinking, “But they have chores. They have homework.”
That’s all true, but as Dr. Myrick notes, when they first get home, they need some space.
“Going to school all day is essentially their version of working all day. They experience stressors throughout the day just as adults do,” she explains.
If possible, create consistency. Have a snack ready and easily accessible. Don’t make them search for it. After a long school day, that extra effort can feel overwhelming.
If they’re taking ADHD medication, there’s also a decent chance they didn’t eat much lunch, so now they may be hungry, tired, and emotionally depleted.
Having a routine helps. For example, Dr. Myrick recommends:
Transitions can be hard for people with ADHD.
Avoid abruptly announcing that break time is over. Give warnings 15 minutes ahead, then 10 minutes ahead, then five minutes ahead so they can mentally prepare.
Make things easy to access. Reduce unnecessary steps. Let them know what to expect.
And build in five minutes where they have your undivided attention. They can talk about their day, their teacher, their friends, whatever they need to discuss.
“Schedules are invaluable for kids with ADHD,” Dr. Myrick says.
You can also work with teachers, school counselors, and other staff members to develop a plan.
Some accommodations you can request include things like noise-canceling headphones or earplugs during transitions between classes.
“For a lot of my adolescents, this has been very helpful because moving from one class to another can be extremely dysregulating. By the time they get to their next class and regulate themselves, they may have missed the first several minutes of instruction,” Dr. Myrick adds.
Other accommodations include:
“Extra time on tests can be especially helpful because anxiety often drives impulsive decision-making. Students may know the material, but once they start worrying about the clock, everything falls apart,” she shares.
There’s also a great deal of time blindness in ADHD.
“A student may spend too much time on one question, look up, and realize there are only two minutes left and twenty questions remaining. At that point, panic sets in,” Dr. Myrick explains.
Front-of-class seating can also help, particularly when distractibility is a significant issue. With fewer distractions in their visual field, students are more likely to stay focused on instruction.
“I always tell parents and students that accommodations are there if you need them. That doesn’t mean you always have to use them,” Dr. Myrick notes. “You don’t have to take extra time on every test or use every accommodation every day. They’re available when needed. In fact, I often find that when accommodations are put in place proactively, students don’t use them as often because simply knowing they’re available reduces stress.”
Just as she asks adults, “What’s running your life?” Dr. Myrick takes a similarly practical approach with parents raising a child with ADHD.
“I usually tell them: forget about all the forms you’ve filled out for a moment. Just tell me why you came today,” she says.
What issues are we trying to improve for your child?
“I try to stay away from language about ‘fixing’ children because when children hear the word fix, it can imply they’re broken. That’s not the message we want to send,” she adds.
Instead, she asks, “What are we trying to make better?” What parts of life are difficult right now?
Many parents will say things like:
Those real-life examples are all helpful.
“One aspect of ADHD assessment and treatment that sometimes gets overlooked is functional impairment,” Dr. Myrick says. “We all know the symptom checklists. Does the child lose things? Forget things? Get distracted?”
But those symptoms must connect to dysfunction somewhere in daily life. Where is the problem occurring?
That’s where improvement is needed.
For parents, she recommends tracking those real-life examples. Think about feedback you’ve received during parent-teacher conferences or meetings with teachers.
Maybe the teacher says:
Those details reveal a lot.
“I also like hearing from multiple teachers whenever possible. I want to know how the child functions at the beginning of the school day versus the end of the school day,” Dr. Myrick notes.
Do they arrive dysregulated?
Do they start strong and fade in the afternoon?
Do they struggle in the morning but improve as the day progresses?
The timeline matters.
“I had one patient whose teachers were reporting that things were going great. Then the bus driver stopped me one day and said, ‘We need to talk.’ It turned out the child was becoming dysregulated during the ride home, but the teachers never saw that because it happened after school. That kind of information helps us understand whether medication is lasting long enough or whether other interventions may be needed,” Dr. Myrick shares.
The same applies at home.
Are things falling apart immediately after school?
Are school reports positive, but evenings are extremely difficult?
Is the child more comfortable in structured environments like school but struggling with routines at home?
Medical professionals need answers to these questions because everyday life is what they’re trying to improve.
For many parents, guilt and ADHD often go hand in hand.
Parents often hear a diagnosis and immediately wonder:
But ADHD is not a character flaw.
“Just as you didn’t parent your child into needing glasses or having diabetes, you didn’t parent your child into having ADHD,” Dr. Myrick notes. “ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It’s simply part of how your child’s brain experiences the world.”
Life is still going to be life. Some days will be harder than others.
The goal is simply to reduce the number of really difficult days and make life more manageable.
Dr. Myrick also encourages parents of children with ADHD to consider being assessed themselves.
“The heritability of ADHD is very high. That doesn’t mean every parent will have ADHD, but I do think it’s worth looking into,” she says. “Children raised by parents with untreated ADHD often learn similar habits and coping strategies.”
She also encourages families to stay open to different treatment options, including therapy.
“Therapy plays a major role in ADHD management, especially for children,” Dr. Myrick adds. “Medication can improve symptoms significantly, but medication isn’t the entire treatment plan.”
Medication can help quiet and organize the brain enough that the child can learn skills, build routines, and follow through on goals.
However, it is not a magic pill.
“Parents sometimes leave an appointment hoping everything will be different tomorrow, but that’s not realistic,” Dr. Myrick says.
Instead, she encourages families to focus on:
Just those two things.
“We’re looking for small, meaningful successes that build over time. I also encourage parents to examine their own needs. Raising a child with ADHD can be challenging. Life in general is challenging. Parents need self-care, too,” she adds.
Sometimes that might be as simple as sitting in your car and reading a book for fifteen minutes. You have to make time to refill your own cup. You can’t keep giving endlessly without taking care of yourself.
For families, supporting a child with ADHD does not require solving everything at once. It starts with listening closely, identifying where daily life is breaking down, and choosing one practical change to make the next day more manageable. A predictable routine, the right school accommodation, a thoughtful treatment plan, or a few minutes of uninterrupted connection can each become a meaningful step forward.
Most importantly, children with ADHD need to know that they are not broken, lazy, or deliberately difficult. When parents, educators, and clinicians look beyond behavior to understand what a child is communicating, they can replace blame with support—and help that child build the skills, confidence, and self-understanding to thrive.
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