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If you’ve ever wondered whether screens are helping your ADHD child… or quietly making everything harder — this episode is your wake-up call (in the best way).

Today on Chaos & Caffeine, I’m joined by Dr. Michael Rich — pediatrician, researcher, and founder of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children's Hospital — also known as The Mediatrician. He’s spent decades studying how digital media impacts kids’ brains, behavior, attention, sleep, and emotional regulation… especially in neurodivergent kids.

And what he shares in this episode?
It’s not the tired “just limit screen time” advice.

We’re diving into:

• Why screen time isn’t the real problem (and what actually is)
• How screens can amplify ADHD symptoms like impulsivity, inattention, and emotional dysregulation
• The difference between healthy vs. problematic media use
• Why content and context matter more than minutes
• How screens impact sleep, focus, and executive function
• What ADHD parents should do instead of constant restriction and power struggles
• Practical, science-backed strategies to create calmer, more intentional screen habits

If you’re stuck in daily battles over devices…
If you feel like screens have a grip on your kid’s brain…
If you’ve tried limits, timers, threats, and nothing sticks…

This episode will help you stop guessing — and start parenting screens with clarity, strategy, and a whole lot less guilt.

🎧 Hit play, send this to a fellow ADHD parent, and let’s figure this out together.

Connect with Dr. Rich 👉 Digital Wellness Lab

This Month's Sponsors:

🎲 Taco Cat Games

Helping ADHD families get off screens without triggering a full-blown meltdown…

📱 My Screen Coach

Helping families raise kids who can actually unplug.

🧠 Social Thinking

Helping kids build the social and emotional skills that don’t always come naturally.

🌱 MaryRuth Organics

If you’ve got a kid who treats vegetables like a personal enemy, MaryRuth Organics might become your new best friend.

🕹️ The Op Games
Building focus, connection, and social skills—one ridiculously fun, screen-free game at a time.

Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves!

📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at chaosandcaffeinepodcast@gmail.com.

Support the show

Danielle is the host of Chaos & Caffeine, a fast-growing ADHD parenting podcast where she interviews leading psychologists, clinicians, researchers, and neurodivergent advocates about what actually helps ADHD kids thrive in the real world. Through science-backed conversations and very real mom-in-the-trenches storytelling, the show helps parents navigate executive function challenges, emotional regulation struggles, learning differences, and the everyday chaos of raising neurodivergent kids.

Each week, Danielle translates complex ADHD research into practical tools parents can actually use — from building routines that support developing brains to helping kids strengthen focus, flexibility, and self-regulation skills.

Listen to the podcast and explore expert interviews at:
https://linktr.ee/chaosandcaffeinepodcast

Danielle frequently speaks and writes about ADHD parenting strategies, executive function development, emotional regulation, screen use and attention, learning challenges like dyslexia, and building resilient neurodivergent families.

Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves!

If your ADHD kid turns into a completely different human after screens… you’re not imagining it—and you’re not alone.

In this episode of Chaos & Caffeine, I’m joined by Dr. Sajita Setia, physician and mental health expert, to break down what’s actually happening in your child’s brain when it comes to screen time.

We’re talking about the dopamine hit, the emotional crashes, and why ADHD kids are especially vulnerable to the cycle of screens → irritability → meltdowns → guilt (for them and for us).

Dr. Setia connects the dots between screen use, anxiety, depression, and emotional dysregulation—and explains why so many of us feel like we’re constantly putting out fires after the tablet turns off.

We cover:

• Why ADHD brains are more sensitive to screen-driven dopamine
• How screen time impacts emotional regulation, focus, and behavior
• What to replace screens with (that actually works for ADHD kids)
• How to break the screen → meltdown → guilt cycle as a parent

If you’ve ever handed your kid a screen just to survive—and then paid for it later… this episode will hit.

Connect with Dr. Setia 👉 Dr. Sajita Setia

This Month's Sponsors:

🎲 Taco Cat Games

Helping ADHD families get off screens without triggering a full-blown meltdown…

📱 My Screen Coach

Helping families raise kids who can actually unplug.

🧠 Social Thinking

Helping kids build the social and emotional skills that don’t always come naturally.

🌱 MaryRuth Organics

If you’ve got a kid who treats vegetables like a personal enemy, MaryRuth Organics might become your new best friend.

🕹️ The Op Games
Building focus, connection, and social skills—one ridiculously fun, screen-free game at a time.

🛒 Insight Family Market

A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families.

Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves!

📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at chaosandcaffeinepodcast@gmail.com.

Support the show

Danielle is the host of Chaos & Caffeine, a fast-growing ADHD parenting podcast where she interviews leading psychologists, clinicians, researchers, and neurodivergent advocates about what actually helps ADHD kids thrive in the real world. Through science-backed conversations and very real mom-in-the-trenches storytelling, the show helps parents navigate executive function challenges, emotional regulation struggles, learning differences, and the everyday chaos of raising neurodivergent kids.

Each week, Danielle translates complex ADHD research into practical tools parents can actually use — from building routines that support developing brains to helping kids strengthen focus, flexibility, and self-regulation skills.

Listen to the podcast and explore expert interviews at:
https://linktr.ee/chaosandcaffeinepodcast

Danielle frequently speaks and writes about ADHD parenting strategies, executive function development, emotional regulation, screen use and attention, learning challenges like dyslexia, and building resilient neurodivergent families.

Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves!

Are screens actually rewiring your child’s brain… or are we just being dramatic?

In this episode of Chaos & Caffeine, I sit down with Dr. Jane Shawcroft to break down what research actually says about screen time, social media, and kids — especially for children with ADHD.

Because here’s the reality no one is saying loud enough:
ADHD brains are already wired for dopamine, novelty, and instant feedback… and today’s digital platforms are built to deliver exactly that.

So what happens when those two collide?

We dig into:
✔️ Whether social media is designed to be addictive for kids
✔️ Why ADHD children may be more vulnerable to problematic screen use
✔️ The long-term effects of early screen habits on behavior and mental health
✔️ What actually works for ADHD families when limiting screen time feels impossible

This is not about guilt.
This is about understanding what your child is up against — and how to support them without losing your mind in the process.

If you’ve ever wondered why your child melts down when screens turn off…
why focus feels harder after device time…
or if you’re “doing screens wrong”…

This episode will change how you see it.

Connect with Dr. Shawcroft 👉 Media Across Development

This Month's Sponsors:

📱 My Screen Coach

Helping families raise kids who can actually unplug.

🧠 Social Thinking

Helping kids build the social and emotional skills that don’t always come naturally.

🎲 Taco Cat Games

Helping ADHD families get off screens without triggering a full-blown meltdown…

🌱 MaryRuth Organics

If you’ve got a kid who treats vegetables like a personal enemy, MaryRuth Organics might become your new best friend.

🛒 Insight Family Market

A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families.

Join Our Patreon and Find All of Our Faves!

📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at chaosandcaffeinepodcast@gmail.com.

Support the show

Danielle is the host of Chaos & Caffeine, a fast-growing ADHD parenting podcast where she interviews leading psychologists, clinicians, researchers, and neurodivergent advocates about what actually helps ADHD kids thrive in the real world. Through science-backed conversations and very real mom-in-the-trenches storytelling, the show helps parents navigate executive function challenges, emotional regulation struggles, learning differences, and the everyday chaos of raising neurodivergent kids.

Each week, Danielle translates complex ADHD research into practical tools parents can actually use — from building routines that support developing brains to helping kids strengthen focus, flexibility, and self-regulation skills.

Listen to the podcast and explore expert interviews at:
https://linktr.ee/chaosandcaffeinepodcast

Danielle frequently speaks and writes about ADHD parenting strategies, executive function development, emotional regulation, screen use and attention, learning challenges like dyslexia, and building resilient neurodivergent families.