On the go? Listen instead → When School Becomes the Trauma — What No One Tells ADHD Parents
If drop-offs leave you crying in the car, and your kid melts down at 3:15 every day — this is for you.
For some kids, school is a safe place. For others — especially neurodivergent girls — it’s the site of their first trauma.
The kind that doesn’t look like violence or disaster. It looks like:
- Constant masking
- Being misunderstood
- Sensory overwhelm
- Getting in trouble for just existing
And it doesn’t just hurt the child. It breaks the parent watching it unfold.
The trauma starts with silence
So many ADHD mums don’t realise what’s happening until the signs are too loud to ignore:
- Explosive after-school rage
- Shutdowns on Sunday nights
- Begging not to go, or pretending to be sick
- Night-time panic or new sensory struggles
We’re told it’s behavioural. That they’re just being difficult.
But what’s really happening? It’s nervous system overload. Chronic invalidation. And a slow erosion of safety.
Want to hear it in our own words?
This blog expands on Season 3, Episode 2: When School Becomes the Trauma — What No One Tells ADHD Parents
Listen now in Spotify | Apple Podcast
You’re not failing. You’re witnessing.
The pain isn’t in your head. Your gut instinct isn’t overreacting. And you’re not imagining the damage.
If your child is melting down outside the gates, refusing to get dressed, or becoming someone else just to survive — it’s not just hard. It’s harmful.
