DISCLAIMER: This content is educational, not therapeutic.

If you’re experiencing distress, burnout, trauma, or workplace harm, please seek individual support from a qualified therapist.

What I offer here is practical, brain-friendly coaching for adults with ADHD who are broadly well and ready to work on how they think and operate: it may not be suitable if you have significant additional or complex needs.

THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF:

You’ve always felt like you missed a class on how to make friends and carry shame about it
You have ADHD or are neurodivergent and find friendships exhausting, confusing, or hard to sustain
You’re a late-diagnosed adult wondering why connection has always felt just slightly out of reach

EPISODE SUMMARY:

There’s a worldwide loneliness epidemic and for neurodivergent adults, loneliness isn’t new news. Many of us grew up without close friends, without understanding why, and with a coating of shame that followed us into adulthood. This conversation is about changing that.

Caroline Maguire is an ADHD coach with over 21 years of experience, and the author of two books on friendship and social skills. Her new book, Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults, publishes in the UK on April 16th 2026. In this conversation, Katherine and Caroline dig into why friendship feels so hard when you have ADHD and what actually helps.

This isn’t about becoming more neurotypical. It’s about finding your people, using your interests as fuel, and building the kind of friendships that actually fit your brain.

IN THIS EPISODE:

Why executive function sits at the heart of every social interaction — and what that looks like in real life
The difference between info dumping and monologuing (and why the distinction matters)
Caroline’s ice cream scoop method for building trust without giving it all away at once
The impulsive friendship cycle — and how to break it
Why your special interests are your greatest asset for finding genuine connection
The difference between masking and adapting — and why it matters for neurodivergent adults
How to make friendships more sustainable when logistics and energy are already stretched

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Introduction and welcome
02:00 — Why Caroline keeps coming back to friendship
05:30 — The shame of not having friends as an adult
09:00 — How executive function shows up in social situations
14:00 — Bottom-up processing and sensory input
18:00 — Info dumping versus monologuing
22:00 — Finding your people through special interests
26:00 — Masking versus adapting
31:00 — The ice cream scoop method for trust
38:00 — The impulsive friendship cycle
42:00 — Making friendship more sustainable and automatic
48:00 — Caroline’s one takeaway and where to find her
Timestamps are approximate — adjust after final edit

COMMON QUESTIONS ANSWERED:

Why do ADHD adults struggle to make and keep friends?
What is the ice cream scoop method for building trust?
What’s the difference between masking and adapting?
How do special interests help neurodivergent adults find connection?
How do I make friendships more sustainable when I’m already exhausted?

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Caroline Maguire is an ADHD and life coach with over 21 years of experience. She is the author of Why Will No One Play With Me? (for children) and Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults. Caroline trained coaches at the ADD Coach Academy and is passionate about ending loneliness in the neurodivergent community. Find her at @authorcarolinem on Instagram.

GET CAROLINE’S BOOK

Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults, available for pre-order now, publishing 16th April 2026

UK

Ireland

Amazon Ireland
Kobo
Audible
Audiobooks.com

There is a full-length, unedited version of this podcast on Youtube:

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Work with Katherine:

1:1 Coaching: Premium coaching for late-diagnosed adults who are capable, resourced, and done waiting for motivation to arrive. → 1:1 Coaching

Lightbulb Studio: Guided support putting research into practice. Not a course or community – my framework plus direct feedback on YOUR implementation. → Waitlist

ABOUT THE SHOW:

Finally, an ADHD podcast that skips ‘superpower’ chat and toxic productivity to get real about what’s going on and what actually works.

I’m Katherine, a certified ADHD coach (PCC, PAAC PCAC, ADDCA) diagnosed with ADHD and autism in my early 40s. With 400+ hours of professional training and 20 years of entrepreneurial experience, I bring evidence-based strategies and honest conversations you’ve been searching for.