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Lib Lab Discussion Guide — Podcast Series
Changing the ADHD Narrative From Deficit to Superpower
A 2-part Howard University podcast that helps adults and youth examine how race, power, and systems shape the ADHD experience—and how to change that.
About this series
Series Summary
Changing the ADHD Narrative From Deficit to Superpower is a 2-part podcast from HU2U, the Howard University podcast, released in summer 2024. Host Dr. Kweli Zukeri—a developmental psychologist, Howard alum, and person with ADHD—leads a deep conversation with Dr. Mercedes Ebanks, counseling psychologist, Howard professor, and co-founder of The MECCA Group, a culturally grounded mental health practice in the DMV area.
The series does two things at once. First, it explains what ADHD is, how it is diagnosed, and how it affects children and adults. Second—and more importantly for this guide—it exposes the systemic forces that make ADHD harder to identify, treat, and understand for Black children. Together, the two episodes make a case that the problem is not the child. The problem is a system built without Black children in mind.
Age group note: Common Sense Media does not rate this specific podcast. Based on its content—which includes frank discussion of racism in medicine, ADHD in Black youth, and systemic inequality—this guide is designed for grades 6–8 with adult facilitation. Facilitators should be prepared to give students real language for systemic racism and to acknowledge that some students may be living these experiences directly.
How this guide works
The Critical Consciousness Framework
Every discussion in this guide is designed to build Critical Consciousness (CC)
CC is the ability to see how systems of oppression are built, how they affect people’s lives, and how people can act to change them. Research shows that developing CC supports youth identity, well-being, academic engagement, and civic participation. The three dimensions below form a progression. Discussion questions in this guide are color-coded to show which dimension they target.
Seeing how systems of power and oppression are built and maintained. Asking: who built this, who does it serve, and who does it harm?
Recognizing one’s own power to navigate, push back against, or work within systems. Asking: what can I or we actually do?
Taking steps—big or small—that disrupt unjust systems and build something better. Asking: what will we actually change?
The goal is not to move through all three in one conversation. CC is a lifelong, ongoing process. Your job as a facilitator is to invite youth into it—not to complete it in a single session.
For teachers and educators
Facilitation Guidance
This guide is a tool for you as the adult facilitator—your students will not read it directly. Use it to prepare before class, select questions that match where your students are, and choose activities that fit your time and goals. Your role in this conversation is not to be the expert on ADHD, racism, or Black history. Your role is to be a co-investigator alongside your students. You are listening to the same podcast, examining the same evidence, and asking the same questions together. That posture—curious rather than authoritative—is what creates the conditions for CC to grow.
Introduce the CC framework first
Before listening to the podcast, share the three CC dimensions with students (awareness, agency, action). Tell them their job while listening is not just to learn facts about ADHD. Their job is to ask: Who built this system? Who benefits? What power do we have? This framing transforms the podcast from an informational resource into a tool for critical thinking.
Set community agreements
Open each session with 4 shared norms: curiosity (ask questions, don’t assume), care (we talk about systems, not judge individuals), evidence (ground your claims in what we heard), and context (this is about history and structures, not personal failures). Post these on the board and return to them when the conversation gets hard.
Use think-pair-share for entry points
Awareness questions work well as think-pair-share starters. Agency questions are good for small-group discussion. Action questions—what can we do?—work best as a full-class discussion or exit ticket after smaller-group work. Match the question type to the format.
Connect to students’ own knowledge
Some of your students may have ADHD. Some may have family members who do. Some may have experienced the exact misdiagnosis that Dr. Ebanks describes. Start discussions by asking what students already know or have noticed, before introducing the podcast’s claims. Position their prior knowledge as data, not just background.
Model CC yourself
CC research shows that youth learn from adults who model it. Share your own questions. Acknowledge what you do not know. If you are a non-Black educator, be honest about the limits of your perspective. If something in the podcast surprised you or made you rethink something you believed, say so out loud. That modeling matters more than any single question you ask.
Build a People’s Glossary
Before each episode, ask students to write down words they do not recognize. After listening, spend 5 minutes building a shared class glossary. Start with: ADHD, neurodevelopmental, systemic racism, diagnosis, critical consciousness, deficit narrative, superpower. Students define each term using only what they heard in the episode—not a dictionary.
Think about the ecosystem
CC research shows that the more people in a young person’s life who are building this kind of awareness, the more impact it has. If you can, connect with parents and share the podcast with families. The more components of a student’s world that are part of a “consciousness-raising system,” the stronger their CC development will be.
Background for facilitators
Social and Historical Context
ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) has been documented since at least 1902 (Still, G.F., The Lancet, 1902) and received its current name in the 1980s (American Psychiatric Association, DSM-III, 1980). Today it affects roughly 1 in 10 school-age children in the United States (CDC, Data and Statistics on ADHD, 2023). But the story of who gets diagnosed, who gets help, and who gets blamed is not a neutral medical story. It is a story shaped by power.
Black and Brown children with ADHD are significantly more likely to be labeled “emotionally disturbed” or “oppositional” than to receive an ADHD diagnosis—even when their symptoms are the same as white children’s (Transcript, Part 1, 00:00; Dr. Ebanks). This misidentification has roots in a school system built around white cultural norms. Scholars call one dimension of this “verve”—a lively, high-energy, movement-oriented learning style that is common in African American culture but does not fit neatly into the sit-still, be-quiet framework most classrooms enforce (Transcript, Part 2, 07:20; Dr. Zukeri). When Black children’s natural expressiveness is read as disorder, they are pushed toward punishment rather than support.
The healthcare system compounds this. Author Harriet Washington documented a long history of intentional mistreatment of Black Americans by the medical industry—creating well-founded mistrust that makes many Black families hesitant to seek diagnosis or accept medication (Washington, H., Medical Apartheid, 2006). Meanwhile, only 4–6% of psychologists in the United States are Black (Transcript, Part 2, 12:06; Dr. Ebanks, citing APA), leaving Black children far more likely to be evaluated by someone who does not share their cultural background and may not recognize the difference between ADHD and cultural expression. All of these forces—school structure, medical mistrust, the shortage of Black professionals—are systemic. They were built over time. They can be changed. And understanding them clearly is the first step toward changing them.
Curriculum alignment
Common Core Standards
Episode 1 — Themes & Critical Questions
Part 1 • July 2, 2024
Context: Part 1 establishes what ADHD is, how it is diagnosed, how it affects children across their lives, the neuroscience behind it, and the racial disparities built into the diagnostic system. Dr. Ebanks and Dr. Zukeri lay the groundwork for understanding ADHD not just as a medical condition, but as a social and political one.
| Critical theme | Related example | Exemplar quote & speaker | Time | Discussion questions (color = CC dimension) | Primary source | Explore further |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defining ADHD: criteria, types, and who controls the process | Dr. Ebanks explains the diagnostic criteria, three types of ADHD, and the role of school psychologists, rating scales, and observations in assessing a child. | “It is a neuropsychological disorder, meaning that there is a physical as well as neurological in terms of how your brain works and how it triggers certain chemical releases.” — Dr. Ebanks |
11:50 |
AwarenessWho decides what counts as ADHD? What does Dr. Ebanks say a psychologist has to look for—and who built those criteria?
AgencyWhat rights do parents have in requesting an ADHD evaluation through their child’s school? What does Dr. Ebanks say schools are required to do?
ActionWhat is one thing a parent or teacher could do this week to start the evaluation process for a child they are concerned about?
|
DSM-5: ADHD Diagnostic Criteria (APA, 2013). The official criteria doctors use to diagnose ADHD. Who participated in developing these criteria? Examining that question reveals how scientific standards reflect the perspectives of those who create them. | Edward Hallowell & John Ratey, ADHD 2.0 (2021) |
| Racial disparities in diagnosis: a systemic, not individual, problem | Dr. Ebanks explains that Black and Brown children are more often diagnosed as “emotionally disturbed” than with ADHD—and that this misidentification is rooted in who does the evaluating and what they assume about Black children’s behavior. | “Typically, children that are minority children, Black and Brown youth, typically fall under the category of emotionally disturbed.” — Dr. Ebanks |
00:00 |
AwarenessWhat does it mean when a Black child’s ADHD symptoms are read as “emotional disturbance” instead? Who benefits from that label, and who is harmed by it?
AgencyDr. Ebanks says the race of the evaluator and how they understand culture matters. What can Black families do to seek evaluators who are more likely to see their child accurately?
ActionIf you are a teacher, what is one thing you could change about how you respond to or describe a Black student’s behavior that would make it less likely to lead to misidentification?
|
IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (U.S. Dept. of Education). Federal law requiring schools to evaluate students with disabilities. The 14 eligibility categories determine who receives services—and whose behaviors are read as disabilities versus discipline problems. | Harriet A. Washington, Medical Apartheid (2006) |
| ADHD across the lifespan: the cost of leaving it unaddressed | Dr. Zukeri shares his own ADHD diagnosis and raises the fact that adults with ADHD have a statistically shorter life expectancy. Dr. Ebanks explains how undiagnosed ADHD shows up in adult employment, health, and relationships. | “Studies show that at least 60% of children with ADHD can carry it into adulthood… 4 to 5% of Americans that have ADHD as adults.” — Dr. Ebanks |
17:58 |
AwarenessDr. Zukeri says adults with ADHD have a life expectancy 13 years shorter on average. What does he say causes this? How is this connected to access to diagnosis and support?
AgencyDr. Zukeri shares his own story of falling asleep in class. How did having that story—and eventually understanding it through an ADHD lens—give him more agency over his own life?
ActionWhat could a school do differently to catch ADHD earlier in students who are not obviously hyperactive? What would need to change in how teachers are trained?
|
No primary source assigned. Ask students: what data would we need to prove that earlier diagnosis reduces the life expectancy gap? What stands in the way of collecting that data? | Gabor Maté, Scattered Minds (2019) |
| The neuroscience of ADHD: reframing “broken brain” as “different brain” | Dr. Zukeri explains the Task Positive Network (TPN) and Default Mode Network (DMN) and describes a study showing that ADHD brains become less active—not more—when a task begins. He connects this to his own experience of falling asleep in boring classes. | “When you have ADHD, our brains literally may become less aroused and ready for action when we begin an activity.” — Dr. Zukeri |
35:00 |
AwarenessDr. Ebanks says it matters who does ADHD research and who the participants are. Why? How might research done without Black participants produce conclusions that harm Black children?
AgencyHow does understanding the neuroscience of ADHD change what a teacher or parent might do differently—instead of assuming a child is being defiant or lazy?
ActionDr. Zukeri says he would have benefited from more movement in class. What is one structural change to a classroom—not just a rule change, but a physical or scheduling change—that could help students with ADHD?
|
No primary source assigned for this theme. | Gabor Maté, Scattered Minds (2019) |
| Treatment beyond medication: building a whole system of support | Dr. Ebanks describes a full range of treatment options including CBT, applied behavior analysis, mindfulness, nutrition, sleep, and vitamins. She explains why medication is often the first conversation—and why it does not have to be. | “It is, kind of, the first step, but it certainly is not the last.” — Dr. Ebanks (on medication) |
32:16 |
AwarenessWhy does Dr. Ebanks say medication gets so much attention as a treatment? What does that tell us about how the healthcare system frames ADHD?
AgencyWhat non-medication options does Dr. Ebanks describe? Which ones could a family start without a prescription or specialist referral?
ActionIf a parent comes to you worried about putting their child on medication, what information from this episode could you share to help them understand their full range of options?
|
No primary source assigned for this theme. | CHADD (chadd.org): Children and Adults with ADHD. The leading national resource for families and educators. |
Episode 2 — Themes & Critical Questions
Part 2 • July 16, 2024
Context: Part 2 examines the specific forces that shape ADHD for Black children: racial trauma, cultural mismatch between Black students and Eurocentric schools, the shortage of Black mental health professionals, and how a deficit-based narrative can be replaced with a strength-based one. The episode models what it looks like to connect individual experience to systemic analysis and to imagine alternatives.
| Critical theme | Related example | Exemplar quote & speaker | Time | Discussion questions (color = CC dimension) | Primary source | Explore further |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Racial trauma and generational stress as root causes of ADHD symptoms | Dr. Ebanks connects ADHD symptoms in Black children to generational trauma, limited parental bonding time due to economic pressure, and a society she calls a “breeding ground for inattention.” | “Unfortunately, we live in a society right now that is a breeding ground for inattention.” — Dr. Ebanks |
03:48 |
AwarenessDr. Ebanks connects ADHD symptoms in Black children to things like work schedules, housing, and access to parental leave. How are economic systems connected to whether a child gets proper bonding time and mental health support?
AgencyDr. Zukeri mentions “master narratives” that shape how teachers see Black students. What does he mean? How can a teacher notice when they are applying a master narrative to a child’s behavior?
ActionWhat is one thing a school could change—in policy, in scheduling, or in how it communicates with families—to better support Black parents in accessing mental health resources for their children?
|
“Black with ADHD” by Tamara Holmes, Howard Magazine, Winter 2024. Cited directly in the episode. Ask students to compare how the same topic is framed for a university audience vs. a podcast audience. What stays the same? What changes? | Harriet A. Washington, Medical Apartheid (2006) |
| Cultural difference vs. ADHD: when schools misread Black students | Dr. Zukeri explains the concept of “verve”—a lively, high-energy, movement-oriented cultural learning style common in African American culture that clashes with Eurocentric classroom norms. Dr. Ebanks adds that schools are structurally restrictive in ways that hurt all students. | “African American culture is more lively. There’s more movement… that doesn’t really fit well within the current educational framework.” — Dr. Zukeri |
07:20 |
AwarenessWhat is “verve” and why does Dr. Zukeri bring it up? How does a Eurocentric school framework make it more likely that a Black child’s natural behavior gets read as a disorder?
AgencyDr. Ebanks says classrooms could allow students to stand at their desks or move while working. What would you need to change in your classroom—or advocate for in your school—to make that possible?
ActionIf your school’s classrooms were redesigned to better fit African American cultural learning styles, what is one thing that would look different? What would need to change to make that happen?
|
No primary source assigned. Ask students to examine your school’s actual policies on movement, noise, and behavior. Whose learning style do those policies assume? | Monique Morris, Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools (2016) |
| Screen time and societal distraction as a structural problem | Dr. Zukeri cites a 2021 Common Sense Media report: teens average nearly 9 hours of daily screen time. Dr. Ebanks connects the shift to classroom technology post-COVID to growing attention problems across all students—and argues this is a systemic issue, not an individual one. | “A 2021 Common Sense Media report noted that the daily average for teens was just under 9 hours.” — Dr. Zukeri |
09:15 |
AwarenessWho profits from the amount of screen time teens consume? How does that connect to the rise in ADHD-like symptoms across all students?
AgencyDr. Ebanks says we are a “breeding ground for inattention.” What can a teacher or family do—within the limits of what they control—to reduce harmful screen exposure for children?
ActionWhat school policy changes around technology use would help students with ADHD specifically? Who would need to be convinced to make those changes happen?
|
Common Sense Media, The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens (2021). Cited directly in the episode. Students can look up current figures to see how screen time has shifted since 2021—and use that data to evaluate what Dr. Zukeri’s concern means today. | Common Sense Media, commonsensemedia.org |
| The shortage of Black mental health professionals: a manufactured crisis | Dr. Ebanks cites APA data: only 4–6% of U.S. psychologists are Black. She explains how this gap—in who does evaluations, who publishes research, and who provides care—directly harms Black children and families. | “According to the American Psychological Association, there’s only between 4 to 6% of psychologists are Black psychologists. That’s a problem.” — Dr. Ebanks |
12:06 |
AwarenessDr. Ebanks says the shortage of Black psychologists affects who does the research, who interprets it, and what gets published about Black communities. How does that pipeline connect to how individual Black children are diagnosed?
AgencyDr. Ebanks and her partner started The MECCA Group specifically because of this gap. What does their example show about how communities can build their own institutions when mainstream ones fail them?
ActionWhat can a school do to increase the likelihood that Black students are evaluated by someone who understands their cultural background? What would you need to advocate for to make that happen in your school or district?
|
APA Demographics of the U.S. Psychology Workforce (American Psychological Association). Public workforce data on the racial and ethnic breakdown of psychologists. Students can look up current numbers to see whether the gap Dr. Ebanks describes has changed. | ADHD Black Professional Alliance (adhdblackprofessionals.com) |
| Reframing ADHD as superpower: disrupting the deficit narrative as a CC act | Dr. Ebanks uses the Marvel superhero metaphor and Dr. Zukeri compares Hancock (unrealized potential) to T’Challa (self-realized power). Both argue that shifting the narrative from deficit to strength is not just individual self-help—it is a form of resistance against systems that profit from Black children’s self-doubt. | “It’s not a mistake that they have or a problem that they have. It can certainly be used as a uniqueness that they can use for their benefit.” — Dr. Ebanks |
17:00 |
AwarenessWho benefits when Black children with ADHD see themselves as broken or deficient? How does a deficit narrative serve the institutions that produced it?
AgencyDr. Zukeri says hyper-focus helped him become an entrepreneur but also caused burnout when he took on too much. How does understanding a strength’s shadow side give someone more agency over it?
ActionDr. Zukeri’s own doctoral research showed that connecting Black students to their African heritage boosted their identity and academic confidence. How could you bring Africana heritage and Black excellence into a conversation about ADHD in a way that feels genuine to your students?
|
No primary source assigned for this theme. | Edward Hallowell & John Ratey, ADHD 2.0 (2021) |
Series-Wide Next Steps
These activities draw on both episodes, move through all three CC dimensions, and push toward real change in your classroom, school, or community.
- AwarenessSystems map: Draw a diagram showing at least five forces from the two episodes that make it harder for Black children to get properly diagnosed and treated for ADHD. Draw arrows between forces showing how they connect. Add one sentence per arrow explaining the connection. Then add one star next to the force you think is the most powerful entry point for change—and explain why.
- AwarenessAgencyLetter from a student: Write a letter from the point of view of a Black middle school student with ADHD to their teacher. Use evidence from both episodes to explain: (1) what ADHD actually feels like from the inside; (2) one thing the teacher is probably misunderstanding; and (3) one thing the teacher could do differently—not as a favor, but because the student has a right to it. Include at least two quotes with timestamps.
- AgencyEcosystem audit: Dr. Zukeri’s research, and the CC framework behind this guide, both say that the more adults in a young person’s life who are building critical awareness, the stronger the impact. Make a list of every adult in your school or program who interacts with Black students. For each one, write one sentence about how they could be brought into the conversation this series starts. Then identify which one you could actually reach out to this week.
- ActionMini teach-in: Plan a 5-minute teach-in on one theme from either episode to share with classmates who have not listened. Include: what the problem is, who built it and who it serves, one piece of evidence from the episode, and one concrete action someone in your school could take right now. Practice it until you can deliver it without notes.
- ActionConsciousness-raising letter: Dr. Ebanks said the goal is to keep the conversation going. Write a letter to a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult in a student’s life—not a student—sharing what you learned from this series and inviting them to listen. Tell them one specific thing from the podcast that connects to their child’s experience. The goal is to bring one more part of the student’s ecosystem into this work.
About the guests
About the Creators
Dr. Mercedes Ebanks, PhD
Guest — Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology, Howard University School of Education
Dr. Mercedes Ebanks is a double Howard University alum, an Afro-Latina behavioral therapist, and an associate professor of counseling psychology with more than 15 years on Howard’s faculty. She co-founded The MECCA Group, LLC, a mental health practice in the DMV area that serves children, adolescents, and families through a deep cultural lens. Dr. Ebanks also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Negro Education—the oldest Black educational journal in the country. Her clinical and research work centers on what it means to see children whole: as people shaped by culture, history, and system, not just symptoms.
The MECCA Group →Dr. Kweli Zukeri, PhD
Host — Developmental Psychologist, Howard University Alum
Dr. Kweli Zukeri is a Howard University alum, developmental psychologist, and host of the HU2U podcast. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and brings lived experience to this series alongside academic expertise. His doctoral research examined the impact of connecting Black high school students to their African heritage—a direct example of the Africana Heritage Engagement framework that supports CC development. His openness about his own ADHD journey models the kind of adult disclosure and co-inquiry that the CC framework recommends.
HU2U Podcast →Lab Note: Today's Topic
2-minute parent briefThe Liberation Lab Work With Us Lib Lab Discussion Guide — Podcast Series Changing the ADHD Narrative From Deficit to Superpower A 2-part Howard University podcast that helps adults and youth examine how race, power, and systems shape the ADHD experience—and how to change that. Ages 11+ (youth discussion) Grades…
Conversation starters
- What did you notice first about this topic?
- Which perspective feels missing, and why?
- What is one respectful action we can take today?
Audio briefing
Podcast script
This Lab Note is powered by PBS Learning. In two minutes, here is your quick brief on today's topic: what happened, why it matters, and one question to ask before school. The Liberation Lab Work With Us Lib Lab Discussion Guide — Podcast Series Changing the ADHD Narrative From Deficit to Superpower A 2-part Howard University podcast that helps adults and youth examine how race, power, and systems shape the ADHD experience—and how to change that. Ages 11+ (youth discussion) Grades…