Episode 272

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Published on:

11th Nov 2026

Episode 272: ADHD and The Bullying You Don't Realize Is Happening [featuring Brooke Schnittman]

Bullying doesn't always end in childhood. For adults with ADHD, it can become more subtle, normalized, and difficult to recognize.

Patrick Casale sits down with ADHD and executive function coach, author, and educator Brooke Schnittman to explore findings from her research on bullying among adults with ADHD. They discuss how misunderstood ADHD traits can contribute to harmful workplace and relationship dynamics, the lasting impact of internalized shame, and why recognizing these patterns is an important step toward self-advocacy.

The conversation also explores rejection sensitivity, building confidence, and creating more accommodating and psychologically safe workplaces.

3 Key Takeaways:

  1. Adult bullying isn't always obvious. Excessive micromanagement, public humiliation, social exclusion, and criticism disguised as concern can make harmful behavior difficult to identify.
  2. Misunderstood ADHD traits can become internalized shame. Being repeatedly labeled lazy, too sensitive, or unprofessional can shape how people view themselves and what treatment they come to accept.
  3. Understanding yourself creates opportunities for self-advocacy. Supportive relationships, ADHD-informed coaching or therapy, and appropriate accommodations can help people recognize harmful patterns, establish boundaries, and build confidence.

More about Brooke:

Brooke Schnittman, MA, PCC, BCC, is a leading executive function and ADHD coach, trainer, and best-selling author with more than 20 years in education and coaching. Diagnosed as an adult and part of a family of five with ADHD, including her husband and their three children, she deeply understands the overwhelm, frustration, and daily challenges that come with neurodivergence, from both lived experience and professional expertise.

After 15 years in special education as a teacher and administrator, Brooke founded Coaching With Brooke in 2018 and created the 3C Activation® program. Her team supports students, professionals, and parents, and trains coaches to cut overwhelm, build systems that actually work, follow through consistently, and Activate Their ADHD Potential, the focus of her work and the title of her best-selling book.

Featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and ADDitude, Brooke was named one of Success Magazine’s Top 50 Most Influential Women for 2025. She continues to elevate the ADHD community by equipping individuals and professionals with the structure, strategies, and accountability they need to thrive in work, family, and life

Brooke's Offer: https://www.coachingwithbrooke.com/3c-for-coaches

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Mentioned in this episode:

NeuroPreneur Circle Community

NeuroPreneur Circle is an online community built by and for neurodivergent entrepreneurs who want a supportive space to build a business, a space where they can show up as themselves and in whatever way feels most comfortable. NeuroPreneur Circle exists because community built on masking isn't really community. And business advice built for neurotypical brains isn't actually useful to us, no matter how many times we try to make it fit. Whatever your neurotype, whatever you're building, there's a space here for you. You've been creating alone long enough. Visit: https://atppod.com/community

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About the Podcast

The Neurodivergent Entrepreneur
Honest conversations about building a business while Neurodivergent, the self-doubt, the chaos, and everything in between.
The Neurodivergent Entrepreneur is a podcast for ADHD, Autistic, and all other neurodivergent entrepreneurs who are building businesses, creative work, and lives that actually fit how their brains work. Hosted by Patrick Casale, LCMHC, this show is for people who
want to create meaningful work, create outside of the box, grow their impact, and build something sustainable without losing themselves in the process.

Being a neurodivergent entrepreneur can feel like holding a lot of contradictions at once. You may have big ideas, deep passion, creative energy, and a strong desire to do things differently. You may also be navigating burnout, masking, self-doubt, perfectionism, rejection sensitivity, executive dysfunction, inconsistent energy, and the pressure to keep showing up when your capacity is already stretched. This podcast speaks to that reality honestly, because building a business around your brain, your values, and your lived experience can be powerful, complicated, messy, and deeply personal.

Patrick Casale is a chronically ill, AuDHD, mental health therapist, entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, event host, group practice owner, and neurodivergent business owner who has built, grown, burned out, pivoted, and kept going. His work brings together clinical insight, lived experience, business perspective, and real conversation about what it actually takes to create something that feels values aligned. His conversations are direct, compassionate, unfiltered, and practical, with room for both the emotional reality of entrepreneurship and the concrete decisions that shape a sustainable business.

New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature honest conversations with neurodivergent entrepreneurs, creators, therapists, business owners, and leaders. Together, Patrick and his guests explore entrepreneurship, identity, mental health, chronic health,
creativity, leadership, systems, money mindset, visibility, community, sustainable growth, and the behind-the-scenes reality of creating work that matters.

Build your dream business. Protect your capacity. Work with your brain instead of against it.