Hacking Your ADHD: Research Recap with Skye – Bullying and ADHD

Host: William Curb
Guest: Skye Waterson
Date: December 12, 2025

Episode Overview

In this Research Recap episode, William Curb and Skye Waterson discuss a research paper entitled Bullying in Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Analyzing Student Social Status and Student Teacher Relationship Quality. The focus is on how ADHD affects peer and teacher relationships, particularly in relation to bullying, based on a study using data from Italian students. William and Skye share personal experiences before breaking down the research, its methods, findings, and the practical implications for people living with ADHD and those around them.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Personal Reflections on School Experiences (01:41–03:45)

• Both hosts recount their individual school experiences.
  • William shares he wasn’t severely bullied, using non-reactivity to diffuse attempts, noting some people aren't as lucky in such situations.
  • Skye recalls struggling in primary school to fit in with peers, relating to the experience of "standing out, but not for the right reasons," and how this tied to ADHD challenges socially.

Notable Quote:

"I definitely related to that and I definitely did struggle to, like, get on the same page as my peers when I was in primary school." – Skye Waterson (02:46)

Exploring the Research Paper (03:45–07:39)

• Paper Summary: Investigates if ADHD predicts teacher and peer relationship quality, and if these in turn predict bullying victimization and perpetration.
• Sample Concerns: 135 students (27 with ADHD), a relatively small ADHD group—highlighted by the hosts as a limitation.
• Limitations Noted: Both acknowledge the paper’s honesty in addressing its insufficient sample size for broader generalization.
  • Skye draws a colorful analogy: “It’s like if you read a novel and then at the end of the novel they were like, these are all the plot holes that you missed.” (05:00)

Measurement Methods (05:09–09:44)

• Bullying Measurement: Self-report via the Adolescent Peer Relations Instrument (APRI), a 36-item questionnaire assessing frequency and types of bullying (physical, verbal, social).
  • Critical insight: Focus is on perceived bullying, regardless of others’ intentions.
  • William: “The impacts of bullying don't really matter if someone is doing it on purpose. It matters how the person is perceiving it happening.” (06:34)
• Teacher Relationships: Students rated closeness and conflict with their primary teacher (often the Italian language or science teacher).
• Peer Status: Used “peer nomination” (who students would choose as partners) which both hosts recall as “triggering” from childhood memories.
  • Skye: “Who is your best friend? Who are you picking first for sports? ... that was every day.” (09:24)

Key Findings from the Study (10:32–11:56)

• ADHD and Social Status:

  • Children with ADHD had more conflict with teachers.
  • They were less liked by classmates and more “visible” in class (for negative reasons).
  • High visibility with low likability amplifies vulnerability to bullying.
    • William: “All these things where it's like, oh, yeah, this kid is standing out and they're not getting... not for good reasons.” (10:32)
    • Skye: “Low likability but high visibility may create bullying and amplify vulnerability to bullying in the classroom.” (11:17)

• Teacher Relationship Paradox: Sometimes close teacher relationships can backfire socially, possibly eliciting jealousy from peers.

  • William: “You have this image of the teacher's pet kind of thing and students being like, oh, I don't like how much attention they're getting.” (03:45, see also 11:35)

Practical Implications & Advice (12:11–16:54)

Social Skills and ADHD

• Book Reference: Carolyn McGuire’s Why Will No One Play with Me?—explores the social struggles ADHD can present (misreading cues, missing body language).
• Skye: “They might interrupt or not want to play or not get the social nuances of things that are going on. And that can be the case with ADHD.” (13:26)
• William: Relates to seeing mismatched energy and social difficulties in his own children and their peers.

Strategies for Parents and Kids

• Mindfulness: Encouraging ADHD children to slow down and “see what’s going on with everyone” can help, building awareness of social context before acting on impulse.
  • William: “Having mindfulness practices can really help you. Oh, you know what? Steve's really mad right now. Maybe I shouldn't do a tackle hug on him right now.” (15:08)
  • The impulsivity component of ADHD underlies many social miscues.

Perspective and Self-Compassion

• Skye: Encourages self-acceptance and reframing of past social struggles as common ADHD experiences, “We work in different ways, we notice different things... Sometimes that makes it hard to relate to others.” (16:07)

Addressing Lingering Effects

• William: “If you're still feeling some of these issues... it can be helpful to go back and heal your inner child.” (16:39)

Reflecting on School Experience and Social Skill Building (17:01–18:24)

• School is both a place of positives and negatives, memories of both fondness and difficulty.
• The paper inspires reflection on how schools are environments that often force social interaction, without much individual control.

Advice for Parents and Teachers

• William: “If you have kids yourself, you can... help them learn those skills to better work with friends... If you're a teacher, you can... watch for the hidden dynamics... how you can do that without singling them out and making it worse at the same time.” (17:46)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Bullying Experience:
  “I just didn't respond to them and that... was very effective at deterring them.” – William Curb (01:59)

• On Bullying’s Subjectivity:
  “The impacts of bullying don't really matter if someone is doing it on purpose. It matters how the person is perceiving it happening.” – William Curb (06:34)

• On Classroom Visibility:
  “Low likability but high visibility may create bullying and amplify vulnerability to bullying in the classroom.” – Skye Waterson (11:17)

• On Social Skill Struggles:
  “They might interrupt or not want to play or not get the social nuances of things that are going on. And that can be the case with ADHD.” – Skye Waterson (13:26)

• On Mindfulness:
  “Having mindfulness practices can really help you... it's the impulsivity that's really what's driving this.” – William Curb (15:08)

• On Self-Compassion:
  “It is, it's normal, it's apparently reasonably common. And so, you know, it doesn't have to be this idea of something that you take with you.” – Skye Waterson (16:07)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Host/Guest School Experiences: 01:41–03:45
• Research Overview, Limitations: 03:45–07:39
• Measurement Methods (Bullying, Teachers, Peers): 05:09–09:44
• Findings on ADHD, Social Status, and Bullying: 10:32–11:56
• Practical Strategies, Social Skills: 12:11–16:54
• Advice for Parents/Teachers, Closing Thoughts: 17:01–18:24

Final Thoughts

This episode provides an empathetic and research-grounded conversation on how ADHD can impact children’s social experiences in school, especially around bullying and social exclusion. William and Skye dissect both personal and study-derived insights, offering actionable advice and hopeful perspective for parents, educators, and anyone shaped by similar experiences.

For additional resources or to request the research paper, listeners are encouraged to reach out via Skye’s Unconventional Organization.