
As a child growing up in the 1970s and ‘80s in the New York City public school system with undiagnosed ADHD, bestselling author and speaker Peter Shankman didn’t have the easiest time in class. But despite constantly being told he was disrupting class as a kid, Shankman managed to thrive as an adult, starting and selling three successful companies, including Help a Reporter Out, the renown platform that connects journalists with expert sources. He has also written five books, including the bestselling Faster Than Normal, which offers tips and hacks to help adults with ADHD streamline their routines and get things done. A media entrepreneur who speaks all over the world, hosts the popular Faster Than Normal podcast and is a licensed skydiver and angel investor, Shankman is also father to a 9-year-old daughter.
His latest book, The Boy With the Faster Brain, is the story of his own childhood and features 10-year-old Peter who keeps getting in trouble in school until he meets a doctor who teaches him how to drive his faster-than-normal ADHD brain using tools like movement, breathing exercises and mindfulness. The message behind the book, and all of Shankman’s work, is to see neurodiversity as a gift, not a curse.
We chatted with Shankman about the book and the work he’s doing to change the conversation about neurodiversity both in classrooms and in the workplace.
New Jersey Family: You did so much to help adults with ADHD when you wrote Faster Than Normal and now you’ve shifted your message to kids. What inspired you to write The Boy With The Faster Brain?
Peter Shankman: I never want another child to have to grow up the way I did, which in school was essentially being told I was broken. When I was growing up, ADHD didn’t exist. What existed was ‘Sit down, you’re disrupting the class’ and it was very tough. My parents were awesome. They dealt with a lot. I was constantly getting notes sent home and constantly getting in trouble and it was tough. Looking back, I’d get yelled at for making jokes in class. Well, what happens when I make a joke? The class laughs and I get a dopamine hit.
What does a dopamine hit do? It allows me to focus. I was getting in trouble because I was trying to focus and I was trying to learn. I didn’t know any better. When I got out of school, I got into a world where being different was a benefit. Over the years, I just started realizing, ‘Hey, I can do really well here.’ Everything I do, everything that I was, was actually beneficial in the real world. After I sold my third company, I finally got diagnosed. I thought, ‘OK, that makes sense, but how come I can start and sell three companies, but I can’t remember to take out the trash?’
NJF: When did it occur to you that you might have ADHD?
PS: The funny part is ever since I first heard about it, I’m sure I knew it. My therapist one day said, ‘Let’s talk about..’ This was probably three years into my therapy and he said, ‘You’ve never mentioned what, if anything, you do for your ADHD.’ I said, ‘I don’t have ADHD.’ He gave me that head tilt, like, ‘Seriously now, Peter,’ type look. I said, ‘Oh OK. Yes, I guess.’ Everything started to make sense. Then I got diagnosed. I equate it to when you break your leg and you have a bone sticking out of your leg. You pretty much know your leg is broken. You don’t need a diagnosis, you just need to fix your leg. It was the same thing. I didn’t need to fix my brain, but I did understand that I could use it differently.
We need to look at neurodiversity differently. The reason we sit in rows in classrooms dates back to the 1700s when schoolhouses were one room and there was no other way to sit. We don’t have to do these things anymore. We can change the way we educate. Something as simple as changing the way you sit and allowing kids to stand up; allowing them to walk to the back of the room if they need an oxygen break or a dopamine break. Just because it’s been done that way before doesn’t mean that’s the way we should keep doing it. We need to look at how differences in our brains can be helpful and can be utilized.
NJF: I love this message for kids, especially given all that you’ve accomplished in your career including launching Help A Reporter Out.
PS: I came up with the idea as I was waiting for a flight from LA to New York, connecting through Houston. I sketched out the idea on the plane from LA to Houston, called a programmer friend of mine from a lounge in Houston, landed in New York with a functioning website, and launched the company the next day.
NJF: Talk about faster than normal!
PS: The highway of life is littered with dead brilliant ideas that never became anything because the person who had the idea said, ‘Oh, that’ll never fly,’ or, ‘That’s too hard.’ The nice thing about ADHD is that we give it a shot. What’s the worst thing that can happen? It fails. Okay, great. We’ll start something new. We’ll start something else. When I went out on my own and realized that I couldn’t work for anyone else, I remember telling my parents. They said, ‘You don’t know anything about running a business.’ I said ‘I know. I’m going to go on my own and try to launch a PR firm. When it fails, not if it fails, when it fails, I’ll get a job.’ Well, this October is going to be 25 years and I haven’t had to get a job.
NJF: That’s so inspiring, especially for kids. In the book, you share a lot of great tools for kids with ADHD such as movement, exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness and breathing. What have they done for you as an adult and how can they help kids?
PS: I think one of the things that kids need to know is that because their brains work differently, they have to treat them differently. Different is not bad. Look, when you’re in third grade and someone says you’re different, that’s the kiss of death. Let’s not say they’re different. Let’s say they’re faster.
Our brains can do amazing things. To be able to learn how to drive our faster brains is really the key and the gift. I guess the best way to describe it is if I had a Honda all my life. I know how to get on the highway: I have to floor it. To get up to highway speed, I have to floor it. If someone gives me a Lamborghini and I try to drive it the same way I drove the Honda and I floor it to get on the highway, we’re going to have a problem because all of a sudden I’m going 200 miles an hour. I’m 5 miles ahead from where I started and I probably just crashed into a tree.
We have to learn how to drive our faster brains. Once we learn how to drive our faster brain, there is absolutely nothing we can’t do.
NJF: I love that you’re talking to companies like Google and Morgan Stanley about neurodiversity in the workplace. What do you think we can expect to see in the workplace in the future? What is your message to teenagers and kids about the future and neurodiversity in the workplace?
PS: Well, funnily enough, the pandemic actually helped us understand that we can do more. That we don’t have to live the traditional, let’s go to the office thing. Because of that, we’re going to see a different world where we are now able to work from anywhere. We’ll be able to work from anywhere and do the job we want.
Companies that are neurodivergent friendly and neurodivergent welcoming will see massively increased output and productivity, and a happier workforce. When you allow your employees to work hours that suit them as long as they get their job done…you see a higher increase or higher output and a better outlook within the company. That’s something that companies are starting to realize now and that’s something I’m teaching companies.
NJF: I saw that you dedicated the book to your daughter. What does she think about it?
PS: She loves it. She understands that Daddy’s brain goes faster than normal, and she understands that Daddy is happier and more productive when he does certain things. It was very funny when she was four years old and I’ll never forget this…I work out every morning. The bike keeps me sane, and it gives me that dopamine I need to do better. I came back one morning, I woke up and I didn’t work out. I was tired and I overslept. That was a weekend, and I came inside, we were having breakfast and she says, ‘Dad, did you go do your bike today? I said, ‘No, honey, I slept a little.’ ‘Yes, I know you’re not as happy.’
NJF: Wow, what an insightful kid. What’s the response been among the classes you’ve visited?
PS: I visited fourth graders in Wayne and I’ll try to say this without crying. A kid came up to me afterward, and his head was down. He wasn’t looking at me and he said, ‘I just want to say thank you because I never met anyone successful who is like me before.’
NJF: That’s so powerful. You’ve been so successful, and you’re living life on your terms, and that’s the most impactful message of this book. Kids who read it are going to see endless potential and opportunities for themselves.
PS: I really hope so.
NJF: What’s next for you?
PS: I’m speaking to a lot of companies. I’m doing a lot of keynotes. My goal is to change and advance the conversation around all forms of neurodiversity.
Read More:
Help Your Child With the Challenges of ADHD
5 School Strategies for Kids With ADHD