Episode 79: Managing Sibling Conflict & ADHD with Jacquie Ward

It's Sunday afternoon. Your kids can't walk past each other without it turning into something. Every interaction is a battle. And somewhere in the middle of it, you're thinking — when they grow up, are they ever going to be friends?

If that's your house, stay with us.

Sharon is joined by Jacquie Ward — Registered Psychologist and mum of three, including a child with ADHD — to talk about one of the most common and most misunderstood challenges in ADHD family life. Why sibling conflict is more intense in your home, and what to actually do about it. 

👀 In This Episode:

• Why sibling conflict is more intense in ADHD families — and why you are not imagining it
• The six ADHD factors that create the perfect storm for sibling conflict
• Executive function age vs chronological age — and why it changes your expectations
• The family nervous system: why the whole house feels it when one child dysregulates
• Sharon's Blue Mountains story — and the moment that changed everything
• Why prevention beats reaction every time
• The Three Cs Framework: Cool Down, Communicate, Collaborate
• Why jumping in as referee is making things worse
• The one action to take this week that will change your next sibling fight 
  
  

Quote to Carry With You 

"You are not stuffing this up. Your family is not beyond support. This is a very predictable friction point in ADHD families — and it is not beyond help." 

— Sharon Collon 

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

• 00:00 – The Sunday afternoon scene — sibling conflict in ADHD homes
• 01:13 – Introducing Jacquie Ward
• 02:31 – The six ADHD factors that create the perfect storm
• 05:01 – Executive function age vs chronological age
• 06:43 – The family nervous system and emotional contagion
• 08:14 – Why conflict in public hits differently
• 11:06 – Sharon's Blue Mountains story
• 15:44 – The Three Cs Framework: Cool Down, Communicate, Collaborate
• 16:30 – Why prevention beats reaction
• 19:15 – Cool Down — the most important first step
• 21:06 – Communicate — giving kids the language
• 24:01 – Collaborate — building skills for long-term change
• 26:28 – The one action to take this week
• 28:45 – Workshop details — May 11–13

 

🥊   Want to Go Deeper? Stop the Fighting. Start Feeling Like a Family Again. 

Sharon and Jacquie are running a 3-part live workshop series — the full playbook with scripts, in-the-moment strategies, and prevention tools specifically for ADHD families.

• Live sessions: May 11, 12 and 13 at 7:30–8:30pm AEST
• Replay available for 6 months
• Payment plans via Afterpay and Klarna

JOIN US HERE 

🔔 Next Steps & Resources

Subscribe to the   ADHD Families Podcast

• Join the waitlist for the   ADHD Family Quest
• Learn more at   thefunctionalfamily.com
  
  

💛 Work With Sharon

Sharon Collon   is a PCC credentialed ADHD family coach and founder of The Functional Family. She works with parents of children with ADHD who are exhausted by the daily battles — the mornings, the meltdowns, the school emails,