If Traditional Meditation Doesn’t work for you, Read This – I Thought I Was Failing at Meditation. Turns Out, I Just Needed a Different Approach. A few years ago, when my grandfather passed away, I started to realize that over … Continue reading Why Some Types of Meditation Didn’t Work for My ADHD Brain (And What Finally Did)
Asking Neurodivergent People: Have you ever been accused of “faking” your Neurodivergence?
This summer, I was named in a blog post by some random manosphere dude (along with several others) as someone who, in their opinion, has been “responsible for the gentrification of Autism, ADHD, and other disabilities,” and, according to this man, we are “pretending to be Neurodivergent for clout” and as a way to “excuse our own mediocrity,” and “anti-social,” and other so-called “bad behaviors” that this stranger claims to see in us.
When it happened, one month ago today, I mostly ignored it, but I am deciding to speak up now, because recently, I’ve seen multiple similar pieces dragging other Autistic and ADHD adults using very similar language popping up all over the internet… and I am noticing some patterns. Continue reading I Was Named in a Manosphere Hit Piece for “Gentrifying Autism”. The “Gentrification of Autism” Is a Myth. The Policing Is Real.
Growing up, school was one of the worst experiences of my life, for many reasons.
Unfortunately, though some Neurodivergent young people love and enjoy their school years, for many of us who are Neurodivergent, school can be very difficult because it is often the first system we’re pushed into that is not designed in a way that supports our needs (pressuring us to conform to neuro-normative ideals and norms that may be out of reach for us, especially if we don’t have our basic needs met).
That’s why struggling in school, for many of us, can be one of the first signs that we might be Neurodivergent. Continue reading If School Felt Like a Prison, You Might Be Neurodivergent – The Hidden Curriculum That Punishes Neurodivergent Kids
There is a lot of talk in Neurodivergent spaces about how much relief late-identified Neurodivergent people find when they finally learn the truth about themselves. However, there’s not as much discussion on the pain and grief late identification can bring.
Don’t get me wrong, being diagnosed Autistic (and then later ADHD) did bring me relief and was a critical turning point in my life. Yet, early on, as I learned to sit with that new information, joy and relief were not my only (or even primary) emotions.
People who join me in this chapter of my life, when I am confident, happy, and proud of my multiply-Neurodivergent identity, might falsely think I’ve always been this way, or that getting here was easy. However, they’re missing out on the first thirty-eight chapters of my life’s story, and nothing could be further from the truth.
Continue reading The Rage That Saved Me & The Pain Before the Pride: What Success Looks Like When You’re Late-Diagnosed – A Late Identified AuDHD (Autistic and ADHD) Story
When I was diagnosed as Autistic, almost 10 years ago now, it was a big awakening and the beginning of a journey. Continue reading The Cruelest Joke: When I Learned I Was Autistic and ADHD, I Realized That I Was Taught to Hate Myself for Being Exactly Who I Was Meant to Be.
Question for my late-identified Neurodivergent readers: Is there anything you wish you’d known or understood sooner?
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger, unidentified self, what would it be?
I am Neurodivergent, but I didn’t know it (or even what Neurodivergence or Neurodiversity was) for most of my life.
Being diagnosed Autistic, at the age of 29, a few months shy of my 30th birthday, during a mental health crisis, turned my world upside down. It also saved my life. Continue reading Growing Up Not Knowing About My Neurodivergent (Autistic and ADHD) Brain and What I Wish I Had Understood Sooner
We’re taught to compete and to measure our success against our peers. If we’re not “keeping up“ or falling “low in the ranks,” it is a failure. Continue reading I wasn’t lazy. The system was rigged. – Your ‘honor roll’ wasn’t hard work. It was privilege.
The Art of the Personal New Year: Why I Reset in Spring, Not Winter What I’m “Burying in the Ground” and What I’m Cultivating This Spring I’m going to be 39 this year. My birthday is in about a month (give or take a few days). I am a spring baby, born in Texas in March 1987. Spring is one of my favorite seasons (with Fall close behind). Here, in Texas, Spring has already sprung – and I am loving it! As far as Texas goes, while many of our laws and corrupt government officials and politicians are ass-backwards, the … Continue reading My Birthday is Next Month: Savoring Sunsets While Packing a Go Bag – Turning 39 in a Texas Spring
For years, I thought I was broken. The real problem was a system that couldn’t see my Neurodivergent mind. I wasn’t a bad student. I was a Neurodivergent one.
Continue reading Was I a bad student, or was school bad for me? – What my Autism diagnosis taught me about why school failed me.
Unmasking My Neurodivergence: The Invisible Weight of My Neurotypical Mask and the End of a War With Myself – An AuDHD Late-Diagnosis Story – When “Try Harder” Doesn’t Work Continue reading My Best Was Never Enough – I Was Called Lazy When I Was Trying My Hardest.
