Tag: mental health

Children & Families, SubstackLeave a comment
Lyric (with long dark hair and shaved sides, with rainbow glasses), sitting in the corner surrounded by books they’ve written or collaborated on (The U.S. Autism, Identity, and Me Children’s Workbook and Parent/Helper Guide, and Workplace Neurodiversity Rising, while reading Neurodivergent Rebel’s The Weight of Normal).

I Was A Word Hoarder: For me, hyperlexia wasn’t just “reading early.” It was (and is) a specific way my brain processes symbols.

Lyric Holmans

If you’ve never heard of Hyperlexia before, it is when a person can read words very, very well (often better than most people). We may also struggle more with understanding the full context of what we read. In addition, many of us who are Hyperlexic often understand what we read more easily than what is said to us out loud. Continue reading I Was A Word Hoarder: For me, hyperlexia wasn’t just “reading early.” It was (and is) a specific way my brain processes symbols.

Masking / Passing, SubstackLeave a comment
Lyric, years ago, with long black hair and pale skin from staying indoors, dressed as in a red hood and red and silver mask.

Growing Up Not Knowing About My Neurodivergent (Autistic and ADHD) Brain and What I Wish I Had Understood Sooner

Lyric Holmans

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

Children & Families, Family, Masking / PassingLeave a comment
Young Lyric, with long black hair and a blank expression, was wearing a paper hat they had made, with a stuffed bulldog beside them as they stood in front of a bookshelf in their grandparent’s home.

Reaching My Breaking Point – I Used to Think My Detachment Was a Superpower. It Was Actually a Survival Skill.

Lyric Holmans

For much of my life, I felt like a passenger in my own body, but a few years ago, after reaching my breaking point when my grandfather and then our oldest dog Rocky both passed away within a few short weeks of one another, something inside me started to change rapidly.

Before that point, I’d been managing. Yet, this moment, holding my grandfather’s hand as they pulled the plug, and then doing the same with Rocky, as his kidneys failed soon after (when we decided the kindest thing we could do for him was to let him go), ended up becoming a tipping point (one that sent all of my carefully balanced dominoes tumbling down). Continue reading Reaching My Breaking Point – I Used to Think My Detachment Was a Superpower. It Was Actually a Survival Skill.

Masking / Passing, SubstackLeave a comment

I Had to Unlearn Shame to Find My Autistic Pride – They Told Me My Autistic Traits Were Flaws. I Know Better Now.

Lyric Holmans

Before I knew it was Autism, I didn’t have Autistic pride – only shame for my Autistic traits. Autistic pride is something I had to grow into. Here’s what changed. Continue reading I Had to Unlearn Shame to Find My Autistic Pride – They Told Me My Autistic Traits Were Flaws. I Know Better Now.

Substack, UpdatesLeave a comment
Cover of the book 'Autism, Identity and Me: A Practical Workbook to Empower Adults' by Rebecca Duffus and Lyric Rivera, featuring a colorful floral design. The book is available for pre-order and will ship in November 2026.

Why I Dreaded This Task… and Why I’m Grateful I Did It – Over 13 Hours, 390 Pages, and One Very Stiff Back: A Copyediting Saga

Lyric Holmans

I really think we have something VERY special with the Autism, Identity and Me Adult Workbook (not that the children’s workbooks or my other projects weren’t also special), because I could only have dreamed of having a workbook LIKE THIS ten years ago (when I was newly diagnosed as Autistic). Continue reading Why I Dreaded This Task… and Why I’m Grateful I Did It – Over 13 Hours, 390 Pages, and One Very Stiff Back: A Copyediting Saga

LGBTQIA+, SubstackLeave a comment
Lyric appears smiling, against a rainbow pride background, holding a cartoon brick. Beside them are four floating hearts representing the nonbinary flag, trans flag, pansexual flag, genderfluid flag, and polyamorous flag; beside them, it reads “Lyric - they/them.”

Pride Month 2026: Visibility Is Becoming Dangerous Again – If lists are being made, I’m fairly certain I’m already on them.

Lyric Holmans

Pride Month Is Next Week. I’m Not Sure How Visible I Want to Be Anymore. – The leaders of our movement are still the ones with nothing left to lose. Continue reading Pride Month 2026: Visibility Is Becoming Dangerous Again – If lists are being made, I’m fairly certain I’m already on them.

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A video game character with cat ears and a health bar above them that is mostly full. To their side is a gold plaque that says ‘level up’.

The DSM-5 Has No Language for an Autistic Person at Peace – The Medical Model Only Shows You Our Worst Days

Lyric Holmans

I like to describe my experience using a video game ‘health bar’ metaphor.

The non-autistic people around me, especially those with more proximity to neuro-normativity, live in an environment that is tailored to charge up their ‘health bars’, or to take less life force away from them. Continue reading The DSM-5 Has No Language for an Autistic Person at Peace – The Medical Model Only Shows You Our Worst Days

Collaborations, SubstackLeave a comment

Human Binaries: NeuroDivergent and Queer – Coloring Outside the Lines Will Be Punished – Intro to my latest book, Neurodivergent Rebel’s, The Weight of Normal

Lyric Holmans

Human minds crave simplicity and easy, quick categorizations; that’s why many stereotypes and false assumptions about those in marginalized groups run wild in our dominant culture (because it’s easier for people to oversimplify by thinking in black and white while ignoring nuance). This creates a failure to appreciate people as individual humans, and pressure on everyone to fit within narrow, unnatural, binary norms and categorizations. Continue reading Human Binaries: NeuroDivergent and Queer – Coloring Outside the Lines Will Be Punished – Intro to my latest book, Neurodivergent Rebel’s, The Weight of Normal

Coworkers, SubstackLeave a comment
Photo of Lyric, with a freshly shaved head, and the long middle part pulled back. They are posing for the camera, giving a shoulder and a closed-mouth smirk. They’re also wearing a black tank top and posing in their RV.

The Mystery Sickness That Almost Killed My Career (Before I Knew I Was Autistic): The 6-Year Burnout – What Corporate America Did to My AuDHD Brain

Lyric Holmans

To cope with my differences before AD (before Autism Diagnosis), I managed my life by leaning heavily into my skills, strengths, and abilities, while avoiding my weaknesses like they were a deadly sickness (because I would often become physically unwell whenever I put myself under too much stress). Continue reading The Mystery Sickness That Almost Killed My Career (Before I Knew I Was Autistic): The 6-Year Burnout – What Corporate America Did to My AuDHD Brain