Learn about neurodivergent experiences and how to best support those who live them.
Fifty years ago, a parent could bring a child with a disability to the local public school and be turned away at the door. No enrollment, no plan, no services, and nothing illegal about the refusal. In some states, there were laws on the books that kept deaf, blind, or intellectually disabled children out entirely. … read more
You are halfway through explaining a problem out loud when you hear yourself land on the answer. You did not plan the ending. The sentence just arrived, somewhere between “so the thing is” and “oh, wait, that’s it.” If that is how your best thinking tends to show up, especially if you have ADHD, there … read more
You read a sentence somewhere, maybe in a forum thread at one in the morning, that said your brain was not broken. It was just wired differently. Something in your chest loosened a little. That sentence, more or less, is the neurodiversity paradigm. It is the idea that brain differences like ADHD, autism, and dyslexia … read more
Have you ever walked away from a conversation thinking: “That isn’t what I meant to say.” Or maybe you’ve replayed an argument over and over in your head, coming up with the perfect response hours after the conversation ended. Maybe you’ve avoided bringing up a problem entirely because you were afraid the discussion would turn … read more
You’re three aisles into the grocery store when it lands. The lights are too bright, the freezer motors are humming, a kid is shrieking two carts over, and your skin has started to feel like it was put on backwards. Most advice would tell you to leave. But you have a cart half full of … read more
You get home from an ordinary day, shut the door, and feel your whole body let go at once. The brighter voice switches off. The face you have been holding all day softens. You did not notice how much effort you were spending until the moment you stopped. That effort has a name. Autistic masking … read more
You can hold a whole system in your head, explain it to someone in a way that makes them say “oh, that’s clever,” and still be three weeks late on a form that takes eleven minutes. That gap has a name. Twice exceptional adults, often shortened to 2e, hold high ability in some area alongside … read more
By the time I have figured out what I want to say, the conversation has already moved on. Two topics on, usually. It is not that I did not understand what was said. I understood fine. My brain just takes the room in slower than the room moves, so by the time my response is … read more
You have played the same song forty times today. Maybe a hundred. The play count kept climbing while you worked, washed the dishes, and answered emails, and you have no plans to put on anything else. If you have ADHD, or you are autistic, or both, listening to the same song on repeat for hours … read more
You blocked off the whole afternoon for the thing you said mattered. The project, the workout, the email you have been meaning to send for a week. The time came, and you did not move. You scrolled, or you cleaned something that did not need cleaning. And somewhere in the not-moving, a familiar verdict showed … read more