Episode Transcript (provided by Riverside - forgive any errors): https://link.sheldongayisbugn.com/s3e23transcript
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I've spent a lot of time thinking about the parts of myself I didn't have language for until later in life. In this recap episode of I Must Be BUG'N, I sit with that feeling after my conversation with Patrick Casale MA LCMHC, an AuDHD therapist who didn't discover he was autistic until he was 35 years old.
I ask the question that stays with me long after we stop recording: what does it cost us to grow up without the words for who we are? Autistic kids become autistic adults, yet somewhere along the way, the support just stops. I trace that gap, and I trace something harder to admit that Patrick names outright - the way ableism lives inside the neurodivergent community itself, shaping how we judge our own diagnoses before we even accept them.
I follow that thread into reflecting on Patrick's thoughts on addiction, and how a search for connection can pull someone toward rooms that aren't necessarily safe. I land on the idea that keeps pulling me back in every conversation like this one: diagnosis doesn't just explain a person to themselves. It changes how they get loved. It completely changes the probability some relationships can survive.
This episode is for anyone who's ever felt like a stranger in their own story - and for anyone ready to meet themselves for the first time.
neurodivergence, autism, ableism, addiction, relationships, self-discovery, identity, mental health, awareness, personal growth
Intro and Outro music provided by byrdversion1 - \"Understand\" from the album Nevermore
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