In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes Monique Lindner — a late-identified Autistic woman whose life once revolved around relentless achievement, overwork, and endurance.
Monique was a high-performing systems thinker, corporate leader, and entrepreneur who learned early how to push through trauma, chronic pain, sleep deprivation, and sensory overload. What finally cracked the façade wasn’t a dramatic breakdown — it was a slow unravelling, followed by a single, unexpected question from her book editor that sent her down a ten-month path toward understanding her neurodivergence.
Together, Angela and Monique explore late identification, masking, Autistic burnout, trauma, friendship loss, unmasking, psychic pattern-matching, and what happens when you stop explaining yourself and start protecting your nervous system.
🪑 Attendees
Chair: Dr Angela Kingdon — Author, community-builder, and Autistic advocate
Guest: Monique Lindner — Late-identified Autistic writer, entrepreneur, and systems thinker
You: The Listener!
🗒️ Meeting Agenda
🧾 Minutes from the Meeting
1️⃣ Opening Remarks
Angela introduces Monique as someone whose life looked successful on the outside — leadership roles, global travel, financial stability — while quietly exacting a devastating cost on her nervous system. What finally brought clarity wasn’t collapse alone, but permission to question why survival had become the baseline.
2️⃣ Member Introduction: Monique’s Story
Monique spent decades pushing through exhaustion, trauma, and sensory overload without understanding why it cost her so much. Her autism went unrecognised until the pandemic revealed how much relief she felt in solitude. A question from her book editor finally gave her language for her burnout, intuition, and need for boundaries.
3️⃣ Discussion Highlights
4️⃣ Key Learnings
📌 Notice Board
📣 Club Announcements
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