AuDHD Flourishing

Achievements often feel tied into personal identity. AuDHD folks in particular struggle with achievement pressures, even with just regular neurodivergent demand avoidance.A few core topics:The joy of supporting others' work and stepping back from being the primary creatorAchievements often don't provide the emotions we expect, so it's meaningful to focus on making the process feel better insteadCreativity requires boredom and restAnd the very surprising thought I had that led to this episode...Episodes mentioned:Andrew Simonet on creating supportive feedback convos as a creativeWhen Dreams Feel Impossible (last week's episode)Autistic Stereotypes with Thomas HenleyResources:Like Your Brain community spaceTranscript DocEmail Newsletter

Thomas Henley educates, normalizes, and actively pushes back against autistic stereotypes and stigma. Check out his highly rated podcast, Thoughty Auti - The Autism Podcast (on which I talked about AuDHD). Thomas has made multiple decisions in his life to combat stereotypes, including months of backpacking, and becoming a world-class martial artist, both of which he talks about today. We also touch on what some of the lingering stereotypes are, and what helps!More from Thomas:Thoughty Auti - The Autism Podcast@thomashenleyUK on Instagram & TikTokWebsite: thomashenley.co.ukThis is a slightly edited podcast that was recorded about a year ago for The Longer Road. Resources:Like Your Brain community spaceTranscript DocEmail Newsletter

You may have internalized the message as a child that there was something wrong or bad about you. Even if it was not explicit, you probably didn't receive some of the attention and delight that would have sent the strong message that your way of being in the world is valid.Today's message is simple: You were not a bad child. You deserved love and support in a way that made sense to you. Thank you to the therapist who walked me through this concept! Thank you to Linda Thai for providing such amazing emotional support through the courses and group coaching I've taken with her. I credit both of them with helping me learn how to reparent myself in a more deep way.Resources:Like Your Brain community space (where the picture is that I mentioned in the episode... it's visible to all members including free members)Transcript DocEmail Newsletter

Rest is not something to be made up for later with productivity. Whether it was forced by the body or not. We deserve to have energy to do what we love!Love Your Brain now has three elements you can choose from for more accessibility:Love Your Brain course contentGroup coaching and co-working callsDirect support from Mattia

Eric Tivers has shared 10 years of helpful content on his podcast, ADHD reWired. He's also built multiple careers helping neurodivergent folks: from therapy, to teaching high support need kids, to the current ADHD group programs. It's a never-ending journey of discovering what works for his current needs and capacity. And the relatively recent discovery of... oh... maybe there's something to this autism thing. Find Eric and his work at adhdrewired.comResources:Like Your Brain community spaceTranscript DocEmail Newsletter

Multiple times in the past week or two, clients have felt like they're failing miserably. But it turns out they're in complex, difficult, multifaceted situations that don't have an easy answer. Plus, it's easy to feel like we're never doing enough, or the right thing. If we're solving personal problems, world events loom large. If we're addressing world events, it feels like a drop in the bucket. Capitalism tells us that there's a straightforward, purchasable solution for every problem. That's a lie. You're probably doing really well relative to all the complicated issues you face, and the overall lack of support and resources most of us encounter. And if you really believe that's not true... this episode is especially for you! Link: Sign up for General Strike in US!Resources:Like Your Brain community spaceTranscript DocEmail Newsletter

Big feelings may be harder for monotropic people to handle. And if you have significant sensory sensitivity, the physical sensations can be overwhelming as well. This episode covers some of the ways I've been approaching grief and helplessness about Gaza. Links mentioned in show: Episode 15, How Feelings WorkLisa Feldman Barrett's book How Emotions Are MadeAl Jazeera article, ‘It’s not human’: What a French doctor saw in Gaza as Israel invaded RafahMacklemore song Hind's HallSign up for General Strike in US!Resources:Like Your Brain community spaceTranscript DocEmail Newsletter

You'll rarely catch me using the term "hack." But this concept around demand avoidance is working great for me, so far... TLDR: Shortcutting the PDA brain's ability to use pattern recognition to avoid tasks early in a sequence. Here's the Instagram video by Kristy Forbes that inspired this episode. While she suggests introducing new sensory details, I'm going the route of sincerely telling myself that we don't need to do the final thing. We're just gonna do this step. Note: even if this or Kristy's suggestion works for you, there's a good chance you'll get used to it in some form eventually! And that's okay. Sometimes we just have to keep finding new ways to work with our pattern-seeking brains. Resources:Like Your Brain community spaceTranscript DocEmail Newsletter