Autistic Culture Presents...

The Hot Topic is back! In this return episode, Jordan James and Simon Scott react to actor Tom Hardy publicly revealing that he is neurodivergent.The conversation explores why representation matters, especially when someone as widely respected and traditionally “masculine” as Tom Hardy openly discusses being on the spectrum, as well as Tom Hardy’s collaboration with Tatami Fightwear on a new neurodiversity-themed jiu-jitsu clothing range, with profits supporting autism charities.A funny, passionate, and honest return for the Hot Topic episodes — exploring celebrity representation, neurodivergent identity, and why visibility still matters.Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring→ sophiejamesndmentoring.com🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

In this episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott are joined by author, advocate, and lived experience ambassador Paul Stevenson for a powerful conversation about Tourette’s Syndrome, ADHD, late diagnosis, masking, trauma, and finding strength through neurodivergence.Paul reflects on growing up in a time when neurodivergence was misunderstood and punished, sharing how years of masking, shame, and feeling “different” shaped his life before eventually receiving diagnoses of Tourette’s Syndrome and ADHD later in adulthood.Together, they discuss neurodivergent strengths, workplace accommodations, education reform, creativity, anxiety, community, and the importance of helping young neurodivergent people feel seen before life teaches them to hide themselves.A deeply honest and inspiring conversation about resilience, self-understanding, and the power of opening doors for others.About Paul Stevenson:Paul Stevenson is a lived experience ambassador at Genius Within, international speaker, author, and advocate for neurodiversity and inclusion. He is widely recognised for his work raising awareness around Tourette’s Syndrome, ADHD, and neurodivergent lived experience.Paul is the author of My Tics and Me, an educational children’s book designed to promote understanding and acceptance of neurodiversity from an early age.3 Men with Tourette's go on holiday (National Geographic Taboo Series)Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring→ sophiejamesndmentoring.com🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

Warning: This episode includes discussion of terminal cancer, sudden bereavement, grief, burnout, and mental health struggles. Please listen with care.In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes Scott Simpson, a late-identified Autistic and ADHD creator, former broadcast journalist, and widowed father who has been raising his son solo since 2016.After decades working in radio, Scott’s life began to unravel through grief, burnout, and the collapse of the structures that had quietly supported him for years. What followed was a search to understand executive functioning, ADHD, and eventually Autism.Together, Angela and Scott explore hidden support needs, burnout after loss, Autistic shutdown, identity through memoirs and community, and why many late-identified adults only recognise their needs once life’s scaffolding disappears.This is a conversation about grief, structure, survival, and finally understanding yourself.🪑 AttendeesChair: Dr Angela Kingdon — Author, community-builder, and Autistic advocateGuest: Scott Simpson — Content creator, former broadcaster, and late-identified AuDHD parentYou: The Listener!🗒️ Meeting AgendaOpening remarks from the ChairMember introduction: Gifted kid, burnout, and late recognitionDiscussion: Special education and social confusionWidowhood, solo parenting, and hidden support needsRadio career collapse and autistic burnoutADHD diagnosis and later Autism recognitionStructure, scaffolding, and unmet needsKey learningsClub announcements🧾 Minutes from the Meeting1️⃣ Opening RemarksAngela introduces Scott Simpson, a creator and former radio professional whose late identification followed years of grief, burnout, and trying to understand why life had become so much harder.2️⃣ Member Introduction: Scott’s StoryScott was identified as “gifted” in childhood and placed into a specialist education program. While his intelligence was recognised early, his social struggles and deeper support needs were not.As an adult, he built a long career in broadcasting, married, became a father, and later experienced profound loss when his wife died of cancer while their son was still young.When career structure and family scaffolding fell away, Scott began exploring executive functioning, received an ADHD diagnosis, and later recognised Autism.3️⃣ Discussion HighlightsGifted program: Early intelligence recognised, while deeper needs were missedSmart but struggling: Academic ability masking social confusionRelationship patterns: Trying hard without understanding the rulesSudden grief: Becoming a widowed father to a three-year-oldRadio collapse: Career pressure, impossible demands, and burnoutHidden scaffolding: Job structure and parenting routines quietly sustaining lifeADHD first: Executive functioning becomes the doorway to understandingAutism later: Shutdowns, overwhelm, and lifelong patterns making senseMemoirs mattered: Learning through Autistic voices and lived experienceSupport needs emerge: Struggles become visible once the structure disappears4️⃣ Key LearningsHigh achievement can hide unmet support needs.Grief and burnout often expose needs that were once masked.Executive functioning struggles are often misunderstood as laziness or failure.Late recognition can come after life changes remove coping systems.Autistic voices and memoirs can be more powerful than diagnostic checklists.Support is often invisible until it is gone.📌 Notice BoardScott’s WebsiteScott’s YouTube Channel📣 Club Announcements🎧 The Late Diagnosis Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.💬 Join our online meetups and community at latediagnosis.club.📌 Check the LDC Notice Board for Member Contributions💜 There is a small charge — but no one is turned away for lack of funds.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

In this episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott explore the often-overlooked concept of boreout, and how it can feel almost identical to burnout, especially for neurodivergent people.They unpack how under-stimulation, not just stress or overwhelm, can lead to symptoms like anxiety, low mood, apathy, fatigue, and loss of motivation. From feeling “sick with boredom” to questioning why nothing feels engaging, they reflect on how easy it is to mislabel boreout as burnout. The conversation breaks down the key differences: burnout driven by too much, boreout driven by too little — but both leading to similar emotional and physical exhaustion.A relatable and eye-opening conversation about balance, stimulation, and why neurodivergent people often feel like they’re constantly walking a tightrope between too much and not enough.We’re really excited to now be part of the Autistic Culture Podcast Network — a space dedicated to amplifying neurodivergent voices, lived experience, and real conversations. Being part of this network means we can reach more people and continue building this community together.Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes KW Raney, a therapist, creative, and podcast host who identified as AuDHD in adulthood after years of misdiagnosis, burnout, and self-blame.As a child, KW was labelled with oppositional defiant disorder and grew up believing he was difficult, lazy, and broken. But decades later, recognition of ADHD, and later Autism, helped him reframe the struggles that had followed him since childhood.Together, Angela and KW explore the cost of wrong labels, Autistic burnout, meltdowns mistaken for behavioural problems, sensory overwhelm, masking through work and education, and the long process of learning how to accommodate yourself instead of fighting yourself.🪑 AttendeesChair: Dr Angela Kingdon — Author, community-builder, and Autistic advocateGuest: KW Raney — Therapist, creative, and AuDHD advocateYou: The Listener!🗒️ Meeting AgendaOpening remarks from the Chair Member introduction: Misdiagnosis, masking, ADHD discovery and later Autism recognitionDiscussion: ODD labels and childhood misunderstandingBurnout, depression, and reframing the pastMeltdowns, sensory overwhelm, and self-accommodationMusic, animals, and nervous system regulationTrusting your own internal compassKey learningsClub announcements🧾 Minutes from the Meeting1️⃣ Opening RemarksAngela introduces KW Raney, who reflects on how years of wrong labels shaped his identity, and how discovering he was AuDHD helped everything begin to make sense.2️⃣ Member Introduction: KW’s StoryKW was diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder as a child, a label that framed his distress and overwhelm as bad behaviour rather than unmet needs.Despite academic success, he carried deep feelings of failure and self-blame into adulthood. It was only later, through recognising ADHD and then Autism, that he began to understand the lifelong patterns beneath those experiences.3️⃣ Discussion HighlightsODD label: Childhood distress framed as defiance instead of neurodivergenceHidden struggle: Good grades masking internal overwhelmAdult ADHD recognition: A workplace conversation changed the lensAutism realisation: Later patterns are becoming clear through a new frameworkBurnout reframe: Depression and suicidality viewed differently in hindsightMeltdowns misunderstood: Pressure-valve overload mistaken for behaviour problemsSelf-accommodation: Learning to support needs instead of suppressing themAnimal regulation: Comfort, pressure input, and nervous system calmMusic as lifeline: Emotional release, identity, and connectionCreative return: Rebuilding expression after burnoutInner compass: Learning to trust yourself over old labels4️⃣ Key LearningsWrong labels can shape identity for decades.Achievement does not cancel out struggle.Burnout is often misunderstood when neurodivergence is unseen.Meltdowns are overwhelm, not moral failure.Self-accommodation can be life-changing.Healing often begins when you trust your own experience.📌 Notice Boardhttps://substack.com/@mraskmorehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203579170📣 Club Announcements🎧 The Late Diagnosis Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.💬 Join our online meetups and community at latediagnosis.club.📌 Check the LDC Notice Board for Member Contributions💜 There is a small charge — but no one is turned away for lack of funds.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes Sha’mya Jones, a graphic designer and entrepreneur who was diagnosed as Autistic in early childhood — but didn’t learn about it until she was a teenager.Sha’mya shares what it was like to grow up knowing she was different but not understanding why, navigating school, relationships, and identity without the language to describe her experience. From early academic success to social challenges and bullying, her story reflects the complexity of being both supported and left in the dark.Together, Angela and Sha’mya explore masking, college burnout, creative identity, and what it means to build a life and business that reflects who you truly are.🪑 AttendeesChair: Dr Angela Kingdon — Author, community-builder, and Autistic advocateGuest: Sha’mya Jones — graphic designer, entrepreneur, and Autistic self-advocateYou: The Listener!🗒️ Meeting AgendaOpening remarks from the ChairMember introduction: Early diagnosis, late awarenessDiscussion: Childhood differences and school experiencesIEP meeting and discovering her diagnosisMasking, bullying, and social challengesCollege life, burnout, and independenceArt, identity, and creative expressionEntrepreneurship and neurodivergent designRepresentation and visibility🧾 Minutes from the Meeting1️⃣ Opening RemarksAngela introduces Sha’mya Jones, a graphic designer and entrepreneur whose work centres on neurodivergent and underrepresented communities, particularly entrepreneurs of colour.2️⃣ Member Introduction: Sha’mya’s StorySha'mya was diagnosed as Autistic as a toddler, but her diagnosis was not shared with her until she was in high school during an IEP meeting.Growing up, she sensed she was different, often finishing work early, helping classmates, and connecting more easily with teachers than peers. Despite having accommodations, she navigated childhood without the language to understand her experiences.3️⃣ Discussion HighlightsEarly diagnosis, hidden identity: Diagnosed in early childhood but not told until high schoolFeeling different: Awareness of being out of step with peers from a young ageTeacher connection: Easier relationships with adults than classmatesIEP moment: Learning about her diagnosis during a school meetingMasking and bullying: Navigating teasing, social confusion, and self-protectionCuriosity misunderstood: Being perceived as rude for asking direct questionsCollege burnout: Over-involvement, pandemic disruption, and exhaustionCreative identity: Art as expression and pathway to careerEntrepreneurship: Building a business centred on neurodivergent clientsRepresentation: Highlighting Autistic women and people of colour4️⃣ Key LearningsBeing diagnosed early does not guarantee understanding or support.Without language, differences can lead to confusion and self-doubt.Masking and social challenges often emerge more strongly over time.Creative expression can provide clarity and identity.Representation matters — especially for marginalised Autistic voices.Self-understanding is an ongoing process, not a single moment.📌 Notice BoardSha’mya’s LinkedInPrisma kind Design NewsletterPrisma Kind Design WebsiteKo-Fi (for tipping)Brand Check-In SurveyFree Brand Clarity Checklist Brand Calm-Down Kit (paid audit and reset)Signature 2-tiered Brand Package (currently looking to book 3-4 beta clients to test and improve her offer) 📣 Club Announcements🎧 The Late Diagnosis Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.💬 Join our online meetups and community at latediagnosis.club.📌 Check the LDC Notice Board for Member Contributions💜 There is a small charge — but no one is turned away for lack of funds.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast