The Neurodivergent Experience

Seeing your life clearly doesn’t mean seeing it harshly.In this episode of Mindful Mondays, we explore how mindset and reframing shape not just how we think - but how our nervous system experiences the world.Many neurodivergent and highly sensitive people live with a loud inner commentary. Thoughts can feel convincing, critical, and fixed - yet thoughts are not facts.Together, we explore:* Growth mindset through a neurodivergent lens* Why reframing supports nervous system safety (not toxic positivity)* How meaning - not circumstances - shapes our experience* Why challenges often deepen, rather than diminish, a meaningful lifeDrawing on wisdom from thinkers and creatives including William James, Hugh Mackay, Tina Turner, Joan Rivers, Kurt Vonnegut, and Michael Jordan, this episode invites a gentler, truer way of seeing yourself.You’ll also be guided through a reflective visualisation - The Gallery of Your Life - offering a new relationship with past moments, old judgments, and the stories you live inside.This is not about fixing yourself.It’s about learning to see yourself in a way that supports you.Our Sponsors:🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience❤️ Support the ShowIf this episode resonated with you:✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes

In this Hot Topic episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott react to a BBC story about schools opening specialist units for autistic pupils — and question whether these plans are about support, or simply about moving autistic children out of sight.They unpack concerns around lumping autistic children together across wide age ranges, the overuse of special units as a cost-cutting measure, and the way neurodivergent pupils are often treated as a problem to be managed rather than as individuals with different needs.Jordan draws on years of lived experience working with schools, SEND staff, parents, and neurodivergent children to challenge saviour narratives, infantilisation, and misinformation — including being told by a special school that ADHD “doesn’t exist in adults.” Together, they discuss how EHCP barriers, funding caps, and systemic misunderstandings risk limiting potential rather than supporting it.Rather than rejecting specialist provision outright, the episode questions who these systems are really built for, and whether convenience and cost are being prioritised over dignity, autonomy, and individual development.They discuss:Specialist units vs genuinely individualised supportLumping autistic children together by diagnosis rather than needInfantilisation and “saviour” narratives in SEND educationMisinformation about ADHD and neurodivergence in schoolsEHCP barriers and unequal access to supportCost-cutting vs child-centred educationWhy autism isn’t a reason, on its own, to remove a child from mainstream learningA frustrated, informed, and necessary conversation about education, power, and why neurodivergent children deserve more than being quietly moved out of the way.Our Sponsors:🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience❤️ Support the ShowIf this episode resonated with you:✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes

In this episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott explore the overlap — and important differences — between executive dysfunction and pathological demand avoidance (PDA), and why both can make everyday tasks feel overwhelming.They unpack how executive dysfunction is linked to planning, organisation, and overload, while PDA is driven by anxiety, autonomy, and threat responses — and why, in real life, the two often collide. Through personal examples, they explore why getting started, following through, or responding to demands can feel impossible, even when you want to do the thing.Jordan and Simon reflect on how fear of failure, shame, trauma, and being told to “just do it” can intensify paralysis rather than help. They also discuss how misunderstanding these patterns leads to judgment — at home, at work, and in childhood — instead of support.Rather than offering quick fixes, the conversation focuses on reducing pressure, understanding what’s really happening in the nervous system, and finding supportive ways to move forward.They discuss:What executive dysfunction and PDA are — and how they differ Why do they often show up together Anxiety, autonomy, and threat responses Task paralysis and avoidance Fear of failure and internalised shame Every day struggles like hygiene, work, and leaving the house Why increasing pressure makes things worse What actually helps insteadA validating conversation about why simple tasks can feel so hard — and how understanding, compassion, and the right support can make a real difference.Our Sponsors:🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience❤️ Support the ShowIf this episode resonated with you:✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes

Resilience is often misunderstood.It’s not about pushing through at all costs, pretending you’re fine, or never getting overwhelmed — especially if you’re sensitive or neurodivergent. Real resilience is something far more human, far more embodied.In this episode of Mindful Mondays, we explore what resilience actually looks like in the nervous system — the ability to move through challenge, to feel the squeeze of life, and to gently find our way back.Drawing on neuroscience, somatic wisdom, Buddhism, psychology, and lived experience, we explore:Why resilience is about movement, not perfectionHow discomfort can become meaningful rather than overwhelmingThe role of contrast - squeeze and release - in nervous system flexibilityWhy resistance, not discomfort itself, often creates sufferingEmotional complexity as a strength, not a flawHow sensitive and neurodivergent nervous systems can learn to “bounce back” with kindnessWhy acceptance can create a deeper baseline peace, even during hard timesYou’ll also be guided through a gentle squeeze-and-release meditation designed to help your body experience resilience directly - not as an idea, but as a felt sense.If you’ve ever felt like you’re “too sensitive,” slow to recover, or worn down by life’s demands, this episode is an invitation to reframe resilience - not as something you force, but something you cultivate through care, curiosity, and self-trust.You don’t have to harden to survive.You’re allowed to soften - and still be strong.Our Sponsors:🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience❤️ Support the ShowIf this episode resonated with you:✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes

⚠️This episode includes discussion of suicide, mental health crises, and systemic failures in neurodivergent healthcare. Listener discretion is advised, and we encourage you to prioritise your wellbeing while listening ⚠️.In this Hot Topic episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott respond to reports that the NHS is once again restricting access to ADHD assessments in an attempt to save money — often without informing GPs or patients already waiting.They unpack how limiting assessments don’t just delay diagnosis, but actively block access to support, accommodations, medication, and self-understanding, particularly for Autistic and ADHD people who already struggle to advocate for themselves. Drawing on their own late diagnoses, Jordan and Simon explain how years without recognition lead to mislabelling, shame, burnout, and serious mental health harm.The conversation then turns to the real-world consequences of these delays, including a Guardian report detailing the death of a young man who fell through the cracks of the assessment and shared-care system. Jordan and Simon speak openly about grief, anger, and fear — and why framing ADHD as “not life-threatening” ignores the reality of emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, chronic stress, and suicide risk.This episode has a clear message: withholding diagnosis and treatment is not neutral — it is dangerous.They discuss:NHS limits on ADHD assessments and lack of transparencyLong waiting times and being stuck between child and adult servicesWhy diagnosis is a gateway to support, not a labelADHD medication, emotional regulation, and quality of lifeWhy ADHD can be life-threateningSuicide risk, burnout, and drowning in unregulated thoughtsThe cost of denying support vs investing in peopleA raw, emotional, and urgent conversation about assessment delays, systemic failure, and the very real human cost of treating neurodivergent care as optional.Our Sponsors:🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience❤️ Support the ShowIf this episode resonated with you:✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes

In this season 3 opening episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott revisit a foundational question from the very first episode of the podcast: what makes me neurodivergent? Returning to the topic with years of lived experience, self-understanding, and community insight, they reflect on how their understanding of autism, ADHD, and neurodivergence has evolved. They explore neurodivergence as an alternative neurotype, not a single deficit, and unpack how traits often grouped under autism and ADHD — including dyslexia, dyspraxia, PDA, hypersensitivity, RSD, and hypermobility — can show up differently in every person. They discuss their abilities — challenging both deficit-only narratives and toxic positivity — and explore special interests, bottom-up processing, pattern recognition, empathy, storytelling, and deep knowledge-gathering. They discuss:Revisiting “what makes me neurodivergent?” years laterNeurodivergence as an alternative neurotype, not a single conditionHow disability is shaped by environment, not just diagnosisEnergy, hypersensitivity, executive function, and burnoutMasking, communication gaps, and being misunderstoodWhy “autism” alone doesn’t explain lived experienceSpecial interests, knowledge-gathering, and bottom-up thinkingNeurodivergent culture, labels, and identityA reflective, wide-ranging conversation about disability, ability, identity, and why neurodivergent people make sense — even when the world around them doesn’t.Our Sponsors:🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience❤️ Support the ShowIf this episode resonated with you:✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes

In this final episode of our January series on The Anatomy of a Breakthrough, we arrive at strategy - not as hustle, force, or rigid self-improvement, but as a creative, embodied collaboration with your own life.Throughout the month, we’ve explored how real change unfolds when state comes first, story begins to soften, and strategy is allowed to emerge from alignment rather than pressure. In this episode, we bring it all together.Drawing on the wisdom of thinkers, artists, and teachers such as Buckminster Fuller, Vincent van Gogh, James Clear, Tim Ferriss, Shunryū Suzuki, Hugh Laurie, Millard Fuller, and contemporary author Jordan Gruber, Ashley weaves a deeply neurodivergent-affirming exploration of how meaningful change actually takes shape.We’ll explore:Why strategy works best when it builds the new rather than fights the oldHow small, sustainable actions quietly create upward spiralsWhy confidence often follows action - not the other way aroundHow embodied knowledge can return when we meet ourselves in the right stateWhat it means to design a strategy that truly fits your nervous systemThe episode closes with a deeply nourishing Yoga Nidra, inviting your nervous system into a state of rest, receptivity, and neuroplasticity - a place where new patterns can gently take root.If you’re tired of forcing change, waiting for motivation, or feeling like strategy has to be punishing to be effective, this episode offers a kinder, wiser way forward.✨ You’re allowed to edit your life. You’re allowed to begin again. And you’re allowed to take one small step at a time.❤️ Support the ShowIf this episode resonated with you:✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodesOur Sponsors:🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience

In this episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott are joined by hypnotherapist and breathwork practitioner Ashley Bentley to explore slow burn meltdowns — the kind that build quietly over time rather than exploding all at once.They discuss how ongoing pressure, unmet needs, and emotional overload can simmer beneath the surface for weeks, months, or even years before reaching breaking point. From returning to work after a break, to parenting, health stress, and unspoken expectations, they unpack how slow-burning meltdowns often go unnoticed until it’s too late.Jordan shares how these meltdowns show up in children, especially in safe relationships, and why behaviour is often misread as attitude or defiance. Ashley reflects on how stress, comparison, and “pushing through” can disconnect people from early warning signs, while Simon talks about recognising the pattern only in hindsight.Rather than quick fixes, the conversation focuses on awareness, naming what’s happening, nervous system regulation, and compassion — for ourselves and for our kids.They discuss:What slow burn meltdowns are and how they differ from explosive onesEmotional and physical warning signsAlexithymia, rumination, and overloadParenting and why meltdowns happen in safe spacesChildhood pressure, burnout, and long-term survival modeExpectations, comparison, and delayed breakdownsRegulation, support, and recognising the signs earlierA validating conversation about noticing meltdowns before they erupt — and learning how to support neurodivergent nervous systems with less shame and more care.Our Sponsors:🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde🔗 Stay ConnectedInstagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepodFacebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook pageYouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperienceTikTok: @neurodivergentexperience❤️ Support the ShowIf this episode resonated with you:✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes