The Neurodivergent Experience

We please. We rescue. We perform. We hold everything together - until sometimes we disappear or reach for escape.But what if these familiar responses are not fixed identities? What if they are intelligent adaptations: ways we learned to secure safety, belonging, continuity or relief?Following last week’s introduction to From Mask to Map, Ashley explores the Nine Adaptation Patterns at the heart of this developing body of work: the Pleaser, Rescuer, Performer, Chameleon, Strong One, Perfectionist, Controller, Vanisher and Escaper.Moving through the different ways we reach towards belonging, attempt to hold ourselves and the world together, or create distance from overwhelming intensity, Ashley considers the protective purpose, genuine strengths and present-day costs carried within each pattern.These are not diagnoses, personality types or nine new boxes in which to place ourselves. With careful attention to Neurodivergent Nuance, Ashley explores why the behaviour alone cannot reveal the whole pattern. Structure may be an essential accommodation rather than control. Solitude may be restoration rather than disappearance. Social fluency may be joyful expression rather than compulsory performance. What matters is the job the behaviour is performing, the freedom we have around it and the price we may now be paying.Ashley also returns to the work of Jungian analyst Dr James Hollis and his question of what, beyond survival, may be seeking expression through us as meaning and purpose.Through recollection, Shakespeare’s “ravelled sleave of care” and the image of the Weaver, the episode becomes an invitation to gather every thread of our experience without mistaking any single pattern for the whole design.The episode closes with a brief guided practice, The Weaver and the Thread.The complete guided exploration of the Nine Adaptation Patterns - including discovering your own configuration and mapping the way forward - will be exclusive to the founding From Mask to Map group coaching and hypnotherapy cohort beginning on 15 September. The programme is fully online, limited to ten people and available worldwide, with replays provided for those unable to attend live.Spaces are still available. Visit integrativeiom.co.uk/from-mask-to-map for full details.Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

In this week's Reddit Stories episode, Jordan and Simon unpack another selection of dilemmas involving autism, ADHD, relationships and the realities of being neurodivergent.They begin with a parent who invites an entire class to her son's birthday party — except for one autistic child. Jordan and Simon discuss exclusion, ableism, reasonable accommodations and the lasting impact of being the child who is always left out. Next, they explore another neurodivergent dilemma and the assumptions people make about behaviour, asking where personal responsibility ends and understanding someone's disability begins.The conversation then turns to the complicated ways neurodivergent traits can be interpreted by the people around us, including executive dysfunction, forgetfulness and behaviours that can easily be mistaken for laziness or a lack of care.Finally, a woman takes to Reddit to describe her husband as stupid, prompting a discussion about ADHD, dyslexia, executive dysfunction, relationships, resentment and what happens when the person you love doesn't understand the way your brain works.*The stories discussed in this episode are public Reddit posts. Titles may be shortened for readability, and all opinions expressed are those of the original posters.• AITA for inviting my sons entire class except for one child because of his autism?• AITA for disagreeing with my daughter’s ADHD diagnosis?• My speech disability has ruined my life and I think I will never amount to anything.• My husband is so dumb and I think I need to leave him because of itOur Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

In this episode, Ashley explores the ideas that gave rise to From Mask to Map: her developing body of work, book and coaching cohort for late-discovered neurodivergent adults.Drawing on Dr Andrew Huberman’s conversation with Jungian analyst Dr James Hollis, she considers meaning, purpose and the deeper intelligence within us that may be continually trying to bring us back into relationship with ourselves. She also returns to the question of State or Trait? - and asks what changes when we stop assuming that every familiar response reveals something fixed about who we are.Ashley revisits the Transactional Analysis Drivers, a framework that remains immensely valuable within her work, while explaining why something more was needed to reflect the Neurodivergent Nuance of lived experience. Through six years of research, client work and personal exploration, the Nine Adaptation Patterns began to emerge - not as diagnoses, labels or another set of boxes, but as a compassionate way of recognising the protective roles we may have mistaken for identity.This episode introduces the patterns and tells the story of how they came into being. Next week, we will meet all nine more fully.The episode closes with a short guided practice, The Part That Learned the Way - an invitation to approach one of your adaptations with curiosity rather than judgement, honour the intelligence within it and begin reading the survival directions written for earlier terrain.Ashley’s eight-week From Mask to Map group coaching programme begins on 15 September 2026 and is limited to ten people. Find out more at integrativeiom.co.uk.Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

In this week's Reddit Stories episode, Jordan and Simon discuss four neurodivergent dilemmas shared by the online community.They begin with a mother who admits she hates her eight-year-old son with ADHD and ODD, sparking a conversation about parenting, challenging behaviour, boundaries, meltdowns, and the impact of growing up feeling like you're always doing something wrong.They then unpack a post describing ADHD as a "living fucking nightmare", exploring the disabling reality of ADHD, depression, addiction, medication, and whether portraying neurodivergence as quirky or desirable risks minimising the people who genuinely struggle with it.Next, a holidaymaker becomes uncomfortable with a disabled child's behaviour and hygiene at an all-inclusive hotel. Jordan and Simon discuss disability, parenting, accommodations, personal boundaries, and the difference between explaining someone's behaviour and excusing it.Finally, an autistic woman's carefully planned day at a Disney theme park falls apart, resulting in a meltdown and her friend leaving her behind. They explore autistic planning, sensory overload, friendship, personal responsibility, and whether someone should ever be left alone during a meltdown.*The stories discussed in this episode are public Reddit posts. Titles may be shortened for readability, and all opinions expressed are those of the original posters.• I hate my ADHD son.• ADHD is a living fucking nightmare and most people think it's only a silly mental disorder for kids• AITAH - kid with special needs keeps bothering me. I’ve spoken to the mum and she won’t do anything about it.• AITAH for Leaving my Autistic Friend at Disney during a Meltdown?Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

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:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

No Hot Topic Today!Hi everyone!Just a very quick update to let you know that unfortunately there won't be a Hot Topic episode of The Neurodivergent Experience today. Sorry to anyone who was expecting one in their feed this morning.We'll be back with a new episode of The Neurodivergent Experience next Thursday, and I'll also have a little update for you about the show next week.Thanks, as always, for listening and supporting us, and we'll speak to you soon.

In this week's Reddit Stories episode, Jordan and Simon discuss four neurodivergent dilemmas shared by the online community.They begin with a man who accuses his sister-in-law of lying after discovering the "Jeep" she promised him isn't technically a Jeep, sparking a conversation about autistic pedantry, the need to be correct, and why being technically right doesn't always mean you're in the right.They then unpack a story about an autistic man struggling with dating after his sister tells him that his behaviour towards women can come across as demeaning and sexist. Jordan and Simon discuss autism, honesty, accountability, parenting, and why neurodivergence shouldn't be used as an excuse to treat other people badly.Next, a husband wants his wife's autistic friend to stop visiting their home so often. They explore friendship, accommodations, autistic social differences, judgement, and why his wife's willingness to understand and support her friend might actually be the most heart warming part of the story.Finally, a brother hides a month's worth of ADHD medication as a prank—only to lose it. From medication stigma and family dynamics to revenge, responsibility and Reddit's more suspicious theories about where the missing pills went, Jordan and Simon ask: who's actually the arsehole?*The stories discussed in this episode are public Reddit posts. Titles may be shortened for readability, and all opinions expressed are those of the original posters.• AITA for Calling My Sister-in-Law a Liar?• AITA for Telling My Autistic Brother the Truth?• AITA for Asking My Wife to Stop Bringing Her Autistic Friend Over?• AITA for Not Giving My Brother a Ride to Work?Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

Inspired by the extraordinary way a young swallow drops from its nest into flight, Ashley explores what it means to meet the present moment before certainty arrives.Through a childhood trust fall that ended on the kitchen floor, her struggle to surrender to the flow of dancing, Ram Dass’s invitation to Be Here Now and Alan Watts’s unforgettable falling cat, this episode asks whether trust is really about knowing we will be caught - or remaining soft enough to respond when we don’t yet know what will hold us.For neurodivergent minds accustomed to analysing the past, rehearsing the future and consciously predicting the next move, presence can feel far less peaceful than wellness culture often suggests. But perhaps presence is not the absence of uncertainty. Perhaps it is the moment uncertainty becomes usable.This week’s Microdosing Meaning practice invites you to walk in on yourself worrying, ruminating or simply wandering through the ongoing stream of thought - and then walk in on the moment itself. What might become available when you meet it through awe, curiosity and play?The episode closes with a gentle Yoga Nidra for cultivating trust: a loving homage to one of Ashley’s favourite Yoga Nidra teachers, Ally Boothroyd. Settle into the support beneath you, follow the swallow into open air and take a trust fall into the medicine of presence itself.Ashley’s eight-week From Mask to Map group coaching programme begins on 15 September 2026 and is limited to ten people. Find out more at integrativeiom.co.uk.Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 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

Could Long COVID be making ADHD symptoms worse? In this Hot Topic, Jordan and Simon explore emerging research into the link between Long COVID, brain fog and ADHD medication. As they discuss the science, Jordan begins connecting it to his own experiences with burnout, chronic pain and executive dysfunction after the pandemic. A fascinating conversation about an area of research that's raising more questions than answers.Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 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