The Neurodivergent Experience

After nearly three years and more than 250 episodes, Jordan and I have made the decision to put The Neurodivergent Experience on indefinite hiatus.In this episode, it's just me, Simon, explaining where we've been, why we've made this decision and what the future might hold.When Jordan and I started this podcast, we wanted to create something that we wished had existed when we were first learning about our own neurodivergence. Something that would have helped us feel understood, accepted and a little less alone in the world. And somehow, along the way, we did exactly that.What started as two friends sharing their experiences became one of the most important things we've ever done. We've laughed, cried, challenged each other, shared some incredibly personal moments and grown so much as people. If you go back to our earliest episodes, you can hear just how far we've both come in our journeys towards self-understanding, healing and acceptance.But life has changed.Between work, family, relationships, grief, burnout and everything else life throws at us, keeping the podcast going has become increasingly difficult. We've both reached a point where we need to take a break, look after ourselves and give ourselves permission to put something down, even when we love it.The truth is, we're tired. And that's okay!I never imagined that people across the world would listen to our conversations, connect with our experiences or find comfort in the things we've shared, and I will always be incredibly proud of what we've built together.I want to thank Jordan, who has become like a brother to me. Our friendship is one of the greatest things this podcast has given me, and I'm so grateful for everything we've experienced together.Thank you to Ashley, Sophie, Sylvia, every guest who trusted us with their stories, and everyone who has supported the show over the years.Whether you've listened since the beginning, discovered us through a particular episode or joined us somewhere along the way, thank you for giving us your time, sharing your experiences and allowing us to be part of your lives.I don't know whether The Neurodivergent Experience will return. Right now, we both need some time away, and I don't want to make promises about what comes next.But I do know that we've created something special. The episodes will still be here for anyone who needs them, especially those people who are just beginning to understand their own neurodivergence, just as we were three years ago.This podcast has changed my life, and I hope that, in some small way, it's made a difference to yours too.As I said in the episode, I am enough, I've done enough, and I have enough.Thank you for everything.Be kind, be safe, look out for each other, and nighty bye for now.Simon ❤️Keep Listening & Stay Connected:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Mindful Mondays: Ashley will continue her work on her own podcast feed - https://mindfulmondayswithashleydupuy.buzzsprout.com/2660136/episodes🤝 Sophie James – Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎙️ This Week in Autistic Culture: You can still hear Simon on the Autistic Culture Podcast Network until May.🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience: Our archive remains available wherever you get your podcasts

Fine. Stressed. Overwhelmed.We use these words every day, but they can conceal far more than they reveal. Anger and disappointment may feel remarkably similar in the body, yet one may point towards perceived injustice while the other emerges from an unmet expectation. If we cannot recognise the difference, we may reach for entirely the wrong response.In this episode, Ashley begins a new season of Mindful Mondays devoted to exploring the inner toolkit: the many psychological ideas, modalities and practices that can help us understand and support ourselves more deeply.Drawing on the work of Yale psychologist and emotional-intelligence researcher Dr Marc Brackett, Ashley explores what emotional intelligence actually means - not permanent calmness, relentless positivity or talking about our feelings all day, but learning to recognise, understand and respond wisely to the information our emotions carry.Through her Aware, Allow, Align framework, she considers emotional granularity, affect labelling and the space between feeling and action. What changes when we stop treating anxiety as an intruder? How can allowing a feeling differ from handing it control? And how might alignment help us move from automatic reaction towards a more conscious response?Ashley also brings essential Neurodivergent Nuance to alexithymia, masking, overload and delayed emotional processing - because sometimes the body knows that something is happening long before the words arrive.The episode closes with a traditional Yoga Nidra for emotional grounding, inviting you to move awareness through the body, cultivate the witness and meet whatever is present with a little more compassion and choice.Practise with Ashley on Insight Timer:https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuyFollow Mindful Mondays with Ashley Dupuy:https://mindfulmondayswithashleydupuy.buzzsprout.comVisit Ashley’s website:https://www.integrativeiom.co.ukOur Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy🤝 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 of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott open up about imposter syndrome — the belief that you’re never good enough, never qualified enough, and that one day everyone will “figure you out.”With humour and honesty, they share personal stories of childhood bullying, masking, perfectionism and self-doubt, and how growing up misunderstood leaves many autistic and ADHD adults feeling like their achievements aren’t real. From turning down opportunities to assuming every success is luck, they explore why confidence is so difficult for neurodivergent minds.They discuss how imposter syndrome shows up in work, relationships, creativity and social media — and how therapy, self-compassion and supportive people can slowly rewrite the story.This is a raw, validating conversation for anyone who has ever worked twice as hard and still felt like a fraud. If you struggle to believe in yourself, this episode is proof that you’re not alone — and that healing is possible.Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy🤝 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

After several years in which illness and healing necessarily made her world smaller, Ashley is beginning to venture out again - and discovering how readily the outer world begins speaking to the inner one when we are available to encounter it.In this episode, two recent experiences become unexpected lessons in transformation and creative expression.At a natural soapmaking workshop led by her friend Tanya Anderson of Lovely Greens, Ashley learns how carefully measured oils and caustic soda undergo saponification to become something entirely new. The process offers a powerful metaphor for the difficult material of our own lives - but also raises an important distinction: harmful experiences do not deserve credit for the meaning we may eventually create from them. The alchemy belongs to us.A week later, a visit to Lancaster Castle leads to an unforgettable encounter with sculptor Alan Ward inside his working studio. Among clay figures, stone carvings and hidden details known only to the artist, another insight emerges:Not everything hidden is a mask. Some things are private because they are precious.Ashley explores why authentic expression does not require complete exposure, what this means for neurodivergent unmasking, and how creativity can give form to experiences that do not always arrive through words.Along the way, she considers the neuroscience of creative thought, the relationship between spontaneous imagination and conscious discernment, and the Neurodivergent Nuance of creativity when perfectionism, sensory needs or executive dysfunction make “just create” feel like another demand.There is also a little Bite-Sized Buddhism, exploring karma not as cosmic reward or punishment, but as intentional participation in what becomes possible.The episode closes with Sculpting the Clouds, a gentle guided visualisation in which each exhaled breath shapes the clouds overhead into small, temporary works of art - giving the inner world space to become visible without needing to be explained.Find more of Ashley’s meditations, Yoga Nidras, nervous-system practices and Bedtime Alchemy sleep stories on Insight Timer:https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuyDiscover more about Ashley’s work:https://www.integrativeiom.co.ukOur Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy🤝 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

This is a re-run episode from 2024.Society's perspective on autism has shifted, but there is still work to be done to combat misinformation and stigma.In this episode, Jordan James and Simon Scott interview Steve Silberman, the author of NeuroTribes. They discuss the impact of Silberman's book on the neurodivergent community and the importance of embracing neurodiversity. They delve into the history of autism and the misconceptions surrounding Hans Asperger, the legacy of autism, the shift in society's perspective on autism and the importance of finding support within the neurodivergent community. Silberman shares his perspective on the medical model of autism and we explore the impact of the book 'NeuroTribes' in creating advocates for neurodiversity, the concept of the autism spectrum, the need for more frequent and dedicated opportunities for autistic children to engage in their special interests, as these interests can lead to meaningful and successful lives.Steve Silberman: Award-winning science writer, author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity (Avery 2015).Website: https://www.stevesilberman.com/Book: NeuroTribesOur Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy🤝 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

Sometimes another person’s courage, creativity or refusal to remain inside one identity awakens something that was already waiting within us.After attending an evening in conversation with Suzy Eddie Izzard, Ashley reflects on inspiration, sideways thinking and the confidence we sometimes borrow before we can fully experience it as our own. She returns to a moment in the late 1990s when Suzy’s comedy gave her permission to discover her own silliness - and asks what the people who inspire us may be helping us recognise within ourselves.Moving from Suzy’s many creative “citadels” to Michael Jordan’s willingness to become a beginner again, this episode explores novelty and neuroplasticity, beginner’s mind and Steven Pressfield’s concept of Resistance.It also brings some essential Neurodivergent Nuance: not every feeling of resistance means we are afraid of our potential. Sometimes it is burnout, pain, sensory overload, executive dysfunction or a sign that we need more support. How can we tell the difference between a protective warning and an old prediction about what might happen if we allow ourselves to be seen trying?Through Aware, Allow, Align and From Mask to Map, Ashley explores how we can honour the part that hesitates while allowing another truth to exist beside it: we can feel frightened, unfinished or uncertain - and still take one honest step towards what matters.The episode closes with a neuroscience-informed guided practice, The Future Self Who Has Already Begun, inspired by Dr Tara Swart’s perspective-shifting future-self exercise.You do not need confidence for the whole road. You need only enough to begin.Explore Ashley’s meditations, Yoga Nidras, nervous-system practices, courses and Bedtime Alchemy sleep stories on Insight Timer:https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuyFind out more about Ashley’s work:https://www.integrativeiom.co.ukOur Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy🤝 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 of Mindful Mondays, we continue our exploration of the senses by turning toward something deeply personal and often overlooked: touch and movement.For many neurodivergent and highly sensitive people, the body can feel confusing, overwhelming, or even unsafe at times. And yet, movement and touch are not optional extras - they are fundamental ways the nervous system orients, regulates, and makes sense of the world.In this episode, Ashley explores:* How touch can regulate the nervous system - from weighted blankets to co-regulation* Why movement is one of the most powerful (and underrated) forms of medicine* The reality of sensory sensitivities - from textures and hugs to proprioception and coordination* The overlap between neurodivergence and chronic conditions like hypermobility and Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome* Why “clumsiness,” rushing, and discomfort in the body are not personal failings - but nervous system information* How small, gentle movements can help shift both physical and emotional stucknessThis episode also includes a guided practice to help you reconnect with your body through tiny, accessible movements and gentle awareness, meeting yourself with curiosity rather than pressure.Movement doesn’t have to be intense to be meaningful.Touch doesn’t have to be complicated to be regulating.Sometimes, the smallest shift is enough to remind your system:You are here. You exist. You belong to this moment.If you’d like to explore this work more deeply, Ashley is currently accepting expressions of interest for a final round of one-to-one journeys (May–July), as well as upcoming group coaching programmes.📩 integrativeiom@gmail.comMore details will be available soon at:🌐 www.integrativeiom.co.ukIf you enjoyed this episode, please follow, share, and leave a review — it helps this work reach more people who need it.And remember…We’re all just walking each other home.Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy🤝 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 dive into three stories about autism, relationships, diagnosis and what happens when understanding neurodivergence collides with the expectations of the people around us.First, an autistic man asks how he can explain to his girlfriend that his autism isn't something he can simply change. As the story unfolds through its updates, Jordan and Simon discuss masking, communication, compromise in relationships and the difference between asking a partner to work on their behaviour and expecting them to fundamentally change who they are.Next, a 29-year-old woman says she's divorcing her husband because he has autism and wants to know how she can do it respectfully. Jordan and Simon unpack what's really behind that statement, the realities of neurodivergent relationships, compatibility, communication and why sometimes a relationship ending isn't necessarily about autism itself.Finally, an 18-year-old discovers that her parents withheld an autism diagnosis from her for 15 years after rejecting the original assessment she received as a child. Jordan and Simon discuss parents seeking second opinions, growing up without answers, the impact of discovering a diagnosis years later and why knowing you're autistic can provide important context for a lifetime of feeling different.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.How Do I Explain to My Girlfriend That My Autism Isn't Something I Can Change?I'm Divorcing My Husband Because He Has Autism. How Can I Do It Respectfully?My Parents Withheld a Diagnosis From Me for 15 YearsOur Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy🤝 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 of Mindful Mondays, Ashley explores something we live within every day, yet rarely stop to consider: light.Light shapes far more than our ability to see. It influences our sleep, mood, hormones, nervous system regulation, and overall wellbeing. For neurodivergent people especially, light can sometimes feel overwhelming or dysregulating - but when we understand how it works, it can also become a powerful ally for health and balance.In this episode we explore:* How light affects the nervous system and circadian rhythms* Why neurodivergent brains often experience light differently* The difference between nourishing light and overstimulating light* Simple ways to work with light to support sleep, mood and sensory balance* A guided meditation to reconnect with the light within youLight isn’t just something that happens to us - it’s something we can learn to notice, shape, and work with in ways that support our bodies and our lives.If you’d like to learn more about Ashley’s work or enquire about her upcoming programmes, you can get in touch at:integrativeiom@gmail.comMore details about Ashley’s work will also be appearing soon on her website. www.integrativeiom.co.ukIf you enjoyed this episode, please consider following the podcast and sharing it with someone who might benefit from a moment of calm.And remember…We’re all just walking each other home.Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy🤝 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