My guest today is Dr. Rabia Subhani, neuropsychologist, certified mindfulness teacher (many times over!), and mother of an autistic child. Rabia is the creator of Mindful Village®, a secular eight to twelve week program geared towards the parents and caregivers of neurodiverse children. On this episode of Neurodiverging, Dr. Rabia and I are discussing what … Read more
My guest today is Anaïs Lucia, an ADHD actor, director, filmmaker, stand-up comedian, YouTuber, and host and producer of three podcasts!
We're discussing how she got her start in the entertainment industry, how her ADHD traits affect her work and approach to what she does, and some of her unique tips for actually finishing some of the 10,000 different projects you have going right now.
Follow Anaïs Lucia: YouTube | Main Instagram | Comedy Instagram | TikTok | Podcasts
As a life coach, I work with a lot of autistic and/or ADHD folks who have trouble with executive function skills, like prioritizing and organizing tasks, procrastination, difficulty getting started on a project, and other similar challenges.
If this sounds like you, then I'm here to tell you more about what executive function is and isn't, and to introduce you to two strategies to help strengthen your executive function skills: automation, and the activity partner.
Or, join the Patreon to download this booklet, the Getting Unstuck Check-In, and many other resources today!
It’s very common for neurodivergent folks to have trouble staying attentive to a task that is not interesting to us. Even when we are trying to focus on the things we have to do, it can be hard to keep on-task.
Some of the most common concerns are issues like:
Having an activity partner nearby can help with all of these situations.
Benson approaches the intersectionality of being trans and having anxiety with a casual, personable style, and covers such topics as social anxiety, handling anxiety about medical services, coming out as trans/ not cis, and anxiety's effects on dysphoria.
Interspersed with these chapters are short Q&A interviews with other trans folks who deal with anxiety, which offer welcome additional perspectives to Benson's own experiences.
I think this book is sorely needed. It's targeted at the general audience with no assumptions made about a reader's academic knowledge about gender identity, transgender issues, or anxiety disorders. It offers good, basic practical advice and favors realistic tips over theoretical discussion.
That said, there were some places where I felt like a little more reference to theory would have been helpful, or would have grounded the advice somewhat. I also feel that if you have some background in gender studies, trans studies, etc., and/or if you've been dealing with anxiety and/or have been out as trans for a while, a lot of this information will not be new to you. The book still works well as an introduction, though, or a reminder. I enjoyed it very much.
I'm an autistic woman who's also a big reader, and one of my ongoing goals is to read more books by autistic (and other neurodivergent) authors. Since finding these authors can take some research, I'm sharing some of my finds here for you to read too!
So, for you and for me, here is a short list of books in the umbrella genre of fantasy by authors who identify as autistic.
If you have any recommendations for neurodivergent authors I should look into (or you want to pitch yourself!), I'd love to hear from you. I'm hoping to update this list often.
My guest today is Suzanne Rupp DeMallie, who’s recently published an amazing book: Can You Hear Me Now?: Join the Conversation to Make Public Education a Better Choice. As a parent to a child with auditory processing disorder, Suzanne fought a nationwide battle against bureaucracy to get teacher microphones into classrooms throughout the United States. … Read more
Today I’m talking with Clif Adkins, author of the new book Martian: A Non-Science Fiction Guide for How to Love, Raise, and Possibly Be Someone Not Quite Human. We’re talking about who the Martian is, their more unique traits, and how to support a growing Martian at home and at school. This and more, today, on … Read more
Parenting can be a challenge for anyone, even in the most ideal conditions. But parenting a child who has a different neurotype than you can come with unique challenges. I want to discuss a question that I’ve gotten a few times: Should I tell my child about their autism? How do I portray being autistic … Read more
This book review was originally published on Goodreads.
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang is a pretty formulaic romance novel. The premise is a reverse Pretty Woman with a neurodivergent twist: an autistic woman in her late 20s wants to learn how to date and have sex men will like, and believes the problem to be in herself, rather in the fact that she keeps choosing terrible men. She hires a male sex worker to practice sex and dating, and you can guess what happens next.
It's a cute premise. Unfortunately, the male characters are all terrible people, and most of the women are, too. The plot holds no surprises. The sex is good for the characters but hilarious for the reader. So, on a base level, I can’t really recommend it.
But, the main character is an autistic woman, being written by an autistic woman, and y'all, I saw so much of myself in her, it was embarrassing. And heartbreaking.
