Blog
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria: What It Actually Is (and Isn’t)
A term moving fast through neurodivergent communities deserves a closer look. She had prepped for the conversation like she always did…notes ready, nothing that hinted at trouble. The only feedback she got was a single, gently worded note that something needed more...
Autistic Masking and Unmasking: What the Research Actually Shows
It’s not about unmasking everywhere, it’s about where it actually helps. By the time she gets home, she’s done. Eight hours of eye contact held a beat too long, laughter timed to match everyone else’s, a running mental checklist of whether she’s talking too much about...
Autistic Burnout Isn’t Just Being Tired
Why chronic exhaustion in autistic adults gets missed, and what actually helps. She hadn’t missed a deadline in four years. Then, over the course of a few weeks, she couldn’t get through a grocery list without losing her place, forgot how to use the coffee maker she’d...
He’s Not Being Defiant. He’s Out of Capacity
Why the usual classroom strategies backfire for demand-avoidant kids…and what actually works instead. TL;DR The gap: Refusal, shutdowns, and escape behaviour are typical autistic stress responses, but when a demand triggers them, they get read as defiance instead. Why...
Two Homes, One Nervous System: What Divorce Looks Like When Your Child Has PDA
Why nearly-equal custody time doesn’t mean nearly-equal impact on a PDA child’s nervous system TL;DR What’s happening: Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is a profile within the autism spectrum where everyday demands can trigger a genuine fight, flight, or freeze...
The Hidden Cost of Coping at Work: When Performance Problems Aren’t Performance Problems
Why fatigue, disengagement, and inconsistent output at work are often the visible edge of an invisible cost. TL;DR The reframe: When performance slips, most organizations ask “how do we fix this employee?” A more accurate question is how much of that employee’s energy...
Sensory Differences in Autistic Adults
TL;DR The scale: Sensory processing differences show up in the vast majority of autistic adults, and for many, they intensify with age rather than fading. The gap: Almost all sensory processing research and intervention was built for autistic children. Adults,...
What Determines Whether Neurodivergent Disclosure Helps or Hurts
How organizations quietly decide whether neurodivergent employees are punished or rewarded for being honest about who they are. TL;DR The gap: Neurodivergent adults make up 15-20% of the population, yet 85-90% experience unemployment or underemployment, not because of...
Why So Many Autistic Adults Are Diagnosed Late and Misdiagnosed First
TL;DR One in four autistic adults, and one in three autistic women, have been given at least one psychiatric diagnosis before autism that they now consider a misdiagnosis. Personality disorders, anxiety, depression, and chronic fatigue or burnout-related conditions...
What Actually Makes Workplaces Work for Neurodivergent Employees
Part 3 of 3: Neurodiversity at Work TL;DR Physical workplace adjustments, particularly around sound and light, have meaningful impact on neurodivergent employees’ performance, wellbeing, and occupational longevity, though the research base is still developing Employer...