Community Education

Neurodivergence, Difference & Culture

I draw on my lived experience, trusty wit, and very direct communication style to open conversations around neurodivergence, difference, bodies, identity, shame, and belonging.

I name things that might otherwise be left implicit or silenced — not for the sake of provoking discomfort. From an ethics perspective, what we label as personal or private is rarely neutral. Silence often reinforces shaming narratives and social pressures that ask people to mask, minimize, or manage difference on their own. These pressures carry real and ongoing costs for all of us but they can be particularly harmful for neurodivergent adults.

I see my role as a bridge. I spent many years masking my AuDHD traits and living within these inherited frameworks, and I now understand both the risks and the relief involved in stepping outside them. Unmasking is never casual — and depending on someone’s circumstances, it can be emotionally or materially unsafe. That reality deserves care, not denial.

Much of the distress neurodivergent adults are managing today is not a sign of personal failure, but the result of systems that equate worth with productivity, consistency, and narrow forms of participation. These expectations often require people to suppress physical and emotional needs simply to survive and succeed.

Can we slow down enough to question background assumptions? Do we have the confidence to consciously decide where we want to go next as humans? I think so. Laughing while we think through it just makes it easier. And if we’re not quite there for ourselves yet, thinking about what we want for our kids or future generations can offer us the courage to simply begin.