neurodivergent_insights

ADHD burnout has a lot of threads woven into it, and unfortunately it's often mistaken for laziness or a simple motivation problem. This visual guide walks through six of the mechanisms underneath it, from executive function depletion and the hidden cost of masking to the sensory load and sleep debt that wear down the nervous system down.

You can find our full article (with all the studies linked) in the comments.

Burnout is one of those words that gets stretched to cover everything from a hard week to a full nervous system collapse, which is part of why neurodivergent burnout is sometimes misunderstood or minimized.

Burnout often emerges from a combination of factors that have eroded a person's capacity over time: masking, exhaustion from over-adapting to misaligned environments. It points us toward the fit between a person and their surroundings, far more than toward any personal weakness.

You can find more terms in our Glossary of Terms and Core Concepts, linked in comments.

I've been a long-time fan of the Yellow Ladybugs Conference, and I'm glad to be speaking (virtually) again this year. This time I got to have a conversation with Kristy Forbes on PDA, where we explored radical authenticity as part of psychological safety, relationality, and so many other things that resonated (honestly, mostly I was just appreciated Kristy's wisdom during the conversation 🥰).

The conference starts today. If you'd like to catch it, the registration link is in the comments.

Brain fog is one of the most disorienting experiences for me, and one of my least favorite. Searching for words, unable to string together even a couple of sentences. This can happen for many reasons, whether health conditions or cognitive overload in the context of neurodivergence. It can make things like school and the workplace really hard when we are struggling to hold on to ideas or articulate words that keep slipping away.

For more core concepts and definitions, you can find the full NDI glossary on our website.

Are you AuDHD? Do you have 15 minutes to help me write my next book?

I’m in the process of writing my next book, AuDHD Unlocked. I really want it to be shaped by the collective wisdom of our community.

To make that possible, my team and I have created five surveys to gather lived experience. Survey Four focuses on ND identity integration, values and what's helped.

- You don’t need a formal diagnosis to participate
- You can stop anytime if the questions feel too much
- There will be a $10.00 NDI store credit for all participants

If you are AuDHD and would like to contribute to our collective wisdom, I’d be so appreciative.

This survey asks more sensitive questions than the other three and asks about what has helped you post discovery as well as how it has (or hasn't helped your mental health).

You can find the survey (linked in comments).

We've put together a neurodivergent-adapted safety plan called The Help Me Stay Plan. It's a full workbook, completely free, made in honor of those we've lost and for everyone in the thick of it, finding reasons to stay.

If you are struggling with your mental health, or supporting someone who is, we hope this can help you stay through the hardest moments, and remind you that you are not alone.

Out of care for everyone reading, please don't share specific personal narratives of suicidality in the comments. If you are in a hard moment right now, please find a link to crisis resources we've gathered (linked in bio and comments).

For the link to the free resource see comments.

Discovering body doubling has been one of the most helpful things for my struggles with starting tasks, especially for all of the life logistical things that I often drag my feet on starting.

I often make a to-do list of these tasks and do them in a co-work or body double session. There's something about another person being present, even on Zoom, that that makes them so much lighter.

This week's concept comes from the NDI glossary, for more core concepts and definitions, you can find the full NDI glossary on our website.

Over the last few months, I've found it harder to pull my attention away from something I wanted to pull my attention away from, something that wasn't nourishing me. What struck me was how the architecture of it carried the same shape as a special interest, but it wasn't joy-filled, and I didn't want it to be special. I've been thinking of this as a hyperfixated interest.

For me, this language is helpful because it lets me differentiate the different forms deep focus can take. They aren't all created equal. Here's how I think about the difference in how they show up for me:

A special interest is joy-fueled, identity-shaping, and often regulates my nervous system (though it can become depleting when it's hard to regulate my relationship to it).

Hyperfixated interests take the same shape as a special interest. All-consuming, intense, ever-present, wanting to pull every conversation back to the thing. Yet inside, they feel compulsive, rooted in fear or uncertainty, and they drain me instead of nourish me.

I know the term hyperfixated isn't appreciated by everyone in the community. I use it myself because this is an unpleasant experience, and the word captures what it feels like to be fixated on something in a way I don't want to be. For me, it's part of the neurological wiring of being Autistic that can be really hard.

Over these last few months, as I've noticed the pull of this pattern, I've been working to make micro-shifts. Redirecting my energy away from what leaves me helpless and drained, and toward activities that feel more value-aligned and life-giving. I start by gently naming when the hyperfixated interest has taken hold again. It's imperfect, but I'm in a much better headspace than when I first wrote this article. Simply having a name, being able to map the experience, and bringing a bit more intention to my attention has helped loosen some of the ruminative spirals I was in.

If this resonates, or if you're curious about this distinction, you can read the full-length essay (linked in comments).

Autistic, ADHD and AuDHD adults seek mental health care at disproportionate rates.

For Mental Health Awareness Month, we've put together a handful of resources to support more providers in offering neurodivergent‑informed mental health care. Often that work means assembling materials from many different places, since few training programs prepare us for this work.

Through May 31, two things:
First, a set of free resources you can use with clients. No purchase or email sign up necessary. Just visual guides, exercises, and a few clinician-facing tools you can download and use.

Second, two of our most-used clinician collections are 30% off:
Clinical Trainings: six CPD-accredited trainings covering Autistic burnout, sensory processing, interoception and alexithymia, traumatic invalidation, and the OCD-ADHD-autism overlap.
Clinical Library — our full library of digital workbooks and downloads. The sensory, interoception, RSD, alexithymia, and burnout workbooks many of you are already using as session companions are all in there.

You can find the link to the free resources and the discounted bundles in the comments.