Great article. My cousin is neurodivergent, and I couldn’t understand why it was so hard to connect with him. He started seeing a therapist recently, and it has helped him so much. I’ve actually really enjoyed our conversations.
I appreciate you. Autism and ADHD aren’t deficits. They’re high-bandwidth nervous systems. It’s like inhaling the whole world at once . The details, patterns, emotions, movement, everything arriving simultaneously, like a moving constellation instead of a straight line. And then someone asks me to “just remember social skills.”Really? When your brain is processing ten layers at once, small talk can feel like buffering while the universe is streaming in HD. Get me one-on-one and we will thrive. Depth is easy. Authenticity is easy. Focused connection is easy. What’s hard is sustained performance. People assume that because I can mask, make eye contact, and use good manners, I must be extroverted. That isn’t the case. For people like us, it’s not about being social or antisocial. It’s about bandwidth. It’s about emotional and physical fatigue. It’s about sensory load. And sometimes, when the system overloads, it’s about shutdown. Masking isn’t charisma. It’s effort and because I’ve done it for 46 years, I have terrible autoimmune issues and medical problems. Powering through to keep up with the unhealthy modern pace has destroyed my body. It’s as much physical as mental.
You just helped me see my anxiety about crowds in an entirely different way. It is absolutely vigilance and overwhelm. But also that helps explain why even when I know the people are safe, I shut down.
"They're trying to stay." 🎯
Great article. My cousin is neurodivergent, and I couldn’t understand why it was so hard to connect with him. He started seeing a therapist recently, and it has helped him so much. I’ve actually really enjoyed our conversations.
Wonderful, Nicole. I wish your cousin much success 🙏
Yes to all of this! Fantastic article and representation of us!
I appreciate you 🙏🏻
I appreciate you. Autism and ADHD aren’t deficits. They’re high-bandwidth nervous systems. It’s like inhaling the whole world at once . The details, patterns, emotions, movement, everything arriving simultaneously, like a moving constellation instead of a straight line. And then someone asks me to “just remember social skills.”Really? When your brain is processing ten layers at once, small talk can feel like buffering while the universe is streaming in HD. Get me one-on-one and we will thrive. Depth is easy. Authenticity is easy. Focused connection is easy. What’s hard is sustained performance. People assume that because I can mask, make eye contact, and use good manners, I must be extroverted. That isn’t the case. For people like us, it’s not about being social or antisocial. It’s about bandwidth. It’s about emotional and physical fatigue. It’s about sensory load. And sometimes, when the system overloads, it’s about shutdown. Masking isn’t charisma. It’s effort and because I’ve done it for 46 years, I have terrible autoimmune issues and medical problems. Powering through to keep up with the unhealthy modern pace has destroyed my body. It’s as much physical as mental.
Very well said 🙏🙏🏻
I am also a professional in the field
Awesome 🌟
You just helped me see my anxiety about crowds in an entirely different way. It is absolutely vigilance and overwhelm. But also that helps explain why even when I know the people are safe, I shut down.