This podcast was created on the lands of the Ngunnawal, Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung Peoples.

Hello, hello, and welcome to F Them Fish: AuDHD for Grownups with your neurodivergent besties, Callie Elward-Barrett and Jayne Gurton. This is the podcast where we talk about neurodivergence in real adult life: work, relationships, burnout, overwhelm, identity, and all the weird little things that make you think, ‘surely it’s not just me.’ We’re honest, occasionally sweary, and very much not interested in pretending to be polished.

Grab a beverage, or body double some life admin with us in your ears and let's get started!

In this week's episode, Callie and Jayne deep dive the podcast phenomenon 'Beth's Dead' - a limited series true crime podcast, all about parasocial relationships gone wrong.

More importantly, why is this relevant to neurodivergence? We will tell you with the help of some of our listener questions.

00:00 – Producer Callie says Hi

00:50 – Intro

04:33 – Last week’s homework and why Beth’s Dead got assigned

07:29 – What Beth’s Dead is about, plus spoiler warning

08:45 – Full recap of the podcast setup and the Beth storyline

12:18 – What a parasocial relationship actually is

14:20 – Beth was never real

15:04 – First reactions: gripping story or obvious manipulation?

15:55 – Boundaries, emotional emails, and where podcast hosts can get out of their depth

17:14 – The investigation: IP addresses, the professor theory, and the big phone call

19:36 – Callie’s theory: this never happened

21:41 – Jayne’s hesitation, the real expert moment, and why she’s less certain

23:42 – Why Callie still thinks key parts do not ring true

26:52 – Does it actually matter if the story was real, if it was well told?

27:53 – Listener question: when does a parasocial relationship stop being comforting and start being bad for your brain?

33:10 – Listener question: are neurodivergent people more vulnerable to intense online dynamics?

42:38 – Listener conspiracy theory corner

44:19 – Why this whole thing matters for neurodivergence

44:47 – Curiosity, needing receipts, and getting kicked out of class for too many questions

45:45 – Wrap-up, contact details, and next episode tease

https://www.patreon.com/cw/BethsDead - listen to Beth's Dead

https://www.instagram.com/nobodyslisteningright/ - follow Elizabeth and Any on Instagram - tell them we sent you (they won't have a clue who we are!)

https://www.instagram.com/armchairexppod/ - follow Monica Padman's podcast

Find us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok at F Them Fish: AuDHD for Grownups

Send your stories and questions to FThemFish@gmail.com

AuDHD for grownups: honest, funny conversations about work, relationships, sensory overload, identity, and the stuff nobody explains after diagnosis.

AuDHD for grownups: honest, funny conversations about work, relationships, sensory overload, identity, and the stuff nobody explains after diagnosis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This podcast was created on the lands of the Ngunnawal, Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung Peoples.

This week starts with Easter camping, mini golf, belly dancing, faffing, and a genuinely cursed run-in with paralysis ticks… then gets unexpectedly deep. Jayne shares a powerful realisation about the idea of being “enough” after years of feeling either too much or not enough, and together we unpack masking, self-worth, fibro fog, apologising for existing, and what it means to be the right amount of you.

Then Callie goes full truth-bomb on the neurodivergent drive for efficiency, why inefficiency can feel physically painful, and how leaving traditional work has exposed just how much executive function can be quietly held up by workplace structure. If you’ve ever looked high-functioning on the outside while privately relying on guard rails to keep life moving, this episode will probably hit a nerve. In a good way. Also, yes, there is a side quest about pink flip phones.

Timestamps

00:10 Welcome

00:48 Belly dance teacher era, camping, and post-holiday faffing

03:30 Paralysis ticks, dog panic, and Australia's hostile wildlife

07:31 Fibro flare-ups and the first big question: what does 'enough' even mean?

10:32 Why 'enough' is a social construct built around masking

16:02 Fibro fog, apologising for your brain and body, and self-protection

17:36 The perfect amount of Jayne, the perfect amount of Callie, and flexible authenticity

22:49 The relentless itch for efficiency and why inefficiency feels painful

29:07 Pink Motorola flip phones and the chaos of changing systems

31:37 Leaving structured work and suddenly confronting executive function failures

37:29 Homework: go binge Beth’s Dead before next week

Get in touch

Got a question, story, or hot take for the pod? Email us at fthemfish@gmail.com

Find us on socials @fthemfish_AuDHDforgrownups

AuDHD for grownups: honest, funny conversations about work, relationships, sensory overload, identity, and the stuff nobody explains after diagnosis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This podcast was created on the lands of the Ngunnawal, Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung Peoples.

This week is pure listener-chaos in the best possible way. We asked for your stories and you absolutely delivered. We’re talking panic-bought concert tickets, masking too hard on first dates, accidentally sending a spicy text to the wrong person, rejection sensitivity turning a delayed reply into a full cheating scandal, and the very specific experience of wanting someone right up until they like you back. We also get briefly obsessed with Miranda Hart, blow bubbles for World Bipolar Day, and once again prove that this podcast is excellent body-doubling audio for laundry, dishes, or whatever life admin you’ve been avoiding. Questionable advice, strong opinions, and a lot of feeling very seen.

Timestamps

00:01 Intro

01:02 Jayne’s new favourite book: Miranda Hart and feeling deeply seen

06:05 Bubbles for World Bipolar Day

08:14 We get into your listener questions

09:55 ADHD tax: panic-bought concert tickets and a man who now breathes too loudly

15:01 Masking on first dates and when the truth is actually 14 half-finished moisturisers

18:47 Weird-smelling water bottles, crying, and an accidental detour into hygiene standards

20:35 The spicy text sent to the wrong person from school pick-up

22:31 Rejection sensitivity, delayed replies, Bunnings, and the imaginary second family with a yacht

29:02 Why some of us love people until they like us back

36:12 Bonus ear filler and elite body-doubling content

36:59 Send us your stories and questions for future episodes

Find us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok @ FThem Fish_AuDHD for Grownups

Send your stories and questions to FThemFish@gmail.com

AuDHD for grownups: honest, funny conversations about work, relationships, sensory overload, identity, and the stuff nobody explains after diagnosis.

AuDHD for grownups: honest, funny conversations about work, relationships, sensory overload, identity, and the stuff nobody explains after diagnosis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode comes with a content warning.

We talk about family violence, abusive relationships, trauma, bullying, anxiety, depression, CPTSD, psychiatric hospitalisation, and some pretty heavy mental health stuff. So if this is not for you today, save it for a day when you’ve got a few more spoons.

Today it’s just me, no Jayne, and I’m joined by Jacinta Dubojski from Just Another Girl.

This is a different kind of conversation.

Jacinta is someone a lot of people would probably look at and make assumptions about. Tall, beautiful, polished, put together. And that is exactly part of why this conversation matters. Because people do that all the time. They look at someone and decide their life must have been easy.

It wasn’t.

We talk about bullying, low self-worth, abusive relationships, trauma, what it does to your brain and body, and what it takes to keep going when life has absolutely kicked the sh*t out of you.

Jacinta also talks about the work she now does with girls in schools through Just Another Girl, and why speaking up can genuinely change, and sometimes save, lives.

This one is raw. It wanders a bit in places. It gets heavy. It also has hope in it.

And the reason it belongs on this podcast is because neurodivergent people are more vulnerable to abusive relationships, family violence, coercion and other forms of harm than a lot of people realise. We do not talk about that enough.

If this one hits close to home, please check the support links below. And if you need to, send this episode to someone and just say, I need to talk.

Timestamps

00:00 Content warning

02:42 Intro and meeting Jacinta

04:10 Jacinta on her work, motherhood, trauma and why she shares her story

09:10 Modelling, bullying, appearance and being judged on the outside

18:28 How Just Another Girl started

21:44 Being bullied at school and not telling anyone

24:30 Domestic violence, trauma and feeling trapped

32:44 If this is your story too

36:31 Speaking in schools and trying to change lives early

39:18 Social media, girls, and protecting the next generation

42:48 What Jacinta would say to her younger self

47:49 Proof that things can get better

51:38 Reaching out when you’re struggling

58:46 Where to find Jacinta

59:47 Why this matters for neurodivergent people too

1:03:27 Final support message and wrap up

Find us on Youtube, Instagram and TikTok @FThemFish_AuDHDForGrownups

Email: Fthemfish@gmail.com

Find Jacinta

Just Another Girl Project

Instagram: @just.anothergirl_

Support

If this episode brings stuff up for you, please reach out for support.

www.MindSpot.org.au

Lifeline 13 11 14

1800RESPECT

AuDHD for grownups: honest, funny conversations about work, relationships, sensory overload, identity, and the stuff nobody explains after diagnosis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ndWILD Co-Founders: Callie, Jayne, and Troy announce the first ever winners of the WILDly Neuroinclusive Awards LIVE in the following 5 categories:

1) WILDly Neuroinclusive Organisation: Recognises an organisation that has moved from awareness to structural action, changing how their systems, processes, or culture works for neurodivergent people.

2) WILDly Neuroinclusive Individual: Recognises a person who makes inclusion real for others through their daily actions, leadership, or advocacy, not just their identity

3) WILDly Neuroinclusive Event or Venue: Recognises a space or event that proved belonging doesn't have to be designed out, it can be designed in, for every kind of brain.

4) WILD Community Impact Award: Recognises work that reaches beyond a single workplace into communities, schools, or the public, making neurodiversity visible in the wider world.

5) WILD Change Maker: Recognises the biggest shift created in the last 6 months by a person, project, or team. This is about momentum, something moved because of them.

Tell us what you think: hello@ndwildglobal.org and tell us who you think should be in the running for the 2027 WILDly Neuroinclusive Awards!

Follow us on Youtube, Instagram and Tiktok @ndWILDGlobal

AuDHD for grownups: honest, funny conversations about work, relationships, sensory overload, identity, and the stuff nobody explains after diagnosis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neurodiversity is bigger than autism and ADHD, and awareness alone is not the same thing as inclusion.

In this episode, Callie and Jayne kick off Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2026 by unpacking what neurodiversity actually means, why it is a social identity rather than a medical label, and why so many workplace conversations still flatten it into stereotypes, checklists, and entry-level training.

They talk about the problem with ‘autism and others’ thinking, why resist the list matters, and what happens when organisations say all the right things but their systems, culture, and leadership behaviours do not actually change.

They also answer a listener question about the difference between awareness and real inclusion in practice, exploring microaggressions, assigning intent, conflicting needs between neurodivergent people, and how to tell whether a workplace is genuinely trying to improve.

This one is part celebration, part side-eye, and part practical reality check.

In this episode

• what neurodiversity actually means
• why it is bigger than autism and ADHD
• why awareness without systems change falls flat
• resist the list: the problem with stereotypes and trait checklists
• how to tell whether a workplace is truly inclusive
• microaggressions, intent, repair, and real progress
• a quick look at the WILDly Neuro-inclusive Awards

Timestamps

00:11 Welcome and Neurodiversity Celebration Week begins

01:40 What this episode is really about: awareness vs inclusion

02:03 Neurodiversity is bigger than autism and ADHD

02:42 Neurodiversity as a social identity, not a medical term

05:24 Why the numbers are likely bigger than reported

05:53 DCA and AMAZE’s Neurodiversity at Work Guide

08:08 Diagnosis, identity, and barriers to being recognised

08:46 The problem with ‘autism and others’ training

10:04 Resist the List and why stereotypes are harmful

11:24 Why entry-level training misses too many neurodivergent adults

12:39 Perimenopause, nervous systems, and the broader neurodiversity conversation

17:22 Listener question: awareness vs real inclusion at work

19:24 Why systems, processes, and leadership matter

21:22 What happens when neurodivergent needs clash

22:34 Pain, perfection, and the pressure for workplaces to get it right

23:48 Assigning intent and stepping back from the moment

24:24 Microaggressions, trauma lenses, and ‘micro receivings’

25:42 Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress

26:01 What genuine effort actually looks like

27:37 Acknowledging mistakes, correcting, and moving on

29:47 Launching the WILDly Neuro-inclusive Awards

31:22 Hope, frustration, and the future of neuroinclusion

32:35 Follow, subscribe, and send us your ADHD tax stories

Connect

Find us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok at F Them Fish: AuDHD for Grownups

Send your stories and questions to FThemFish@gmail.com

AuDHD for grownups: honest, funny conversations about work, relationships, sensory overload, identity, and the stuff nobody explains after diagnosis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of F Them Fish: AuDHD for Grownups, Callie and Jayne talk about the strange joy of organising when your brain is finally in the mood for it, and why 'out of sight, out of mind' is not always an ADHD tax. Sometimes it is an ADHD bonus.

They unpack the emotional lift that comes from sorting cupboards, rediscovering forgotten treasures, and building systems that actually work for the way neurodivergent people live. From colour-coded towels and linen hacks to craft supplies, fabric finds, and childhood memories, this episode is equal parts practical, funny, and deeply familiar.

They also respond to a listener question about rejection sensitivity and bosses, exploring how much of workplace discomfort is about perception, how much might be a real shift, and why the relationship with your immediate manager can shape your whole experience at work. That conversation opens into a bigger reflection on leadership, vulnerability, responsibility, and the loneliness that can come with being the person expected to hold it all together.

To close, Callie shares a brand-new poem inspired by spoon theory, written in a hyperfocus burst and read aloud for the first time on the podcast. It is tender, sharp, funny, and likely to hit home for anyone who has ever been told they were inconsistent when really they were just running low on spoons.

Timestamps

00:11 Welcome back and chaotic bestie energy

01:49 Post-Sydney crash and the need to recover

02:38 ADHD bonus: organising the linen cupboard

04:46 Linen and quilt set hack: store sets inside a pillowcase

05:27 Why organisation brings joy when the timing is right

06:10 Designing homes and systems around how people actually live

07:17 Guest linen standards, stained sheets, and household rules

09:18 Offering tea, sandwiches, and emotional support to everyone

10:21 Cleaners as support, not luxury

11:24 Back to the cupboard: forgotten fabric and the ADHD memory bonus

14:11 Jayne’s craft reorganisation and rediscovering treasured fabrics

15:57 Buttons, pendants, sewing memories, and childhood signs no one spotted

18:50 Surprise podcast stickers and octopus merch joy

19:50 Love Hearts, nostalgia, and disappointing lolly messages

21:46 Listener question: how do I handle RSD with my boss?

23:42 Why your relationship with your manager matters so much

24:53 Perception, assigning intention, and scripting hard conversations

26:27 Looking at your boss with empathy without losing yourself

29:35 Leadership can be lonely

31:13 Boundaries, vulnerability, and leading as a human

33:10 What leaders owe people in moments of uncertainty

35:41 Why people look for someone who can hold the line

38:57 Creating the authorising environment for others to thrive

39:28 The emotional weight leaders carry behind the scenes

40:12 Hyperfocus, songwriting, and the origin of the spoon poem

42:05 Callie reads I’m Out of Spoons

45:47 Jayne responds: “I feel seen”

47:08 Where the poem might live next on socials

47:41 Wrap-up and goodbye

Connect with us

Find us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok at F Them Fish AuDHD for Grownups

Send questions, stories, poetry, songs, or kind thoughts to FThemFish@gmail.com

AuDHD for grownups: honest, funny conversations about work, relationships, sensory overload, identity, and the stuff nobody explains after diagnosis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to another episode of F Them Fish: AuDHD for Grown-ups. After a whirlwind week at Sydney Mardi Gras, Callie and Jayne are back on the mics, feeling a little wrecked but ready to decompress. From the adrenaline of dancing up Oxford Street to the physical and emotional hangover that follows a massive neurodivergent project, this episode dives deep into the post-event blues.

We’re getting vulnerable about rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD), the sting of unsolicited opinions, and what happens when you feel like you’re sitting at the intersection of not being neurodivergent, queer, or disabled enough.

In This Episode:

• Mardi Gras Post-Mortem: The highs of performing for 300,000 people (move over, Taylor Swift) and the fatigue that follows
• Being Rejected: Jayne shares a painful moment of perceived rejection from the crowd and how RSD can hijack a celebration
• Accessibility Fails: A look at what went wrong behind the scenes, from the removal of wheelchair ramps to the lack of support for disabled marchers.
• The ‘Not Enough’ Trap: Callie opens up about the struggle of feeling not gay enough, not AuDHD enough, or not disabled enough while occupying those spaces.
• Navigating Online Criticism: How to handle the gatekeepers on social media who try to police how we talk about our own neurodivergence.
• Parenting & Music: Answering a listener's question about bonding with a baby in utero through music

Neuro-Inclusion Guide: Check out the resources at ndwild.org/inclusion which saw a 1700% increase in traffic following the march!

Got a curly question or a scandalous AuDHD tax story to share? We want to hear it!

• Email: fthemfish@gmail.com
• Instagram: @fthemfish_audhdforgrownups

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: Callie and Jayne check in on their current energy levels (feeling knackered and like total goblins).

01:10 Post-Mardi Gras Reflections: The emotional and physical crash following Sydney Mardi Gras, moving from high-adrenaline performance to post-event exhaustion.

03:10 The Physical Toll of Oxford Street: A look at the physical demands of the parade, including DJ BJ pulling a heavy music cart and Callie’s unexpected sciatica injury.

05:53 Rejection Sensitivity (RSD) at the Parade: Jayne shares a vulnerable story about interacting with a crowd member that triggered a deep spiral of rejection sensitivity.

10:38 Navigating Public Perception and Not Enough-ness: Exploring intersectionality and feeling judged in public spaces.

15:37 Performance: Callie masks through physical pain during the parade and the internal struggle of maintaining a public face while suffering.

18:30 Accessibility Fails and Advocacy: A critical look at the removal of accessibility supports during the event and the impact on disabled participants.

26:14 Online Criticism Callie recounts a recent experience on LinkedIn and why it is important to lead with kindness rather than policing language.

32:15 Listener Q&A: Parenting, Music, and Belly Raspberries We answer a listener's question about bonding with a baby in utero through music

38:43 Outro

AuDHD for grownups: honest, funny conversations about work, relationships, sensory overload, identity, and the stuff nobody explains after diagnosis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.