Featuring: Struan Mackenzie, former UK civil servant & creator of the YouTube channel Am I Neurodivergent?

This is a conversation about burnout, identity collapse, and rebuilding from the inside out.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Late Diagnosis: From stress breakdown to rabbit-hole of autism research... suddenly realized his entire life made sense.
• The Identity Reformation: Another non-linear story of diagnosis. From ASD, to combined-type ADHD, to discovering AuDHD; Struan shares how each diagnosis both clarified and destabilized his sense of self... including deconstructing internalized ableism.
• Protecting Your Peace: From scripting work meetings for hours during COVID to redefining his relationship with alcohol and social energy, Struan shares how he’s learning to honor his nervous system instead of pushing through it.
• The Unexpected Human Detail: Childhood quirks (i.e. lining up toy cars in perfect order, or hiding inside a bookcase) behavior no one recognized at the time, but now reads like a neon sign for autism.

Key Questions Answered in the Audio:

1. Why were so many high-achieving neurodivergent adults missed in childhood, especially in the 70s, 80s, and 90s?

2. What does cyclical burnout actually look like & where does it come from?

3. How does alcohol uniquely affect autistic and ADHD nervous systems & why does the crash hit so hard?

Looking for Struan?

youtube.com/@amineurodivergent

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Featuring:

Jonathan Katz-Ouziel, autistic accessibility consultant and founder of Opossum House Accessibility

What happens when autism is diagnosed early, supported well, and allowed to stay joyful — and how OCD complicates (and sometimes sharpens) everything that comes after

In this episode, we explore:

• Early Diagnosis Moment: what it was like being diagnosed autistic at age three in the 1990s, and how access, parental belief, and early support shape sense of self

• The Identity Shift: From masking in a conformist school system to reclaiming autism as something fun, social, and deeply human — while naming the privilege baked into his journey

• Creating Workarounds & Framework: How OCD-driven rituals around time, sleep, and lists evolved into autistic-friendly executive function systems that actually support his work

• Calming Sensory Needs: Why unmet sensory needs can amplify OCD, how light and heat regulation matter, and what it means to design life around nervous system safety

• Random moments: Eggplants are botanically berries, opossums are the ultimate autistic mascot, and leaning into “cringe” is a survival strategy

Key Questions Answered in the Audio:

1. How do autism and OCD interact — and when does one help or hinder the other?

2. What does accessibility actually look like beyond ramps and compliance checklists?

3. Is starting a business as a neurodivergent person empowering or a fast track to burnout?

Resources Mentioned:

Opossum House Accessibility (Jonathan’s consulting practice) >>>https://www.opossumhouseaccessibility.com/

Jonathan Katz-Ouziel on LinkedIn >>>https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-katz-ouziel-cpacc-6b098334/

Connect With Us

>>>⁠https://www.ndreportpod.com/

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Ft: Karen Kossow, disability advocate, neurodivergent parent, and co-founder of Faircare Idaho

What happens when parenting, disability, hormones, and burnout collide — and the systems meant to support you quietly disappear?

In this episode, we explore:

• Brain Fog + Burnout = Breaking Point

  Sarah gets vulnerable about worsening brain fog and fatigue, opening a larger conversation about perimenopause, disability, and survival under constant strain.

• Late Recognition & Reframing Expectations

  Karen talks parenting autistic kids, navigating Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and the loss of access of familiar coping mechanisms during perimenopause.

• The Reality of Caregiving Without Support:

  Why paid family caregiver programs matter, what happens when they’re cut, and how unpaid labor props up broken socioeconomic systems.

• Develop Self-Care Rituals:

  Learning to read non-verbal body signals, prioritize finite energy, and practice nervous system rest & regulation instead of pushing through.

Key Questions Answered in the Audio:

1. How do I know I’m doing too much?

2. Why are families expected to survive without real systemic support?

3. What practical nervous system grounding tools actually help when you’re already overwhelmed & over-scheduled?

Resources Mentioned:

Karen Kossow’s Substack — Self-Care Support Squad https://karenkossow.substack.com/

Faircare Idaho (family paid caregiving advocacy) https://faircareidaho.substack.com/

Connect With Us

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Featuring: Lucy — Art therapist based in Melbourne, Australia, working at the intersection of creativity, neurodivergence, sensory regulation, and relational healing.

People rarely heal by talking alone; this week, Lucy joins me to explain that slow and soft sensory practices can be the most powerful tools for nervous system repair, especially for neurodivergent people who’ve built up trauma just trying to survive without proper self-understanding.

Curious What’s Inside?

1. Crafting for Nervous System Repair: how slow, tactile art forms like embroidery can support regulation, agency, and self-worth when words and traditional therapy fall short.

2. Craft as stimming: How hand-crafting creates felt-safety through rhythm, repetition, and choice.

3. Animals & Co-Regulation: Exploring how animals can buff your restoration score

4. Sensory Awareness & Grounding: Low-demand grounding practices that don’t rely on breathwork or visualization techniques

Questions We Answer:

• Why do some people heal more through creating art than in talk therapy?

• How can craft support executive function and emotional regulation?

• What makes breathwork grounding inaccessible for many neurodivergent people?

• How do animals support co-regulation in therapy and daily life?

• What does low-demand grounding actually look like in practice?

Guest & Links

Lucy, Art Therapist

Instagram: @embrace.this.space

Website: https://embracethisspace.com.au

Pencil Dust — an animated podcast about art, neurodivergence, and late diagnosis @pencildustpod

Connect With Us

⁠https://www.ndreportpod.com/

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Featuring: Ryan Baker-Barrett, BCBA — ADHD clinician, parent of neurodivergent kids, and adult diagnosed with ADHD later in life.

I keep hearing stories of adults who don’t receive diagnosis until after their relationships fall apart.

In this episode, Ryan Baker-Barrett shares his late ADHD diagnosis, experience with inattentive ADHD, barriers to medication access, and what it’s like to parent neurodivergent kids while managing his own nervous system.

Curious What’s Inside?

• Late ADHD Diagnosis Why inattentive ADHD is often missed in childhood.

• Inattentive ADHD (What Is It Actually Like) Time blindness, hyperfocus, weak interoception, and fatigue.
• Medication Access & Gatekeeping Long waitlists, neuropsych requirements, stigma, & shortages.
• Parenting With ADHD Naming overstimulation, modeling boundaries, and letting kids see adults rest.

• 
  

Questions We're Answering:

• Why does inattentive ADHD often go undiagnosed?

• What stops adults from accessing ADHD medication?

• How does ADHD affect parenting and emotional regulation?

• How to practice self-compassion with ADHD?

Guest & LinksRyan Baker-Barrett, BCBA Founder, Applied Behavioral Health Practice

• Instagram: @adhd_by_abhp

• Website: appliedbehavioral.health

Connect With Us!

⁠https://www.ndreportpod.com/⁠

@ndreportpod on your social platform of choice!

Most neurodivergent people have a story of collapse before success. Neurodivergent Rebel - Lyric Rivera - joins me to talk about the rite-of-passage crises that force us to confront burnout, identity, capitalism, and the quiet self-abandonment we were taught to survive with.

Curious what’s inside?

• The “Rite of Passage” Crisis: Why so many neurodivergent people hit collapse?
• The “Queer-Adjacent Without Language”: Growing up in the Texas Bible Belt feeling out of place without ever having the words to name non-binary identity.
• The Capitalism Lie: How destroying your body, your boundaries, and even the planet gets framed as “success” & why we're refusing that narrative.
• Protecting Your Peace: Unlearning performative identity, setting boundaries, and choosing emotional safety over productivity theater.
• Lavender Gelato & Feeling at Home: talk of cozy things

Key Questions Answered in the Audio:

• Why do so many neurodivergent people experience an identity collapse before healing can begin?

• How does discovering autism open the door to questioning gender, capitalism, and self-abandonment?

• What happens when racism, colonial thinking, and “just a difference of opinion” shape parenting, education, and mental health systems?

Resources Mentioned:

• Lyric Rivera — The Neurodivergent Rebel & published author - https://neurodivergentrebel.com/

• Autism Identity in Me — Lyric’s latest book

Connect With Us!

• https://www.ndreportpod.com/

• @ndreportpod on your social platform of choice!

How does it feel to spend 20 years masking in the corporate world, only to have the rug pulled out the moment you finally ask for help? Romina Massa joins us to discuss her resilience story still being written as we speak.

Curious what's inside?

• The "Reasonable" Request: Romina reveals the shockingly simple workplace accommodation she requested that led to her corporate exit—and why it was seen as "audacity" rather than a tool for success.

• The Post-Diagnosis "Switch": We discuss the frustrating (and often condescending) way people’s behavior shifts the moment you disclose a neurodivergent diagnosis.

• The Freedom of the "Outbox": How Romina uses technology to "hide" her non-traditional working hours and why she believes the freelance model is often a necessity rather than a choice for neurodivergent professionals.

• Protecting Your Peace: Romina shares her personal mantra for setting boundaries and why "I’m sorry" is usually the wrong response to an autism diagnosis.

• Diplomats & Comic Books: A look into Romina’s childhood as the daughter of a diplomat and how her family navigated her "dramatic" traits before anyone had a name for them.

Key Questions Answered in the Audio:

• What is the one question you should always ask a friend who has just disclosed their diagnosis?

• Why does the 9-to-5 "creative brain" often feel like it’s whittling away to nothing?

• How can you tell if you are "masking" your way through your career?

Resources Mentioned:

• https://www.kaboose.app/

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/rominamassa/

• https://www.instagram.com/rominamassa/

• https://www.rominamassa.com/

Connect With Us!

• https://www.ndreportpod.com/

• @ndreportpod on your social platform of choice!

This is the most emotionally honest episode I’ve ever recorded.

In today’s conversation, Shaun Arora returns to The Neurodivergent Report to discuss Microsoft research on work–life balance, but the fullness of what really happened is way more useful.

Listen now to co-regulate with me from all things overwhelm, chronic illness, and executive dysfunction.

If you feel dizzy surviving a world that won’t slow down for you, this episode will meet you exactly where you are.

*TRIGGER WARNING; crying*

Curious what’s inside:

• Why Microsoft’s “time spent = goal acheived” model falls apart for ADHD and chronic illness

• Why rigid systems don’t work for brains that fluctuate

• The somatic signs of emotional overload

• How to transition after a moment of dysregulation

• Vulnerability as leadership: find the courage to let yourself be witnessed

However you are able to engage, thanks for being here!

With love, Sarah 💜

Looking for Shaun?Shaun Arora Neurodiversity advocate, coach, and founder at braintypes.org

Connect With Us

Find The Neurodivergent Report on Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, BlueSky, and Substack: @ndreportpod

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Subscribe, leave a 5-star review, or visit ndreportpod.com to learn more or apply to be a guest contributor.

Until next time—

Be well. Do good.