Neurodivergent Psychologist

31/05/2024

Happy Pride Month 🌈🌈🌈🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🖤🩶🤍🤎🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

16/04/2024

Thanks to Stickman Communications by Hannah Ensor for helping normalize and communicate anxieties around food and eating…. 🌈🥄🥄🥄

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who gave feedback and helped us to create this card around finding eating challenging - whether it is due to an or something else, this card can help people around us to understand and give the right support.

The back of the card has a blank space so you can write whatever info you need to - like any specific strategies or instructions that will help you. And if there are parts of the message on the front that aren't relevant, they can be crossed out.

You can buy them here: https://stickmancommunications.co.uk/product-category/condition/eating-disorders/

12/04/2024

I highly recommend this resource! 💛💛💛
Yellow Ladybugs

09/04/2024

💛✊solidarity Yellow Ladybugs

21/03/2024

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

Be careful where you get your information.

Many, many organisations and professionals are still pedalling a thoroughly harmful narrative about Autism and neurodivergence.

There are plenty of possible reasons:

Because it’s profitable.
Because it suits them to maintain neuronormative superiority.
Because ableism is alive and well.
Because unlearning is hard and people don’t like to admit they are wrong.

For the right info, it’s important to listen to neurodivergent voices.

There are plenty of Autistic professionals doing really great work in this space. Tag your favourite Autistic accounts below.

Who can help me rock this boat?

Em 🌈

12/03/2024

Whatever the diagnosis, having a ‘script’ to explain how this impacts you to others is vital. I love Stickman Communications by Hannah Ensor, and their post below:

[For some people, and are misdiagnoses (especially common where there is undiagnosed autism) - then it's unhelpful - even damaging. But for other people it can be a diagnosis that fits - and that helps them understand themselves and empowers them.

Image description: BPD EUPD card with plain lilac border. Text: I have borderline personality disorder (BPD) aka emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD). This can cause intense emotions which change quickly, impulsiveness, fear people may abandon me, thoughts of su***de and self-harm, and a poor sense of who I am. When stressed I may experience paranoia or dissociation. I may appear rude or standoffish when I’m struggling. It affects everyone differently. I cannot choose how I feel. Minor emotional events for others may be extreme for me. I may need more patience and support during emotionally turbulent times. Please see the back of this card� for things that help me. ]

For some people, and are misdiagnoses (especially common where there is undiagnosed autism) - then it's unhelpful - even damaging. But for other people it can be a diagnosis that fits - and that helps them understand themselves and empowers them.

[Image description: BPD EUPD card with plain lilac border. Text: I have borderline personality disorder (BPD) aka emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD). This can cause intense emotions which change quickly, impulsiveness, fear people may abandon me, thoughts of su***de and self-harm, and a poor sense of who I am. When stressed I may experience paranoia or dissociation. I may appear rude or standoffish when I’m struggling. It affects everyone differently. I cannot choose how I feel. Minor emotional events for others may be extreme for me. I may need more patience and support during emotionally turbulent times. Please see the back of this card� for things that help me. ]

12/01/2024

🌈⭐️🌈⭐️. By Rebecca Burgess () Via I CAN Network Ltd

15/12/2023

💛💛⭐️⭐️💛💛
Yellow Ladybugs

20/11/2023

Focusing on reconnection and attachment with our children is a lifelong process…. 🩷

10/11/2023

🌈🌈🥄🥄

10/11/2023

Wonderful reframe!

08/09/2023

I love this so much
🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🖤🩶🤍🤎

Neurobeautiful

The more you learn about autistic brains, the easier it is to understand autistic behaviors. So, here's a brief intro to autistic neurology!

MISSING WHAT OTHERS CATCH:

In autistic brains, some neural pathways are weaker. This can make it harder to notice implications, expectations, facial expressions, and body language.

CATCHING WHAT OTHERS MISS:

In autistic brains, some neural pathways are stronger. This can make it easier to notice errors, patterns, sights, sounds, textures, pain, and beauty.

FOCUS ON DETAILS FIRST:

Autistic brains tend to gather details before drawing a conclusion, and we're less likely to jump to conclusions based on intuition alone. This often makes us less biased, but worse at figuring out what others consider relevant.

FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME:

Autistic brains naturally slip into intense focus, not shifting quickly from one thought to another. This can be pleasant and productive, but also makes it hard to multitask or face interruptions.

EVERYTHING IS MORE INTENSE:

Autistic brains take in a lot of information at once, especially sensory information. This can feel overwhelming and difficult to process. Autistic movements are often an attempt to help our bodies feel more grounded.

EVERYTHING IS MORE SURPRISING:

Autistic brains make fewer predictions about what will happen next. We take life as it comes, and it often comes too fast to handle. Sometimes we react in ways that anyone would under stress. Plans and routines reduce that stress by making life more predictable.

This is only a summary of various theories that have helped me to understand autism. It's not a summary of my whole book – at best, it borrows from half of chapter 2 and part of chapter 9. In the rest, I explore what this framework looks like in practice, and how it's helping me to build a beautiful life.

Available here: neurobeautiful.com/book

Image description: "What I Mean When I Say I'm Autistic" is in rainbow text on a black background. It's surrounded by short quotes from the post in white text, pointing to the title with gray arrows. Additionally, some technical terms are in parentheses: Bottom-up processing, Monotropism, Intense World Theory, and Predictive Coding Theory.

31/08/2023

This is so important, yet sadly, so misunderstood…

Thanks The Neurodivergent Teacher.
Seen at I CAN Network Ltd

I just finished reading Self-Reg by Dr. Stuart Shanker, and there are a few times he mentioned not mistaking "quiet" for "calm." I thought this was such an important point; how often do we view behaviors as "coming out of no where" or describe a kid as "going from 0 to 60" just because they appeared quiet and compliant prior to exhibiting behaviors? How many stressors and needs for support are we missing when we assume a student is calm and well-regulated just because they are quiet and compliant? Just some food for thought this sunny Sunday 💭🔍💡
[ID: A watercolor rainbow gradient background with black text reads: Be careful not to confuse quiet and compliant with calm and well-regulated.]

26/08/2023

A wonderful opportunity for Neurodivergent youth! Summer Farrelly Yellow Ladybugs

*** Post Edit : Booked Out ***

Next Saturday you can hang out with me online in a safe monitored environment !!!

You will have a chance to interact with meeee !!! and my puppies .

Join with Yellow Ladybugs as we hang out with ambassador extraordinaire Summer Farrelly.

Summer is well known for sharing their personal insights into the benefits of human and animal connection. They're also recognised as a valued contributor within the Animal Assisted Learning and Therapy platforms.

Summer will chat and answer questions and hopes you can bring along your furry friends too.

This is a Yellow Ladybugs only (no siblings) event.

Cost: $30

25/08/2023

Sensory seeking as an adult (or young person……)….. do you or your loved ones relate to any of these things? I certainly do! Sensory needs change as stressors and life responsibilities change. It’s great to understand why we need certain sensory input. Thanks for the awesome infographic, Lived Experience Educator 🌈

sensory seeking is a form of self-regulation where we seek stimulation and sensory input and we should never stop someone from seeking sensory input.

turns out I'm a huge sensory seeker when it comes to certain sensory input so I wanted to share what sensory seeking as an adult looks like for me:

smoking ci******es
eating crunchy foods
listening to music really loudly
tight hugs
enjoying fizzy soft drinks
eating salt and vinegar chips
repetitive movements like rocking back and forth
making lots of noise
seeking out specific scents
enjoying dancing at clubs and pubs
scrolling on your phone
needing background noise
lots of heavy blankets

honestly though I love fizzy soft drinks like there's nothing more satisfying than the burn of carbonated beverages down my throat 😅

I also never realised that always needing background noise was a form of sensory seeking to the oiunt that I prefer to live on a busy road with continuous traffic!

friendly reminder that it's totally possible to be a sensory seeker with some senses and be sensory avoidant with other senses 🌈

20/08/2023

Love the neurodivergent affirming scripts from the creator & those in the comments. “Information overload” is a personal favorite - and good in any situation or for any topic (shared in the comments on the original post ⭐️), and there are so many more.

Although this post is about Info-dumping, the term “Trauma Dumping” has also gained traction and can used as an insult or to admonish someone. This can be very alienating to those who are tentatively opening up for the first time.

Showing kindness and care when setting boundaries is basic human decency. But hard. So scripts are so useful!

When setting boundaries about our own capacity, it’s important to check if the person sharing a traumatic or highly personal experience has access to friends, family, crisis hotlines or alternative ways to access a (professional, if needed) listening ear.

Thanks to More Than One Neurotype for your post and infographic!

I believe there is a lack of language around navigating infodumping, and that means we're in this space of wanting to be free to unmask and infodump, but also getting overwhelmed when we are on the receiving end of it. Traditionally the signals for it being too much lean towards the unspoken, which doesn't exactly bode well when you're autistic.

So here are some scripts we can use where we can be honest about our capacity to receive but it's not a personal attack (such as "omg you never shut up"). It can take work to not be offended receiving these boundaries, because often we have so much trauma from being "too much" that stuff like this can set it off. But it is healthy for us to have boundaries and respect other people's boundaries without taking offence. Including this dialogue into your parenting, especially when your kid is trying to tell you a million facts about sharks while you cook dinner, can also be really helpful.

If you have boundary scripts, I'd love to read them in the comments 🧠💜

[Image text:
Boundaries around Infodumping

The standard way

Indirect hints.
Unspoken signals.
Roll eyes.
Look away.
Turn body away.
Give basic responses.
Give no responses.
Complain behind their back.
Avoidance.
Passive aggressive put downs.
Hope they take the hint and stop.
End the friendship.

A different way

"I really love hearing you talk about things you're passionate about but I just don't have the capacity for it right now. Maybe we can talk more about it another day."
"My brain is too full right now and I'm finding it hard to listen to you. Can we just sit and enjoy each others company in quiet for a bit?"
"I love talking about special interests, now I've heard about yours, can I share about mine?
'I'm not being rude but this is too much for my brain right now."]

15/08/2023

Yes! NeuroWild

‘Your kid is fine at school. If they lose it at home after school, that’s a home problem.’

Yeah, no.

Let’s talk after-school restraint collapse.

Basically our kids wear themselves out at school masking, trying to meet demands, being overwhelmed by sensory chaos, trying to navigate social interactions.

Often they hold it together just long enough to get home, and then they break. The smallest things seem to set them off and cause big emotional response.

Our kids are not overreacting. They’re doing the best they can with no capacity and a body that is zapped.

What can we do about it? Get accommodations in place at school so that our kids are not coming home absolutely wrecked. For accommodation ideas, check out the free IEP document on my TPT. I’ll put the link in the comments.

Em 🌈🌻✌️
AuDHD SLP

02/08/2023

Hear, hear NeuroWild !

“When we talk about ’changing your lens’, this is what we mean.

We’re very done with the world trying to remove or reduce our neurodivergent traits. It’s so harmful.

Instead of changing us, let’s work on changing attitudes.

Instead of spending your time trying to teach us neurotypical ways, why not spend that time challenging the negative beliefs that you have carried for a lifetime? Why not put your energy towards educating others about it?”

When we talk about ’changing your lens’, this is what we mean.

We’re very done with the world trying to remove or reduce our neurodivergent traits. It’s so harmful.

Instead of changing us, let’s work on changing attitudes.

Instead of spending your time trying to teach us neurotypical ways, why not spend that time challenging the negative beliefs that you have carried for a lifetime? Why not put your energy towards educating others about it?

I know many of us here are working hard to do it already.

Glad to have you all by my side.
As I’ve said before, we’re stronger together.

To hell with the Old Way.

Em 🌈🌻✌️
AuDHD SLP