I’ve spent years thinking I was failing at jobs that I was actually succeeding at. For a long time, I believed I kept losing jobs because I wasn’t trying hard enough or simply wasn’t good enough, but now I’m starting to believe I was actually burning out without recognising it. I worked late, took on…

People joke (my husband included) that women never know what they want to eat when you ask them, but for me it’s not a joke—I genuinely don’t know until I think it through. When someone asks, I have to mentally picture myself eating different foods until I find one that doesn’t make my stomach immediately…

My husband has called me “consistently inconsistent” for years—long before either of us knew I was autistic or ADHD—and he’s always laughed at how unpredictable I can be. I never understood what he meant because, honestly, I make perfect sense to me. What I didn’t realize is that my autistic brain and ADHD brain are…

I’m AuDHD, which means I’m both autistic and ADHD, and sometimes it feels like I have two brains arguing with each other all day long. My autistic brain craves routine, predictability, quiet, and knowing exactly what to expect, while my ADHD brain wants novelty, spontaneity, excitement, and something new to chase. One part of me…

Sometimes when I’m speaking, I can’t find the right words, and the longer the pause, the more anxious I become. My mind immediately starts racing: they’re not interested, you’re annoying them, hurry up and get to the point. The anxiety makes it even harder to find the words I was looking for in the first…

I want to be an extrovert — I’m not. I want to make small talk — I’m not always sure how. I want to be invited — I’m often not, and usually that’s perfectly okay. I want to be funny, ask good questions, and know exactly when to laugh — but those things don’t always…

I heard someone say, “I overshare so I’m easier to tolerate,” and wow, that hit me hard because I think that’s exactly why I do it sometimes. The other reason I overshare is because I’m trying to connect and show that I genuinely understand what someone is going through because I’ve had similar experiences. But…

I got hit with two whammies in one week—and weirdly, I’m starting to think it might not have been a bad thing. At the beginning of April (2026), my full-time employer told me our time together had come to an end, but thankfully it wasn’t a bad breakup and we’re still on good terms. That…

My flowers beside me are dying and I feel genuinely sad about it, even though I know cut flowers are supposed to fade. I feel bad when I break anything, guilty when I throw things away, and I once got emotional over that IKEA commercial where the lamp gets abandoned in the rain. Now I…

I’ve been thanking AI assistants since it first appeared on my iPhone, and I quietly thank my computer when it behaves the way it’s supposed to. The more I learn about autism, the more I wonder if this is part of it — treating non-human things with kindness because my brain naturally extends feelings and…