AuDHD Flourishing

Something I've noticed: my brain seems to be in "not doing things" or "doing things" mode.

Pushing myself too much during okay executive function days tends to lead to multiple days of recovery.

So ironically, doing a bit less on those days has made for a more consistent capacity...

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A silly hack I use to calm my brain down.

You can also use it to track your interests or other patterns over time.

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AuDHDer Cate Osborn (Catieosaurus) interviews Adam Reid about idea overload... relevant whether or not you're a creative professional or writer like Adam!

Thanks to The ADHD Channel for Women from Understood.org for letting me post this episode.

You can find all of their episodes here.

(And Sep 22 2026 they put out an episode on ADHD & PMDD, which is a thing people ask me about a lot!)

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Many AuDHDers have shared stories with me about some version of the following:

There is a problem staring them in the face

People in power don't want to hear about it

This comes up a lot at work.

The more subtle version is trying to get someone to give a straight answer about exactly what needs to be done, or how. And they act like it's somehow an affront to their authority... so confusing!

If you struggle with communicating with someone who seems resistant to the truth, this episode offers the big picture understanding of what might be going on.

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Part of what hyperneuroplasticity means is that your brain learns quickly on many fronts... including from negative data. This has some obvious downsides!

The good news is that what might feel like excruciatingly slow learning in other areas (8-18 repetitions) is actually normal. Your brain just learns fast sometimes ;)

The other good news is that 2 data points does NOT equal a predictive pattern yet, no matter how much your brain may want it to.

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Dr. Patty Gently is one of the most important researchers and voices in the gifted neurodivergence space. Her free online community, Bloomers, has a few thousand mostly 2e members.

And her research around hyperneuroplasticity is filling in some gaps in the literature to explain some of our experiences!

1. Aphantasia, Alexithymia, Autobiographical Memory, and the HNP Mind, post from her free Substack
2. The Gentle Heretic, Dr. Gently's website where you can also reach out
3. Bright Insight Support Network
4. free Facebook group, Bloomers
5. Join both of us at BloomCon 2026!

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AuDHD brains face many challenges when it comes to projects. It's something I've put a great deal of time and learning into, both personally and professionally. This episode covers many ideas and approaches that tend to work for us.

Key Takeaways:

• We usually learn to use what I call the Adrenaline-Anxiety Approach. While effective short-term, it can lead to burnout and other issues.
• A monotropic approach is more sustainable and individualized... and it can feel slow at first.
• Experimentation as a core tool
• Creating just enough structure and safety to get going, without getting bogged down (loose planning)
• Working with the brain states you have
• Managing interruptions, inputs, and daily life
• Finding the balance that works for you

The episode also walks through the Love Your Brain course, designed to help AuDHDers understand their mind-body system, work with brain states, and navigate project challenges. The course emphasizes self-compassion, experimentation, and building processes tailored to individual needs.

Repost - originally posted July 12th 2024

• Devon Price's Laziness Does Not Exist article, and a PDF if you're not on Medium
• The transcript may be especially useful for this episode! (It'll take a few seconds for the link to fully load to this episode)
• Love Your Brain course (and the Sep/Oct 2026 live round info)

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Making friends is hard. Developing and keeping those friendships is hard. It's literally work!

Today I talk about my friendship journey, more to give examples and share what I've learned rather than to teach.

Because this is a deeply personal topic that's affected by your current capacity!

Mentioned upcoming live round of Love Your Brain course (Sep-Oct 2026)

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Caroline Maguire is passionate about learning how to bring your whole neurodivergent self to friendships... and not scaring people off!

Her book, Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults, includes not only skills but red and green flags, and info on masking vs adapting (which we also talk about in the episode).

Mentioned in episode: next week's workshop with Grace Bezaire

• Book Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults (affiliate link)
• Website https://carolinemaguireauthor.com/
• Instagram @authorcarolinem
• YouTube channel
• Podcast The ADHD Social Playbook

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Thanks for the great topic suggestion from the community: polyamory & strengthening community bonds. Those are quite intertwined for me, since I've been out as poly/RA and exclusively in open relationships for almost 20 years now.

This is a collection of thoughts on what I've noticed while being poly, and how it overlaps with community building and relationship maintenance in general.

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