Max Alexander is an artist and play worker who has mapped some common shapes of autistic play. He's passionate about neuro-affirming play for all ages.

Play is both a healing tool, and can help prevent some of the effects of trauma (we touch on this lightly, a concept I learned from Linda Thai)

One possible way to apply the play styles is noticing which ones speak to you, and which ones you're already engaging in, then leaning into those.

The ebook is free, and it's a quick and excellent read!

Apologies for the audio quality. Max was using a headset and didn't have an actual microphone, so I did the best I could to clean it up

• Email [email protected] with application answers, and/or any questions

1. Max's book, The Joys and Shapes of Autistic Play
2. Max's Substack, Play Radical

1. Transcript Doc (often a few weeks behind, but we do catch up!)
2. Mattia's Newsletter
3. Like Your Brain community space (Patreon/Discord)

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

AuDHD leadership touches on last week's interview with Dr Megan Anna Neff. And it goes beyond the visible leadership of creating content, or being in the public eye.

AuDHD leadership can include

• being your authentic self
• visibly meeting your sensory needs
• sharing what helps you (whether or not it's advice)

Mentioned in episode:

• Email [email protected] with application answers, and/or any questions

- Blog post with business episodes

1. Transcript Doc (often a few weeks behind, but we do catch up!)
2. Mattia's Newsletter
3. Like Your Brain community space (Patreon/Discord)

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

Dr Megan Anna Neff is a neurodivergent therapist and thought leader, who became popular in 2022 with their "Misdiagnosis Monday" series. Their thoughtful content has helped many thousands of AuDHDers and other neurodivergent folks feel seen and understood.

Today we talk about

• having a small business as a neurodivergent person (including PDA at the end)
• the questions and concerns we have about creating helpful content, and not causing harm
• how weird it is to be perceived

• Free Help Me Stay Plan (for SI)
• Website: neurodivergentinsights.com
• Divergent Conversations Podcast: www.divergentpod.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/neurodivergent_insights/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NeurodivergentInsightsTV

1. Transcript Doc (often a few weeks behind, but we do catch up!)
2. Mattia's Newsletter
3. Like Your Brain community space (Patreon/Discord)

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

Doing less of what's harming you opens up time and energy. You can enjoy that as rest, and if desired, eventually fill it in with what you do want.

AuDHDers often need to move at a slower pace, in many ways. Sometimes we then have creative bursts that move fast... but the space comes FIRST!

1. Transcript Doc (often a few weeks behind, but we do catch up!)
2. Mattia's Newsletter
3. Like Your Brain community space (Patreon/Discord)

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

Pasha joins again to talk about what they've learned in the past two years since last being on the show! We talk about belonging, triggers in relationships, and much more.

She also shares the ableism behind the scenes of an autism training from a large (unnamed) org.

1. Pasha's website & LinkedIn
2. Instagram @neuroqueercoach
3. TikTok @neuroqueercoach
4. Pasha's YouTube

1. Transcript Doc (often a few weeks behind, but we do catch up!)
2. Mattia's Newsletter
3. Like Your Brain community space (Patreon/Discord)

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

Decluttering, organizing, and cleaning my home in a more routine way is having some interesting effects on my perfectionist tendencies! (Plus, perfectionism comes up in the decision-making process; more on that in my interview on A Slob Comes Clean, which I'll link here when it's out.)

Specifically, a cleaner space = less decision fatigue = lower cognitive load = more executive function resources for ME!

If you want support with that:

1. Free 5-Step Decluttering Process (note it's /five, not /5 at aslobcomesclean.com)
2. A Slob Comes Clean podcast & YouTube channel
3. Organizing for the Rest of Us
4. Decluttering at the Speed of Life
5. How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind

(book links are affiliate links)

1. Transcript Doc (often a few weeks behind, but we do catch up!)
2. Mattia's Newsletter
3. Like Your Brain community space (Patreon/Discord)

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

Dana K White, like me, couldn't find advice that worked for her. So she made it up! And it turns out, it was helpful for many other people too.

After writing an anonymous blog about cleaning her overwhelmingly cluttered home, Dana "came out" and started helping others too. Also, many of those people let her know she seems to have ADHD ;)

Her explanations have already helped me a lot, and given me hope about a clean home for the first time in ages.

We talk about many of the overarching themes/tips in her books (which are linked below)

1. Free 5-Step Decluttering Process (note it's /five, not /5 at aslobcomesclean.com)
2. A Slob Comes Clean podcast & YouTube channel
3. Organizing for the Rest of Us
4. Decluttering at the Speed of Life
5. How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind

(book links are affiliate links)

1. Transcript Doc (often a few weeks behind, but we do catch up!)
2. Mattia's Newsletter
3. Like Your Brain community space (Patreon/Discord)

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

Transitions are one of THE things that support the way that productivity shows up for AuDHDers! Transitions don't have to be all about work: play and rest can be transitions too. And sometimes we need transition time into and out of work, play, AND rest!

Today I talk in more detail about how long transitions can take for me (routinely 30-60 minutes). If that's true for you, a 20-minute chunk of work (or getting interrupted) isn't going to feel that good compared to the transition time required. (That said, anything goes in burnout recovery!)

Anecdotally: AuDHD folks may need more transition time than ADHD or Autistic folks (even though it's often talked about as an autism trait or need). If that's true, it's possible that it's monotropism that leads to higher transition time needs.

Note: I misspoke when I said "dares and challenges." They're actually dares and commitments :)

1. Transcript Doc (often a few weeks behind, but we do catch up!)
2. Mattia's Newsletter
3. Like Your Brain community space (Patreon/Discord)

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

PDA is the Persistent Drive for Autonomy (community term), or pathological demand avoidance (clinical & pathologizing term). What happens when PDA, ADHD, and autism all overlap? Well... stress and relationship challenges!

Thankfully, everything that helped me feel more safe has also made my PDA more manageable. There are many approaches to build that safety.

This episode is a follow-up to the interview on PDA last week

1. Book Low-Demand Parenting by Amanda Diekman (affiliate link)
2. Last week's interview on PDA, and the podcast PDA: Resistance and Resilience
3. Mattia's bday (or whenever) wish list

1. Transcript Doc (often a few weeks behind, but we do catch up!)
2. Mattia's Newsletter
3. Like Your Brain community space (Patreon/Discord)

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

It's been a running joke (that wasn't initially a joke) that I'm totally going to do a PDA episode very soon... since the very first episode of AuDHD Flourishing.

Now we have one, thanks to Chris Wells and Marni Kammersell for interviewing me on PDA: Resistance and Resilience, and letting me cross-post the episode here!

Mentioned in episode:

1. Full show notes
2. AuDHD Flourishing Episode 87: Giftedness & the Sparkly Mind with Sheldon Gay
3. AuDHD Flourishing Episode 88: Gifted Development & Positive Disintegration with Chris Wells
4. AuDHD Flourishing Episode 108: Using Intuition Practically
5. Robert Chapman’s book Empire of Normality

Connect with Chris, Marni, PDA pod:

• Wandering Brightly with Marni Kammersell
• Positive Disintegration and cosmic cheer squad with Chris Wells
• PDA: Resistance and Resilience on Substack
• Follow us on Instagram

1. Transcript Doc
2. Mattia's Newsletter
3. Like Your Brain community space (Patreon/Discord)

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