You get excited about international travel, new projects, spontaneous adventures. Then you're completely overwhelmed because you took on too much without the recovery time your nervous system needed.

Sound familiar? Welcome to the Excitement Overwhelm Paradox. 

Your ADHD side spots something shiny and goes all-in. Your Autistic side needs predictability and time to recover. You end up bouncing between chasing impulses and emergency management mode.

In this episode:

• Why international travel shifted from adventure to impossible (and how I’m making it sustainable again)
• How to tell when following excitement is healthy vs leading to burnout
• Honoring both our need for stimulation AND for stability 
• The distinction between aiming for elusive “balance” and intentionally recalibrating

Connect With Adria:

• Full show notes at AuDHDSparks.com
• @audhdsparks
• AuDHD Coaching with Adria

You walk into a space and immediately feel on edge. Or you’re in that doctor’s office waiting room, and you just CAN’T be there anymore. Or you’re lounging in your living room and, for some reason, it’s like you can’t truly relax.

When you're AuDHD, spaces aren't backgrounds. They actively drain or restore you.

That "I can't think clearly here" is your nervous system giving accurate data about environmental incompatibility.

In this episode:

• How environments dysregulate AuDHers & identifying your sensory profile  
• Creating cozy nooks as regulation pockets
• Immediate-relief accommodations vs long-term space redesign
• Finding control when everything feels hostile

Connect With Adria:

• Full show notes at AuDHDSparks.com
• @audhdsparks
• AuDHD Coaching with Adria

Ever feel tired and in need of recovery after a vacation? Even if it was fun or restful, it’s like that “small” transition back home completely throws you off. 

Our Autistic side needs stability and predictability. And if we were purely Autistic maybe we could design around that. 

BUT our ADHD side craves the stimulation of changing things up. 

So, instead of avoiding transitions, we end up creating even more for ourselves to navigate. 

In this episode:

• Why transitions aren't "just logistics" - they're recalibrations
• The three-stage transition portal (and how to navigate it without burning out)
• Practical strategies: anchor points, data collection, and nervous system honoring

Connect With Adria:

• Full show notes at AuDHDSparks.com
• @audhdsparks
• AuDHD Coaching with Adria

You work toward something meaningful, finally achieve it — then it’s like it never happened. The moment passes and you keep moving without integrating what you accomplished.

Sound familiar? When you’re AuDHD, it’s hard for abstract accomplishments to feel “real.”

But when accomplishments stay invisible, they don’t get woven into your self-view. You undersell yourself, lack confidence in your abilities, and live in the paradox of meaningful work that feels meaningless.

In this episode:

• The Hoya plant story — how a simple purchase became the anchor for a podcast launch
• Why digital achievements need physical representations
• Simple celebration rituals that honor your neurodivergent needs
• Building self-witnessing skills without overwhelming yourself

Your accomplishments deserve to feel real. Sometimes that just takes a tangible reminder.

Connect With Adria:

• Full show notes at AuDHDSparks.com
• @audhdsparks
• AuDHD Coaching with Adria

You're carrying something profound that feels invisible to everyone else. The kind of pain that doesn't fit society's automatic compassion categories - so you end up shouldering it completely alone.

What if the problem isn't that your pain is less valid? What if it's that AuDHD experiences don't translate into the emotional performances others recognize as worthy of support?

When your autistic brain processes internally while your ADHD brain craves connection, you're caught between competing needs for space and understanding.

In this episode:

• Why betrayal hits different when your brain assumes loyalty is permanent
• The exhaustion of translating unnamed experiences for recognition
• How "looking fine" becomes a barrier to getting what you need
• Building support systems when your pain doesn't have scripts

Your unnamed experiences are real and profound. You're not alone in carrying what society doesn't recognize.

Connect With Adria:

• Full show notes at AuDHDSparks.com
• @audhdsparks
• AuDHD Coaching with Adria

Someone asks you to work an event, attend a party, give feedback on something. You feel this pressure to decide right there - but your brain literally can't.

Sound familiar? Welcome to the AuDHD processing paradox.

Your ADHD side instantly reads their urgency. Your Autistic side needs time to process your own feelings. You're caught between their impatience and your genuine need for time.

In this episode:

• Scripts for buying processing time without making it weird
• The tattoo consultation story that changed everything
• When you're "behind" on your own emotions (wedding day, divorce grief)
• How to work backwards when interoception or alexithymia means you can't track feelings in real time

Your brain isn't slow - it's thorough. It’s time to stop apologizing for needing what we need.

Connect With Adria:

• Full show notes at AuDHDSparks.com
• @audhdsparks
• AuDHD Coaching with Adria

You stare at your computer tabs with a completely blank brain. The "simple" phone call feels impossible. (Everyone else just picks up the phone - what's wrong with you?)

Nothing's wrong with you.

Your brain is seeing all the hidden executive function steps that others don't even notice. You're not managing one neurodivergent brain - you're mediating between two operating systems that sometimes want different things.

In this episode:

• The envelope that sat on my desk for months (and what it actually required)
• How to design breadcrumb systems instead of forcing willpower
• The shift that changes everything: making tasks easier for your brain

This isn't making excuses - this is making systems.

Connect With Adria:

• Full show notes at AuDHDSparks.com
• @audhdsparks
• AuDHD Coaching with Adria

You can spot when someone's uncomfortable from three tables away and immediately start problem-solving. But mention that the restaurant music is literally painful? Suddenly you're "being dramatic."

Sound exhausting? Welcome to the AuDHD sensitivity paradox.

Here's what nobody tells you: What if "too sensitive" was never about you being fragile? What if everyone else was just oblivious to the rejection sensitivity dysphoria and sensory data your nervous system was accurately detecting?

In this episode:

• The real reason you got called "princess" as a kid (spoiler: it had nothing to do with being demanding)
• Why highly sensitive people often appear cranky instead of eternally sweet (plot twist: you're protecting your nervous system)
• How most AuDHDers found "HSP" first - and why that pipeline makes perfect sense
• What happens when you stop apologizing for needs that aren't built into the system

Time to stop fighting your sensitivity and start listening to the intelligence it's been offering you all along.

Connect With Adria:

• Full show notes at AuDHDSparks.com
• @audhdsparks
• AuDHD Coaching with Adria

You were labeled the "shy kid" growing up. Now you're wondering - was that really shyness, or was something else happening?

If you've ever thought "I wasn't antisocial, I just needed different things" or felt confused about why you desperately wanted friends but found social situations so draining, this episode is for you.

There's a specific pattern many AuDHD adults recognize when looking back at their "shy" childhood - and it's not what most people think shyness actually is.

In this episode:

• Why you felt both left out and relieved to be alone
• The real reason you could connect easily with some people but felt paralyzed around others
• How labels like "difficult" or "princess" masked something adults around you didn't understand
• Why you may still feel that same internal conflict in social situations today

Looking back at your childhood with AuDHD understanding changes everything. The shy kid wasn't broken - they were just trying to survive in a world that didn't have language for what they needed.

Connect With Adria:

• Full show notes at AuDHDSparks.com
• @audhdsparks
• AuDHD Coaching with Adria

You know masking is draining you, but what does "unmasking" actually look like? When advice says "just unmask," where do you even start?

Here's the thing - you've been masking unconsciously for decades. So unmasking means consciously identifying things you didn't even know you were doing.

This episode is your practical starting menu. Seven different areas where you can experiment with dropping the mask and being more you, even if you don't know what the unmasked you looks like yet.

In This Episode:

• Why unmasking starts in safe, contained spaces (not announcing to your whole family at Thanksgiving)
• The energy you get back when you stop translating yourself all day long
• How "letting yourself" language reveals internalized ableism
• Real examples that might spark your own unmasking experiments

Think buffet style - take what resonates, leave what doesn't. The goal isn't making everyone comfortable with your needs. It's stopping the exhaustion of pretending you don't have them.

Connect With Adria:

• Full show notes at AuDHDSparks.com
• @audhdsparks
• AuDHD Coaching with Adria