Buckle up benevolent audience and listen to us get a little hot under the collar in this episode. This time we've talking about the "Neurodivergent Tax" and how it affects us and makes us more than a bit cranky at times. This is one of those times.

The Neurodivergent Tax is, to be very brief, the extra cost involved in simply existing as a member of society when you are neurodivergent. Things such as paying for medication and therapy are obvious things, but what about buying obsolete things because you forgot you already had the same thing at home? Or having to pay late fees for things that you rented or borrowed that completely went out of your mind?

Hello friends, welcome to the Differently Brained Masquerade! We are delighted to have your attention while we ramble on about something very common amongst neurodivergent folks: Masking! We've mentioned it in episodes before, but haven't ever dedicated a whole episode - UNTIL NOW!

In this episode, Jacinta and Lachlan chat with occupational therapist and neurodiversity advocate Frances McCafferty about PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance), autonomy, and what it means to create truly neurodiversity-affirming spaces. Frances, who founded Embrace Neurodiversity with her husband, shares her personal perspective as an autistic PDAer, what PDA actually feels like from the inside, how demands can show up in surprising ways, and why safety and choice matter so much. Frances talks about how she balances her roles as a peer researcher, therapist, and advocate — and how we, at large, can all do better to support PDAers at home, school, work, and beyond!

This week Jacinta and Lachlan talk to artist and academic Drew Pettifer. As an austistic ADHDer, Drew chats about growing up queer and neurodivergent, finding connection through creativity, and why telling overlooked stories—especially queer ones—matters so much (as well as the intersections between queer identity and neurodivergent identity). 

You can find Drew's website here, as well as his RMIT profile here.

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It's getting colder out there, listeners, so why not curl up with an episode of Differently Brained and a cozy video game?

Resources:

Reuters article - Cozy comfort: new research backs up what games have thought for years: video games can be an antidote to stress and anxiety

You must listen to this podcast episode before venturing forth!

Declan Nathan

Check out Jess's Portfolio here!

RESOURCES:

A brief primer if you want to know more about D&D

Writer Alaina Dean joins Jacinta and Lachlan in "the studio" to talk about her approach to literary rejections. She has been undertaking a years long project to get her writing out to as many publications as possible and, in the meantime, accrue 100 rejections!

https://www.instagram.com/alainaddream/?hl=en

https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/alaina-is-aiming-for-100-rejections-she-says-we-should-all-embrace-our-failures-20250402-p5logt.html

https://lithub.com/why-you-should-aim-for-100-rejections-a-year/

https://www.clippings.me/users/alainadean

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/21194493.Alaina_Dean

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-dean-93867b196/?originalSubdomain=au

https://www.goodfriendresumes.com.au/about-1

Welcome back to the Differently Brained soapbox! We have started releasing these on a fortnightly basis, but it seems right to share this one with you all right off the back of part 1.

It's the 21st Century and Smartphones are commonplace. Perhaps TOO commonplace!

This is fine. Everything is fine.

Jacinta and Lachlan chat about what Doomscrolling is, why we do it, what it does to the brain, and maybe how we can mitigate it.

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