Neurodivergent Strategies for Late-Diagnosed Adults: The Divergent Paths Podcast

Ever find yourself still furious about a group project from 25 years ago? You might be dealing with justice sensitivity: that intense gut-level reaction when something feels unfair.

In this episode of Divergent Paths, Dr. Regina McMenomy, PhD—ADHD coach for late-diagnosed, nerdy neurodivergent women in higher ed and tech—is joined by co-host Russ Catanach to unpack why fairness feels so personal for so many neurodivergent adults.

They explore how justice sensitivity shows up alongside rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD), ADHD impulsivity, and autistic integrity, and how this deep moral drive can both empower and exhaust us. From childhood classroom memories to academic workplaces that reward compliance over compassion, Regina shares how her brain’s wiring to “fight every fight” shaped her career and her coaching philosophy.

You’ll learn:

-> Why neurodivergent people experience injustice so intensely

-> How justice sensitivity connects to empathy, burnout, and advocacy

-> Strategies to channel your sense of fairness without burning out

If fairness feels like a calling (or a full-time job), this episode is for you.

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About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

Grief is never simple but for neurodivergent folks, it can feel like trying to swim through wet cement. In this deeply personal solo episode, Dr. Regina McMenomy, PhD, shares her own experience of loss while exploring how grief collides with executive dysfunction, emotional numbness, and rejection sensitivity.

If you’ve ever struggled to make phone calls, fill out forms, or even feel your emotions after someone you love has died, this episode is for you. You’ll learn why grief scrambles our executive functioning, how alexithymia can make it hard to name what we’re feeling, and why guilt and self-blame often hit especially hard for late-diagnosed neurodivergent adults.

Because sometimes the hardest part of grieving isn’t the loss itself—it’s learning to be gentle with a brain that’s already overloaded.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Book a Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D., is a neurodivergent coach, educator, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. She helps late-diagnosed adults unmask, heal, and thrive without burning out. Author of the N.E.R.D. Notes Newsletter and host of the Divergent Paths podcast, Regina blends academic insight with nerdy joy to build belonging from the inside out. Catch her on Instagram

You ever open your calendar and wonder who signed you up for all this—only to realize it was you?

In this episode of Divergent Paths, Dr. Regina McMenomy, PhD, and co-host Russ Catanach dive into the exhausting cycle of masking through overcommitment. It's a familiar pattern of saying yes to everything just to look capable, helpful, or “normal.” Together, they unpack why neurodivergent people often take on too much, how that habit drains energy, and what it really means to check your capacity instead of just your calendar.

Regina shares a personal story about agreeing to dog-sit right after Comic-Con (spoiler: it did not go as planned) and how learning to pause before saying yes became a game-changer. Russ reflects on how people-pleasing and masking can blur the line between joy and obligation.

From capacity planning to “potato days,” this episode offers practical ways to honor your limits, manage energy instead of time, and break free from the burnout cycle. Because saying no isn’t selfish—it’s self-respect.

🎧 You’ll learn:

• Why masking often leads to chronic overcommitment
• How to tell the difference between a masking yes and an authentic yes
• Why checking your energy matters more than checking your schedule
• How “potato days” (rest days) help your brain recover
• Scripts for saying no without guilt

Whether you’re an ADHD overachiever, an autistic perfectionist, or a recovering people-pleaser, this conversation will help you find peace in doing less—and thriving more.

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If the sight of a form to fill out or bills you need to pay makes you want to crawl under a blanket, you’re not alone. In this episode of Neurodivergent Synthesis, Dr. Regina breaks down why paperwork — those endless forms, emails, and administrative tasks — can feel like an impossible boss fight for neurodivergent brains.

Paperwork doesn’t just require focus; it demands executive functioning, emotional regulation, and compliance with arbitrary rules — all while offering zero dopamine rewards. Add in Demand Avoidance (“What do you mean I have to do this?”) and Rejection Sensitivity (“What if I do it wrong?”), and you’ve got the perfect recipe for overwhelm, avoidance, and shame spirals.

Together, we’ll unpack how these overlapping neurodivergent traits combine to make even “simple” tasks so complex — and how understanding the pattern can help you reframe, strategize, and show yourself some compassion.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why executive dysfunction + low dopamine makes paperwork a multi-step nightmare
• How PDA turns “required” tasks into nervous-system resistance
• How RSD feeds the fear of messing up or being judged
• Realistic, nerd-friendly strategies for finally slaying the paperwork monster

You’re not lazy. You’re navigating a system that was never designed for your brain.

Book a Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D., is a neurodivergent coach, educator, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. She helps late-diagnosed adults unmask, heal, and thrive without burning out. Author of the N.E.R.D. Notes Newsletter and host of the Divergent Paths podcast, Regina blends academic insight with nerdy joy to build belonging from the inside out. Catch her on Instagram @DrReginaPhD

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Unmasking isn’t about ignoring others or living without filters. It’s about finally showing up as your real self instead of a version built to keep everyone else comfortable. In this episode of Divergent Paths, Dr. Regina McMenomy, PhD, and co-host Russ bust the biggest misconceptions about neurodivergent unmasking.

They unpack three common myths:

1. That unmasking means you stop caring what people think,
2. That unmasking gives you permission to be unfiltered or rude, and
3. That unmasking means putting your needs above others.

Through personal stories and humor (yes, including a pizza-related revelation), Regina and Russ explore what healthy unmasking really looks like—balancing authenticity, empathy, and accountability without losing connection.

Book a Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D., is a neurodivergent coach, educator, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. She helps late-diagnosed adults unmask, heal, and thrive without burning out. Author of the N.E.R.D. Notes Newsletter and host of the Divergent Paths podcast, Regina blends academic insight with nerdy joy to build belonging from the inside out. Catch her on Instagram @DrReginaPhD

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Perfectionism doesn’t always show up in spreadsheets and checklists. In this solo episode of Neurodivergent Solutions, Dr. Regina McMenomy Ph.D. explores how the drive to be perfectly understood shapes her writing, her identity, and her unmasking journey.

Drawing from her background as a poet and her late auDHD diagnosis, Regina shares how a deep love for words has always been both a gift and a trap. She breaks down how perfectionism in writing often comes from a need for clarity, safety, and self-expression and why that pursuit of “just the right word” can feel both empowering and exhausting.

Whether you obsess over every sentence in an email or edit your voice in real-time during conversations, this episode offers gentle insight into how language, perfectionism, and neurodivergence intertwine.

Book a Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D., is a neurodivergent coach, educator, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. She helps late-diagnosed adults unmask, heal, and thrive without burning out. Author of the N.E.R.D. Notes Newsletter and host of the Divergent Paths podcast, Regina blends academic insight with nerdy joy to build belonging from the inside out. Catch her on Instagram @DrReginaPhD

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Why do neurodivergent brains often wait until the last minute to get things done? In this episode of Divergent Paths, Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D. and co-host Russ Catanach unpack urgency bias: the tendency to focus only on what feels immediately urgent. From procrastination and crisis-mode productivity to burnout and emotional stress, we explore why urgency bias happens, how it can both help and harm, and practical strategies to work with it instead of against it. If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “I only get things done when the deadline is on top of me,” this episode is for you.

Book a Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

What happens after you unmask and suddenly realize you’re not sure who you really are? In this solo episode of Neurodivergent Solutions, Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D. explores the identity crisis that often follows late-diagnosed ADHD or autism, and why not knowing who you are without the mask is completely normal.

Regina shares why high-masking neurodivergent adults often lose touch with their preferences, emotions, and even their sense of self and what to do about it. With compassion, personal stories, and reflective prompts, this episode guides you through the messy, beautiful process of rediscovering who you are beneath the performance.

You’ll learn:

• Why masking can overwrite identity
• How grief and fear show up after unmasking
• Where to start when you don’t know your likes, needs, or voice anymore
• Gentle strategies for rebuilding a sense of self, one moment at a time

If you’ve ever asked, “Who am I, really?”—this one’s for you.

Book a Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

In this special episode of Divergent Paths, Dr. Regina McMenomy Ph.D. and co-host Russ Catanach take you inside their live panel at Rose City Comic Con: “Neurospicy Brains, Found Family, and Fandom… Oh My!” Recorded in front of nearly 400 attendees, this conversation highlights how fandom communities — from cosplay to comics to gaming — provide belonging and resilience for late-diagnosed autistic and ADHD adults. Joined by panelists Rachel Ferdaszewski, Isabela Oliveira, and Rabbi Davina Bookbinder, the panel explores neurodivergent identity, perfectionism, masking, burnout, and the healing power of found family in geek culture.

If you’ve ever felt like you “missed the tutorial level of life,” this episode will remind you that you’re not alone and that your story matters.

Join N.E.R.D.s

Book a Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.

Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights!

Masking isn’t a lie—it’s a life skill. In this solo episode of Neurodivergent Solutions, Dr. Regina McMenomy unpacks why neurodivergent people learn to mask from such a young age and why it’s not a failure of authenticity but a tool for safety and belonging.

Drawing from her personal experience as a late-diagnosed ADHD adult and mother, Regina explores how masking develops in response to rejection sensitivity, social expectations, and survival instincts. She also discusses the complex reality of unintentionally teaching masking to our kids and why approaching this topic with compassion is the key to healing.

You’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of:

• How masking starts (and why it’s reinforced)
• Why it’s normal to mask even after diagnosis
• The cost of masking—and the power of reframing it
• How to begin the unmasking process with self-trust and intention

If you’ve ever felt ashamed for hiding parts of yourself, this episode will help you replace that shame with compassion.

Book a Clarity Call with Regina

About Dr. Regina McMenomy PhD,

Regina is an educator, consultant, and founder of Divergent Paths Consulting. With over two decades of experience in higher education and instructional design, she now helps individuals create more inclusive, neurodivergent-affirming spaces. A late-diagnosed ADHDer herself, Regina blends academic insight, personal experience, and a healthy dose of nerdy joy to help others unmask, heal, and thrive.