“To love someone long-term is to attend a thousand funerals of the people they used to be.”

This quote by Heidi Priebe beautifully summarizes what I’m talking about in this episode – neurodiversity and nuances in friendships – with my guest Sadie, a self-connection coach and recovering people pleaser. It’s a subject I’ve been wanting to cover for ages.

Personally, I was diagnosed with ADHD two and a half years ago. Sadie was recently diagnosed with Autism. Today, we discuss it all: letting friendships go, building new ones, and building up new versions of existing friendships after learning you’re neurodiverse.

There are so many blanket statements about making and keeping friends. But if we dive into these nuances and subtleties in our friendships, this is what’s going to make it easier to keep them.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Sadie’s experience learning that she’s neurodivergent later in life and how this impacted her friendships
• How interactions that neurotypical people see as easy can often be quite draining for neurodivergent people
• The “scripts” we give ourselves on how to act in certain situations – and how these scripts prevent us from being our most authentic, true selves in friendships
• Managing differences in friendships (check out Episode 15 for more on this!) and how doing this makes it easier for neurodivergent people in friendships
• Strawberry Friends – the people with whom you can be yourself around the most and don’t feel forced to spend time with
• The relief we can feel after learning that we’re neurodivergent – and also the grief we can feel about past interactions and years of struggle

Resources & Links

Connect with Sadie on her website or on Instagram at @thiscuriouslifecoaching.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!