Who doesn’t love a good coping skill? If you’re anything like us, you probably have a whole collection of them to choose from at any given time and are always looking for new ones. So, this time around we thought we’d play a little game where we look at different coping skills from a randomized list, without any context at all, and pit them against each other to judge which one we think would be the most versatile in a pinch. Join us for this battle of the coping skills and see if you have feelings about them that are as strong as the ones we had.

If you’re enjoying the podcast we’d love it if you could help us spread the word by telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and leaving a rating or review. If you’d like to support us on Patreon we are at www.patreon.com/differentfunctional Thanks so much for listening and remember, different does not mean defective

There are plenty of fish in the sea, so they say. That may be true, but the actual sea is full of poisoned fish and, from what we hear, the fish in the digital dating pool aren’t much better off. So, how about going back to the basics and meeting people in the real world? Join us as we scour the internet for some neurodivergent-friendly pickup lines to help you break the ice, find your people, and weed out the undesirables this Valentine’s Day.

If you’re enjoying the podcast we’d love it if you could help us spread the word by telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and leaving a rating or review. If you’d like to support us on Patreon we are at www.patreon.com/differentfunctional Thanks so much for listening and remember, different does not mean defective

If you’re on a healing journey, you know the struggle of the steep and perilous upward climb. If you’ve been on it for a while, you likely also know the sense of accomplishment and pride you feel when you reach the summit of a challenge and can see how far you’ve come. We all know these peaks and valleys are integral and repeating parts of the journey, but if you’ve been on your journey for a very long time, we bet you’ve encountered something no one warned you about or prepared you for: the plateaus.

If you stay on the path for long enough, there will be moments of deafening stillness, when you can see everything you’ve accomplished but there’s seemingly nothing on the horizon and you don’t know what to do next. This is the no man’s land of the healing journey. You can’t go back and you’re not done, but you also don’t know where you are or where you’re headed, you just know you didn’t expect to be here.

So, what do you do? Join us for a discussion of what the view is like from the plateau and how to choose a path forward into the uncharted territory of your healing journey.

If you’re enjoying the podcast we’d love it if you could help us spread the word by telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and leaving a rating or review. If you’d like to support us on Patreon we are at www.patreon.com/differentfunctional Thanks so much for listening and remember, different does not mean defective

It’s a couple of weeks into the new year, which means many of us are probably starting to feel just the faintest resurgence of those old struggles and habits we had confidently declared that we would conquer this time. At first, we’re filled with enthusiasm and hope and determination, but old habits die hard and the internal mechanisms which drive those habits are even harder to force into submission. So, what if we didn’t? What if, instead of leaning into brute force, we leaned into understanding? What if we made friends with our shadows and demons so we could learn to work with them instead of fighting against them? If you find yourself on the struggle bus right now, we hope you’ll join us for a discussion about personal growth through integration rather than through eradication.

If you’re enjoying the podcast we’d love it if you could help us spread the word by telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and leaving a rating or review. If you’d like to support us on Patreon we are at www.patreon.com/differentfunctional Thanks so much for listening and remember, different does not mean defective.

Christmas is over but we’re still technically in Yuletide territory so we decided to do something a little different this year to acknowledge the festivities before they slip away from us for another year. We like folklore. We like weird creatures. We like traditions and rituals that make no sense to us because they’re not part of our time period or culture. If you like those things too, we hope you’ll join us as we indulge in a hilarious exploration of some of the legendary and iconic characters behind Yule folklore. Hide your children and your sheep, tidy up your house, get some new clothes, grab your colander for home defense, and let’s go!

If you’re enjoying the podcast we’d love it if you could help us spread the word by telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and leaving a rating or review. If you’d like to support us on Patreon we are at www.patreon.com/differentfunctional Thanks so much for listening and remember, different does not mean defective.

Happy Holidays! Shopping for gifts sucks! Unless you’re one of those people who is naturally gifted at knowing exactly what to give as gifts to other people. Let’s be honest though, most of us probably don’t have that talent, so we sat down and did some brainstorming about what might make for good gifts. We can’t guarantee you’ll want any of these gifts or that you’ll know someone who will but there’s probably a pretty good chance we’ll at least get those gears turning. This episode is for the neurodivergent folks who procrastinated their shopping and now feel overwhelmed about what to get that you can actually afford.

If you’re enjoying the podcast we’d love it if you could help us spread the word by telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and leaving a rating or review. If you’d like to support us on Patreon we are at www.patreon.com/differentfunctional Thanks so much for listening and remember, different does not mean defective.

Ivy is sick! And so is everyone else it seems. It’s that time of year when bugs and viruses and bacteria skulk around and infect the unsuspecting. So, we interrupt our scheduled content to talk disease instead. Grab a box of tissues and join us as we spill the tea on 90s sick day nostalgia, our tips and tricks, embarrassing moments, and some good old-fashioned complaints.

If you’re enjoying the podcast we’d love it if you could help us spread the word by telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and leaving a rating or review. If you’d like to support us on Patreon we are at www.patreon.com/differentfunctional Thanks so much for listening and remember, different does not mean defective.

Things are rough right now, and by right now I mean for so long that it’s getting hard to remember when they weren’t rough. Walking through the world feels a bit like getting a scrub down with coarse grit sandpaper. If you’re feeling a little raw too then join us for a cognitive restructuring game where we look for the silver linings and seek out some meaning in the misery.

If you’re enjoying the podcast we’d love it if you could help us spread the word by telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and leaving a rating or review. If you’d like to support us on Patreon we are at www.patreon.com/differentfunctional Thanks so much for listening and remember, different does not mean defective.

Is it just us or has Halloween ghosted everyone this year? Usually this is a holiday loved and looked forward to by dang near everybody, but this year the enthusiasm feels a bit lacking. We’re not seeing as many decorations for Halloween or even for fall in general. Our social media feeds are dripping with political bickering instead of flowing over with the annual ghosts, ghoulies, pumpkins, costumes, hot spiced apple cider recipes, or the warm and cozy autumn aesthetics. Times are tough for sure but it’s sad to think that maybe this holiday and all the magick it brings might slip away unnoticed.

Join us as we talk about where the spirit of the season may have disappeared and how we can get it back before the candles in the jack-o-lanterns burn down and flicker out completely.

If you’re enjoying the podcast we’d love it if you could help us spread the word by telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and leaving a rating or review. If you’d like to support us on Patreon we are at www.patreon.com/differentfunctional Thanks so much for listening and remember, different does not mean defective.

Okay, we’ll admit, this reaction isn’t very reflexive since it took several weeks to come to any conclusions, however, we will say that the outcome did not meet the reflexive expectations. Social media is full of creators touting all kinds of health and nutrition advice; and with so much of it seeming extreme, conflicting, or too good to be true it’s easy to look at these recommendations with a skeptical side eye. That’s exactly how we felt about the advice that women should adapt their diet and lifestyle in accordance with their menstrual cycle, so Ivy decided to do a little experiment.

We’re not experts and we’re not selling anything. We understand that good health and nutrition practices are not one-size-fits-all, but if you’ve ever been curious about what it might look like to live according to your cycle, we hope you’ll join us for this discussion. We break down what’s supposed to be happening with your hormones at different stages of your cycle and how that can manifest in your body and mood. We also explore some of the diet and activity recommendations for each week. And finally, we discuss Ivy’s personal experience with living this lifestyle: what she had to change, the challenges involved, the measurable results, and her final opinion about whether it’s worth trying.

If you’re enjoying the podcast we’d love it if you could help us spread the word by telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and leaving a rating or review. If you’d like to support us on Patreon we are at www.patreon.com/differentfunctional Thanks so much for listening and remember, different does not mean defective.