I've never been able to tell left from right.

There! I said it.

I’ll probably say it again at least fourteen times before breakfast tomorrow.

My brain has never clocked the absolute 'well, obviously' of which direction is which.

But... plot twist... that’s not a problem.

It’s just different. And that difference taught me a hell of a lot more about myself, my family, and resilience than any workbook, life hack, or well-meaning suggestion of a trick to try and solve it.

If you’ve ever felt that friction of being handed a supposedly 'easy' trick (“just write it on your hands, Lauren!”) only to realize it helps exactly zero, or if you have a kid whose way of being in the world defies every sharp-edged box marked “normal,” you’ll want to tune in.

This week on Different, not Broken, I'm unpacking how difference (not “defect”) steered my entire trajectory: in school, on the playground, behind the wheel (left? right? Eh…), even into how I parent my own kids.

This episode has it all - weird brains, unlabeled hands, toppling off monkey bars, and the rest: welcome to the soft, shameless, science-y, supportive corner of the internet.

Listen in, bring your questions, and, if you figure out which way is left, DM me.

Or don’t. Because my brain still won't see it.

Hit play. Let's celebrate our 'different'.

Mentioned in this episode:

Wanna sponsor this podcast

http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors

Sponsor Different Not Broken

One pill a day. That’s all it takes, apparently, to give the world its color back. You’d think adding a little routine to your morning... a pill, a glass of water... wouldn’t be the hill your mental health dies on, but here we are.

In this week’s episode of Different, Not Broken, I'm letting you in on the strange, subtle shape that anxiety and depression can take. And why you don’t need a five-alarm fire in your life to justify asking for help.

This episode peels back the curtain on what 'not broken' really means, especially when you’ve been high-functioning, hyper-responsible, and the go-to for getting stuff done.

I'm talking candidly about the quiet ways depression and anxiety can erode joy from your life without ever stopping you from making payroll or packing school lunches.

00:00 "Unexpected Gray Days Cure"

03:50 Pandemic Stress and Anxiety Diagnosis

06:22 Realizing Deeper Issues Beyond Anxiety

12:33 Seeking Support Without Crisis

14:26 Avoiding Direct Support for Author

Mentioned in this episode:

Build Your Better course

Build your better course - https://stan.store/elletwo/p/build-your-better

Wanna sponsor this podcast

http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors

Sponsor Different Not Broken

This is your cue to send a bouquet of apology flowers to every postal worker you’ve ever rolled your eyes at.

In this week’s episode, I, Lauren Howard (aka L2, thanks for asking), spiral into the surprisingly convoluted topics of marriage, US mailing discounts and business-unit-only windows that might or might not be open.

Turns out, love isn’t always roses and chocolate.

If you’re one of those people who’s ever panicked because the 'simple' task on your list involves fifteen sub-tasks, or you’ve ever desperately wished someone would just handle it when executive function leaves you high and dry, then this episode is for you.

Thinking of skipping this one?

Don’t.

If you’ve ever felt steamrolled by a 'basic' task or exhausted by the endless loop of family birthdays, this is your safe space. If you’re looking for tactical life hacks, zero judgment, and a side of dead dad jokes, you’ll want to hit play and stay awhile.

Different is not broken, and you’re not alone in the chaos.

Subscribe/follow, listen, and prepare to eye those Four-for-$5 glitter globes at Five Below with brand new appreciation.

Loveyameanit.

Mentioned in this episode:

Wanna learn to write like me?

Here's how you can!

Writing Course

Wanna sponsor this podcast

http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors

Sponsor Different Not Broken

Who told you you weren’t good enough?

No really, who actually said it? Because I checked, and 9 times out of 10, it’s just you playing that broken record in your head.

I show up to urgent care in pajamas, basically grunting in pain, and still get asked for telehealth advice. That’s right. People think I know what I’m doing. Meanwhile, I am absolutely carrying a full set of imposter syndrome luggage.

Four businesses. Programs built from scratch. Surrounded by credentialed pros. And yet my inner monologue is: “Am I allowed to be here? Is someone going to figure out I have no idea what I’m doing?”

Listen to this episode, because it features a neat trick you can do next time your brain starts farting out its “You Have Zero Business Here” speech.

Mentioned in this episode:

Wanna sponsor this podcast

http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors

Sponsor Different Not Broken

What is “normal,” and why does everyone want it so damn bad?

No, really. When did we start treating “normal” like the holy grail instead of the steaming pile of… well, I’ll let you fill in the blank.

On this episode of Different, Not Broken, I—Lauren Howard, your host, also known as L2—am pulling normal out of its gilded cage, shaking it around, and tossing it straight into the trash where it belongs.

If you’ve ever felt like you missed the memo on how to be “normal”… if you’re tired of feeling broken just because your flavors of weird don’t match up with someone else’s, this is the episode you didn’t know you needed.

I’m laying down the law (and maybe some four-letter words) about why chasing normal is a one-way ticket to nowhere—and why different isn’t just okay, it’s inevitable.

We’ll dig into the origin story of “normal” as a concept, how it creeps into our vocabularies starting in childhood, and why it’s a constant refrain for people going through autism and ADHD assessments.

(Plot twist: not fitting the mold isn’t a sign that you’re broken—it’s evidence that the mold is, frankly, garbage.)

But here’s where it gets interesting: even medicine doesn’t actually believe in a single flavor of normal!

And we'll get into that...

If that’s not a reason to click “play,” I don’t know what is.

Love you, mean it. –L2

Join our Patreon community - https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/patreon

Sign up for our updates - http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/newsletter

00:00 "What is Normal?"

03:09 Redefining 'Normal' in Childhood

06:37 Interpreting Lab Reference Ranges

10:32 "Comfy Sandals and Dog Dilemma"

15:55 "Embrace Your Own Normal"

17:29 Tense Meal and Nonsense Talk

20:27 "Questioning Nike Collection Value"

Mentioned in this episode:

Wanna learn to write like me?

Here's how you can!

Writing Course

Wanna sponsor this podcast

http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors

Sponsor Different Not Broken

People say things like "just be yourself" with the expectation that you’ll just snap your fingers and turn the volume down on generations of pressure to fit in.

But what does that even mean when your existence as 'yourself' stops conversations cold? When walking into every room means holding your breath, trying to shrink for comfort, or shapeshifting for someone else’s peace of mind? When you’re told your needs... your honest-to-goodness, human, biological and psychological needs... are either too much or entirely invisible?

This week, we’re going in. All the way in.

I sat down with Dr Carl Frizell, a phenomenal clinician, with his lived expertise in internal medicine, oncology, mental health and, yes, the absolute truth about thriving as a Black neurodivergent professional.

Carl joined me for a conversation about what it means to fight for belonging, to crave quality over quantity, to be different—and not broken—in every aspect of his life.

Want to talk intersectionality? Carl brings the receipts. Want to explore why so many Black and BIPOC kids are mis-labeled as “difficult” (or worse) instead of autistic? Or what happens when advocacy is weaponized against you?

Want to hear the story of a patient—"The Difficult One"—who was never the problem, but simply demanded her humanity be respected?

We’re covering all of it.

(And, yes, Carl really did become a better clinician because he lived every single word he now tells his patients.)

If you’ve ever questioned whether there’s space for your whole self, especially in systems built for someone else’s definition of acceptable—this is your episode.

Love you. Mean it.

Dr Carl Frizell's links:

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/cafrizell_pac/

00:00 Embracing Autism: My Turning Point

03:10 Neurodivergent Advocacy and Speaking Journey

08:01 Seeking Acceptance by Mimicry

12:55 Redefining "Normal" for Health

15:04 Clinical Judgment in Autism Diagnostics

19:20 Patient-Centered Caregiver Approach

23:10 Advocacy in Healthcare Matters

27:00 Supportive Parents Foster Success

29:30 Misdiagnosis Due to Cultural Bias

33:51 Humanizing Lived Experiences Validates Life

34:56 Embracing Whole Identity Acceptance

39:16 Embrace Self-Compassion and Growth

41:17 "Transparent Living on Instagram"

Have you joined our Patreon yet?

https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/patreon

Want to learn to write like me?

https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/course

Mentioned in this episode:

Wanna learn to write like me?

Here's how you can!

Writing Course

Wanna sponsor this podcast

http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors

Sponsor Different Not Broken

Have you ever found yourself glancing around a room (or a Zoom meeting, or a group chat, or the chaos of your living room) and wondered, “Who put me in charge—don’t they know I still feel sixteen most days?” Yeah, me too.

In this episode of “Different, Not Broken,” I, Lauren Howard—L2 for the cool kids —am letting you in on the messiest, most liberating secret of adulthood: nobody, and I mean nobody, actually knows what they’re doing.

This isn’t some polished, performative encouragement to “fake it ‘til you make it.” I am talking about pulling back the curtain on why even the experts you look up to are mostly winging it.

I share my real experiences from the trenches—whether that’s running a telehealth company (where people call me for the right answer and I’m hunting for the adult in the room just like you), navigating ultra-complex compliance laws (with the help of attorneys who actually give me more “choose your own adventure” than clear answers), or trying to make sense of parenting a tiny human who bites (and I mean literally bites—this is not a metaphor).

So why should you listen? Because if you’ve ever felt the crushing weight of thinking you’re the only one improvising—newsflash, you aren’t.

I talk through the reality that none of us are actually the “adultier adult” we’re desperately searching for.

So, if you want to hear the truth about life behind the curtain—about what really happens when everyone is supposedly “adulting”—come hang out with me. We’ll laugh, we might cry, but we’ll definitely call B.S. on the myth of the perfectly composed grown-up.

And if you somehow find that mythical actual adult who has it all figured out, send them my way. Until then, I’ll be right here, fumbling forward, and inviting you to do the same.

Love you, mean it.

00:00 Unfiltered Expertise and Telehealth Insight

05:11 Imposter Syndrome Amid Experienced Peers

08:12 Indecision in Legal Consultations

12:40 Embracing Uncertainty and Growth

16:00 "Vacation with Kids: Not Restful"

16:46 "No Obligation to Perform"

Mentioned in this episode:

Wanna sponsor this podcast

http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors

Sponsor Different Not Broken

Wanna learn to write like me?

Here's how you can!

Writing Course

Well done, you've decided to escape MAGA. Here's the learning moment.

It finally happened. Someone said it out loud. Someone from the inside. Not in a viral Twitter thread or anonymous Reddit post, but right here, in full view and full voice.

Most of us have our ideas — the way we imagine 'the MAGA community'.

We picture the caricature: all bluster and bravado, insulated in an impenetrable echo chamber, barking at the world. But do we ever ask, “How does someone end up there?”

Or what it feels like from the inside, when you aren’t just reading headlines, but living — or surviving — through them?

On this episode of Different, Not Broken, we break open the familiar narratives to let the real, messy, complicated humanity step into the light.

Hi, I'm Lauren "L2" Howard, and in this episode I spend time with Beckie Eckhart — a member of our quirky, unhinged community online — who, in passing, mentioned something I never expected: she came from the MAGA world.

Like, really from it. And she got out.

This conversation isn’t a confessional. It isn’t an indictment. It’s somewhere in between — the untangling of shame, the naming of trauma, and a determination not to let that pain become an inheritance for others.

Beckie tells us what it means to be groomed by the people and systems you’re supposed to trust.

She shares what it feels like when religiosity wraps up with white supremacy and fear, and how the hooks get in so deep you can’t even see the cage around you.

She opens up about living in a state of crisis, the steep price of breaking away, and what healing really looks like when you’re holding a hundred kinds of regret in one hand and picking up hammers to build something better with the other.

If you want to know why MAGA is both a cult and a symptom — and why sometimes compassion is harder than criticism — Beckie’s story will stop you in your tracks.

If you’re looking for hope that people can wake up, change radically, and fight for something better… well, she’s proof, stubborn and scrappy and full-hearted.

If you’ve ever wanted to understand — really understand — why so many Americans are still stuck, how indoctrination works on the brain (and heart), and what it takes to walk out of the fire, this is one episode you don’t want to skip.

We’re not promising easy answers. But we are opening a door.

Thanks for being here and being open to the hard things.

We’ll keep shoving the door wider, together.

Join our Patreon - https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/patreon

Sign up for our newsletter - http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/newsletter

Mentioned in this episode:

Wanna sponsor this podcast

http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors

Sponsor Different Not Broken

Have you ever caught yourself rehearsing your 'acceptable' self before walking into a room full of strangers?

You know — slapping on that thin, artificial smile, smoothing out every quirk for the comfort of everyone else, and realizing you’re running a (very professional) version of a one-person Broadway show called, “Make Me Palatable”?

Hi, I’m Lauren Howard (People call me "L2"), and this week on "Different, Not Broken", we’re pressing record on a conversation most of us never have out loud: Do you find yourself needing to wear a mask?

In this episode, I admit something that surprised even me: I almost never have to mask anymore.

Freedom, right? But — plot twist — it turns out that’s not because I’m some brave authenticity unicorn.

So, what happens when a self-declared, professional non-masker lands in the exact kind of 'grown-up' cocktail hour her younger self would’ve run from?

Let’s just say it involves neurodivergent pre-planning, existential dread, and exactly zero interest in “introducing myself to some stranger just because that’s what adults do.”

If you’ve ever felt like the real you is just a bit too much (or not enough) for the room, this one’s for you.

(P.S. If you find a secret trick for ordering drinks like a normal adult at a work party, please message me. For science.)

Join our Patreon community - https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/patreon

Sign up for our updates - http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/newsletter

00:00 Selective Social Engagement

05:04 "Fashionably Late Party Entrance"

09:24 First Impressions Evolve Quickly

10:57 "Obligations and Friendship Dynamics"

15:16 Ending Calls Unconventionally

17:06 "Ending Conversations Simply"

Mentioned in this episode:

Wanna sponsor this podcast

http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors

Sponsor Different Not Broken

Wanna learn to write like me?

Here's how you can!

Writing Course

Yep, I'm back, caffeinated and undeterred, ready to take on the swirling mess of “autism registries,” junk science, and that perennial fixture of Twitter meltdowns: RFK Jr. himself.

It's not for the faint of heart—or for anyone who thinks the federal government has a “big red medical record button” (newsflash: it doesn’t).

Are you exhausted by the flood of misinformation around autism and tired of policymakers who couldn’t diagnose a runny nose, let alone understand complex neurodiversity?

I've got your back.

I've been running national mental and behavioral health organizations, helping autistic folks get real, accessible diagnoses, and pushing for patient-first, clinician-also-first, accessible-always care.

And I'm not here for the fantasy that “good autistics” and “bad autistics” are some kind of moral spectrum, or to let anyone label people as “burdens” because a guy with a microphone doesn’t understand science.

This episode pulls back the curtain on why the proposed national “autism registry” isn’t just misguided, but fundamentally impossible.

Listen as I call out the shadow incentives behind these political crusades—why it’s less about public health than…well, padding the pockets of a few very persistent anti-vaxxers.

It’s market research, not science, dressed up like a crusade. And it comes directly at the expense of real autistic people who are already fighting for space, resources, and dignity.

If you’re wondering how these hot takes at the top reach deep into everyday community life—shaping infighting, stoking fear, and making the realities of being autistic even harder—you'll be wanting to listen.

And, as always, we'll answer a question from our community in our "Small Talk" segment.

Ready? Press play. Spark some hope. And get the real story.

Ready to join our Patreon community? - https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/patreon

Signed up to our newsletter yet? - https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/newsletter

02:00 Eugenics Rhetoric - Ugh!

05:17 Autism Registry Data Mismanagement

07:36 Inaccessible Universal Medical Data

13:11 Flawed Data Sharing Assumptions Exposed

15:33 Debunking Autism-Vaccine Myth

17:40 RFK's Vaccine Injury Profit Motive

21:41 Handling Unwanted Job Discussions

25:23 "Truck Driver's Evasive Answer"

Mentioned in this episode:

Wanna sponsor this podcast

http://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors

Sponsor Different Not Broken