Autistic and AuDHD Adults: Two Interrupting Problems, Patterns & Options Explained

This is a 5-minute movement practice for autistic and AuDHD adults, a gentle follow-along for the end of the day. If your body has been holding tension since the morning, from sitting or from masking around other people all day, this practice is for loosening some of that. This isn't a workout or a stretch routine. I offer some easy options, shaking out your hands, rolling your shoulders, some slow neck and torso movements, reaching up, and then a moment to add whatever movement your own body is asking for. Everything is an invitation, so move in whatever way works for you and skip anything that doesn't. Your body might feel a bit looser at the end, or about the same, and both are fine. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Safety note and who this practice is for 2:01 The practice begins 7:54 Coming back to the room 8:24 Outro About Audio and Video This show is available as a video on YouTube. Some audio you are hearing is taken from the video versions that are recorded outside, and why there are some changes in the microphone quality. NEURODIVERGENT RESOURCES FROM JEN: AuDHD and autistic coaching (1:1): https://jendehaan.com/ Regulation Practice Library (free!): https://jendehaan.com/wired-divergent/practices/ Newsletter signup: https://jendehaan.com/newsletters Wired Divergent videos: https://youtube.com/@jendehaan Resources and blog posts: https://jendehaan.com

This is a 10-minute tracking practice for autistic and AuDHD adults, built for anyone who has tried somatics (noticing body sensations) or mindfulness and come out more dysregulated than when they started. If sitting down to watch your thoughts or scan your body for sensations has ever left you feeling worse, this is another way in, another way to try this out. I guide you through noticing a series of different things without deciding whether any of them is good, bad, pleasant, or unpleasant. We start somewhere other than a body sensation, because that's a hard place to read for a lot of us, and move through thoughts, sounds, energy, and a colour, scent, picture, or words. Every indicator can be external or internal, and "I don't know" (or even "whatever, Jen") is a completely valid answer throughout. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Safety note and who this practice is for 2:52 The practice begins 7:04 Coming back to the room 8:05 Outro About Audio and Video This show is available as a video on YouTube. Some audio you are hearing is taken from the video versions that are recorded outside, and why there are some changes in the microphone quality. NEURODIVERGENT RESOURCES FROM JEN: AuDHD and autistic coaching (1:1): https://jendehaan.com/ Regulation Practice Library (free!): https://jendehaan.com/wired-divergent/practices/ Newsletter signup: https://jendehaan.com/newsletters Wired Divergent videos: https://youtube.com/@jendehaan Resources and blog posts: https://jendehaan.com

Autistic unmasking is a healthy thing, and it can still get you read as a jerk, intimidating, or angry when you never meant any of that. In this episode I talk about what happens when you unmask as an autistic or AuDHD adult and other people misread your intention. A lot of us hear the same words from other people. Intense. Blunt. Too direct. Intimidating. I get into how that connects to the way autistic communication actually works, what the research says about the misunderstanding, and why it shows up so much in autistic and AuDHD social life. I share a personal story about growing up knowing my brain worked like my dad's, a worry I carried for years about being a certain kind of person because of it, and a therapy conversation after he died that half-answered the question. This one is part teaching and part storytelling, for anyone doing the slow work of being more themselves around other people. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: Why unmasking can get your intentions read as jerk, angry, or intimidating What the research on autistic communication says about misunderstandings The therapy conversation I had about being like my dad The intention versus impact question How to think about masking and unmasking as choices you get to make

This is a 10-minute grounding reset for autistic and AuDHD adults, a follow-along practice for after a long day of masking. If you've masked all day at work, at an event, or out running errands, and you've come home depleted, in a crash or a shutdown, this practice is for that thing. I guide you through settling in and then a gentle check-in with a few places masking tends to leave tension. You can do the noticing externally or internally, whichever one you have access to, so it works whether or not you get clear signals from inside your body. There's no fixing here, just noticing what's already there, and neutral is a completely valid result. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Safety note and who this practice is for 2:08 The practice begins 8:13 Coming back to the room 9:05 Outro About Audio and Video This show is available as a video on YouTube. Some audio you are hearing is taken from the video versions that are recorded outside, and why there are some changes in the microphone quality. NEURODIVERGENT RESOURCES FROM JEN: AuDHD and autistic coaching (1:1): https://jendehaan.com/ Regulation Practice Library (free!): https://jendehaan.com/wired-divergent/practices/ Newsletter signup: https://jendehaan.com/newsletters Wired Divergent videos: https://youtube.com/@jendehaan Resources and blog posts: https://jendehaan.com

I've taken a lot of courses on nervous system regulation, and most of them left out autistic and AuDHD brains with alexithymia and low interoception. And never a very clear idea about what so-called "regulation" truly even means. In this episode I talk through how I build my own "regulation" system, one that fits the way my brain actually works and doesn't involve trying to figure out what is regulated and what isn't! When neurodivergence came up in these courses at all, the model being discussed stayed the same and the activities stayed the same, so anyone with a different wiring still had to figure it out on our own (or realize their models were still harmful despite having a "neurodivergent" component). I explain what interoception and alexithymia are, and why they make a lot of standard somatic and regulation advice hard to follow. I go through the idea of a personal baseline and how you can move away from it depending on where you are and who you're with. I also cover why aiming to stay calm as much as possible might not be realistic or healthy for some of our brains. Finally, I talk about why every person's reactions and baselines are normal and specific to them, and I walk through a simple way to start building a system that fits your own needs. This is the approach I use myself, and it lines up with established models like the CRM HelpNow skills, just ... improved?... so it works for a wider range of brains. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: Why so much standard regulation and somatics advice leaves autistic and AuDHD people out What you can notice even when you can't feel clear sensations in your body How to work out your own baseline, and why it changes with context What the goal of staying calm all the time can cost some of us How to start building a regulation system from your own specific needs