Kelly Ryan

There is an unwritten rule in traditional therapy settings that requires a certain level of performance. You have to get showered, dressed appropriately in clean clothes, navigate traffic, sit in an unfamiliar brightly lit and often noisy rooms, and try to articulate your deepest internal struggles to a stranger while your nervous system buzzes with every sensory input around you. For neurodivergent women, that pre-session preparation is an immense drain on capacity. By the time you actually...

Self advocacy is a brave act but it can trigger intense anxiety. When your nervous system is already on edge the thought of an in person meeting or a phone call can be enough to cause a total shutdown. You do not have to put yourself through a state of panic just to be heard. Here is how to self advocate in a way that respects your nervous system and gets you heard. Choose Asynchronous Communication Whenever possible choose email or portal submissions over phone calls or in person meetings....

We know that when you are asked to explain your disability the instinct is to share everything. You want them to understand the full weight of your experience the history of your struggles and the complexity of your daily life. It is common to deep dive and write ten pages because you have lived through ten years of challenges. We get it. But there is a trap we often fall into as neurodivergent women. We are so used to masking and performing wellness that we accidentally present a version of...