I'm a musician. I wanted to become a musician only after I accepted that I had to live with a Curse that can also be a Gift. The Curse is still somewhat with me today, but it's managed correctly in this era of my life.

I have Emotional Dysregulation Syndrome. But back when I was a kid, that didn't exist. Neither did #ADHD. I was just "the weird kid" in school who had a weird family at home.

We were poor. Clothes weren't fashionable. Hair cut was goofy. The cool kids didn't really talk with me, and girls never had a crush on me. That's what my peers saw of me.

However, there were things I didn't share....

A father slowly withering away from Muscular Dystrophy.

A disabled brother with Cerebral Palsy requiring live-in care.

A brother who bravely came out as #gay, despite it being back in the late 80s.

A mother who had a temper that could make a volcano envious.

I escaped into music because I struggled to articulate the emotions I had in my 9 year old heart. So I focused on lyrics to songs, desperately trying to find someone speaking about things that I could relate to.

But it was all shallow. It was vapid pop. It was about sex. It was about relationships. It was meaningless dance songs. It was ugly dudes in spandex and hairspray having the audacity to write songs to brag about their sexual prowess, even though nobody ever asked for their #misogynist bullshit.

Oh, and even 9 year old me knew those guys were full of shit at that age.

My Curse, needed to find a way out of me, and I had no intentions of stopping that from happening. I didn't want to be the weird kid, and I didn't want to keep feeling like my head and heart was fighting for dominance constantly.

I got a cheap acoustic guitar for my birthday, and it was settled. While Arlo Guthrie had a machine that killed fascists, I had a machine to hopefully channel my emotions. I did 6 months of guitar lessons, gave up, and started teaching myself. The lessons didn't cover any chords or scales that manage panic attacks, sadness, anger, and hints of puberty.

Despite being competent in playing guitar and making up my own pieces of music, the Curse persisted and grew. My father's health was fading over the winter, and I was visiting him in the hospital every chance I could get. My life was a blur at this point... I know I would cry in class sometimes and my teacher sent me off to the school nurse to have a private space. I cried alone, frequently.

At the request of my Dad, his medical team gave the green light for him to come home. I can't remember how long he was home, but 9 days before my 10th birthday, I watched him pass away.

My Curse was now in charge. I don't remember a solid month of my life after that day. But I do remember when the anger surfaced and led the charge on who I was. I decided I needed to find music that felt like anger.

On a whim, I bought 3 different cassettes in one day from a record store nearby with my allowance:

#deadkennedys - Bedtime for democracy
#thecramps - Bad music for bad people
#thedamned - Machine gun etiquette

These tapes each had a completely different style musically, and most certainly in lyrics. DK challenged me to understand how to use music as a backdrop against social issues. The Cramps showed me that being uncompromising and unapologetic in being weird is powerful. The Damned showed me that love songs can exist in the chaos and energy of punk.

Those bands are what helped me. I spent the next 4 years focusing on writing #poetry, and of course guitar. It was then, that my Curse started showing itself as a Gift. Instead of looking for others to speak for me, I found my own way to speak for myself.

Overwhelm, burnout, and crushing guilt are not the right fuel for the revolution. Unfortunately, many activists slog through them day after day. (Many more folks won’t even consider themselves activists because they’re mired in this toxic sludge.)

I’m creating a planner for sustainable solidarity. It helps you create a realistic focus, narrowing your scope based on how it fits in the rest of your life, and acknowledging all the ways you make the world a better place—not just whatever you idolize as “real” activism. It’s built around rest, joy, and releasing guilt, while you attune your action to your energy and capacity.

Read more: https://buttondown.com/impureleftist/archive/a-free-planner-for-activists-is-coming

#activist #activism #writersofmastodon #writing #freebie #planner #anticapitalism #antifa #solidarity #solidarityaction #adhd #audhd #neurodivergent #support #selfcare

Alt...

October 10, 2026 A free planner for activists is coming! Plus: the 1st anniversary of Impure Leftist Overwhelm, burnout, and crushing guilt are not the right fuel for the revolution. Unfortunately, many activists slog through them day after day. (Many more folks won’t even consider themselves activists because they’re mired in this toxic sludge.) I’m creating a planner for sustainable solidarity. It helps you create a realistic focus, narrowing your scope based on how it fits in the rest of your life, and acknowledging all the ways you make the world a better place—not just whatever you idolize as “real” activism. It’s built around rest, joy, and releasing guilt, while you attune your action to your energy and capacity.

I'm taking a vacation this week to some backpacking on the Benton MacKay Trail #BMT, so I decide to take a break from my #ADHD meds. It's only Saturday, and I'm already doing this. I just remembered that I'm off my meds and both @Leahgashe and I had an aha moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0

#yeg #Edmonton hivemind, is there a local shop that sells cute #neurodivergence / #autism / #adhd pins? kind of like the Quiltbag on Whyte, but for ND goodies? (I checked their online shop today and no dice)

I know I can go to etsy etc etc, but would prefer a local shop. Bonus points if the goods sold are by independent, local-ish artists. alternatively, a Canadian online shop could work too. Thank youuu!!

#boostOK

Maybe I should just go cold turkey on the internet and be at peace, but my family is STILL tormenting me. Having things to distract myself with has been the go-to way of coping.
And the fact that the media is fucking EVERYWHERE in public spaces. It’s inescapable, and I can’t just sit there and take all this information in silence.

#actuallyautistic #adhd #internet #mentalhealth

I spent 14 years receiving NHS funded mental health treatment, being consistently misdiagnosed as having Generalised Anxiety Disorder and Depression. Then I had a breakdown. Then I got diagnosed as ADHD. Ta-dah! Depression gone, anxiety reduced, mental health has never been better. Earlier diagnosis would have saved thousands in NHS treatment and boosted tax revenue. But ADHD and Autism are over diagnosed? #ADHD #Autism #Neurodivergent #Neurodiverse

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/09/nhs-fonagy-review-autism-adhd-mental-health-conditions-care

Seven years and seven months, that's what it took to write my ADHD cozy fantasy novel.

Would my writing life have looked different if I didn't have ADHD? And what do my fellow writers with ADHD think?

Part One of a series on Medium now: https://medium.com/adhdreads/the-joys-and-horrors-of-writing-with-adhd-67c5d4741499

#ADHD #writing @adhd

"Who needs labels anyway?" sounds progressive, but isn't.

A 'label' can give people language for their experiences, a basis for organising, and access to a community.

The interesting question - I think - isn't whether we have categories or not (we do. Ask any librarian or linguist).

It's who gets to make and use the categories... and for what purpose.

💟

#Autism #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #AuDHD #Neurodivergent #SocialJustice #EpistemicInjustice

Pretty disgraceful reporting from the BBC on the Fonagy Review. Headline not at all reflective of what the review said but focusing instead on one small phrase devoid of context. But it will be the headline people remember not the nuance or the multiple points made about actual levels of distress and need. #adhd #autism #fonagyReview #bbc #uk

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c64g7ym4314wt

@jeffowski Yeah, the more stories I read under then #ADHD hashtag, the more it explains several aspects of my childhood and the things I’ve struggled with for nearly 50 years. A therapist suggested I get tested if it was really bothering me, but it was over $1000 for the test & consultation.

When I pressed, they suggested that I’d never missed an appointment or exhibited other classic signs of ADHD. But when I think back, I realize I’d compensated by taking the entire morning off for a 1pm appointment, and arrived 30 minutes early out of fear of being late.

Interesting article…

ADHD as a circadian rhythm disorder

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1697900/full

#science #research #ADHD #health #biology #neuroscience

#Neurodivergent #ADHD

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A Threads post by rebuildfocus: "Overheard some gen z kids say, "no way undiagnosed ADHD adults just white-knuckled through school with zero accommodations." Oh, kids. We didn't just get through it. We built an entire personality around masking it, got called "so smart but lazy" by every teacher we had, and found out what executive dysfunction even was at 34."

#ADHD

Alt...

A pie chart ADHD: Why I interrupt people Say it now or it's gone forever! Your story reminded me of 8 other things Random interesting things I thought it was my turn

im November gibt's nen Neurodiversitätskongress

online und mit Open days

https://planetpsy.de/neurodiversitaetskongress/

#AuDHD #adhd #auti

Are you ADHD? Constantly banging on about what a screwup you are? Well, you aren't.

Try this: Make a list of all the adulting you do in a day and it will blow your mind. We just tend to focus on what we didn't do, or the little part of something that went wrong, and forget the rest.

Depressed people do, too, so this trick works for that as well.

Save it, somewhere you can see it when you need it. The list I made just now has 27 items on it, and it was definitely an eye-opener.

#adhd

Does anyone else find when they're really exhausted/fatigued their ADHD sometimes goes into overdrive? Like constant racing thoughts? It's so unhelpful 😔

#ADHD

"We can't afford accommodations."

Most of them cost $0.

Employers who contacted the Job #Accommodation Network reported:
- 61% cost nothing
- 33% were one-time, median $300
- 6% had an ongoing cost

We're talking headphones. Written follow-ups after meetings. Moving someone's desk away from the printer.

Your #SIEM bill has bigger rounding errors.

Source: #JAN, Costs and Benefits of Accommodation
https://askjan.org/topics/costs.cfm

#Neurodiversity #InfoSec #Accessibility #ADHD #Autism

Most workplace accommodations cost nothing. Asking for one is the hard part.

This account is here to help with that. #Introduction

I'm @Xavier, after 30+ years in #infosec I'm turning my BSides Atlanta talk "Performing Normal" into bite-sized, sourced posts: the research, the myths, and exactly how to ask for what you need. I plan on keeping the research and recommendations going well after I publish my current content.

Are you #Nerodivergent like me? Follow along, and boost to help it travel.

#Neurodiversity #InfoSec #ADHD #Autism #AuDHD

#ADHD #diagnosointi Ja olipahan sellainen psykiatri tuolla että meikäläisen AuDHD sappi alkoi kiehua ja mieleeni tulvi väkivaltaisia ajatuksia.. 🤬

Sen silmät, hyi! Kaikinpuolin pelottava tyyppi, vaikutti ihan psykopaatilta joka nauttii muiden kärsimyksistä, psykiatrian erikoislääkäri Johan Bengtsson.

Vaikutti myös jollakinlailla yksinkertaiselta.

Osa psykiatreistahan on psykopaatteja. Välillä niistä paljastuu murhaajia. Ammatti varmaan kiehtookin psykopaatteja. Siinä saa täyden vallan toisesta ihmisestä.

Ilman sitä hyypiötä ohjelmaa olisi ollut ihan mukava katsella kun siellä oli nepsy-vertaisia, jotka puhuivat ylivilkkaudesta, stressiherkkyydestä, keskittymisvaikeuksista, unotelusta, hajamielisyydestä..

https://areena.yle.fi/1-78345416

I am so fucking tired of #ADHD. I took a battery from one camera to see if it was cross compatible with my other camera. It wasn't. So I immediately went to put it back with it's correct camera... and it's gone some how. I've torn apart my surroundings and have not found it. I hate this. I hate this so fucking much, I haven't gone anywhere. I didn't eject the battery and chuck it across the room at random. So how the actual fuck is it gone?!?!

My throat is stunted while my ears are sensitized. Cannot speak out while others are speaking out against me.

#poetry #actuallyautistic #ADHD

Do autists have a bottom-up thinking style? I don't think I do. I don't do top-down either, I do both, where appropriate, and 'middle-out' thinking too. I couldn't've been a successful software designer otherwise.

#Autism
#ADHD
#AuDHD
#neurodiversity
#neurodivergence

I did a #neurodiversity talk yesterday at @bsidesatl. Here are the resources I shared with them:

Job Accommodation Network (JAN) — free, confidential, real people. https://askjan.org/ · (800) 526-7234
JAN sample request letters (the one from the talk; names no diagnosis) — https://askjan.org/articles/Sample-Language-for-Accommodation-Request-Letters.cfm
Your state vocational rehab agency — keeping your job and moving up both count. Georgia: GVRA https://gvs.georgia.gov/ · 1-844-367-4872
Mental Health Hackers — quiet spaces at security cons https://mentalhealthhackers.org/

Know your own profile (free)
Monotropism Questionnaire — https://monotropism.org/
CAT-Q (masking) — https://embrace-autism.com/cat-q
VIA Character Strengths — https://viacharacter.org/
Write a "working with me" doc. Model: UK Civil Service Workplace Adjustment Passport

Asking & if it goes wrong
JAN: Alternatives to Telework — https://askjan.org/articles/Finding-Alternatives-to-Telework-as-an-Accommodation-Interactive-Process-Tips.cfm
JAN: Dos & Don'ts of Disclosure — https://askjan.org/articles/Dos-and-Don-ts-of-Disclosure.cfm
JAN: Request Denied, What Now? — https://askjan.org/publications/consultants-corner/Your-Accommodation-Request-Was-Denied-What-Now.cfm
EEOC filing time limits — https://www.eeoc.gov/time-limits-filing-charge

Five books
Explaining Humans — Camilla Pang
Unmasking Autism — Devon Price
How to #ADHD — Jessica McCabe
Neurodiversity at Work — Theo Smith & Amanda Kirby
Is This #Autism? — Henderson, Wayland & White

Just remember: You don't have to be exceptional to deserve a quiet room.