Alma’s Post

Learning about this condition through firsthand accounts, such as Emily’s explanation, provides valuable insights into their experiences. This knowledge can improve your communication strategies and empathy, ultimately enhancing your effectiveness in fostering a supportive environment for the young people you work with.

🌟 Celebrating a Milestone 🌟 •What a transformative year it’s been! I’m beyond thrilled to be nearing the end of my master’s program in psychology, calling this new, cold city “home” after a year full of learning, growth, and resilience. ✨ Highlight of the Year? ✨ Yesterday, I had the privilege of presenting my dissertation as an academic poster on Intersectional Identities: The Lived Experiences of Young Queer Adults within the ADHD Spectrum. This project holds deep personal and professional significance for me. •A heartfelt thank you to everyone who’s supported me through this transition from a medical career to focus on Mental Health. This field has been a lifelong calling, especially to bring awareness to the need for mental health care in spaces like undeserved communities. •Being diagnosed with ADHD and Dyscalculia in my 30's has been a journey in itself—transforming what once felt like obstacles into unique strengths. I now see my #ADHD not just being differently wired, but as a super strength in some aspects . It fuels my Hyperfocus, passion for justice, and commitment to advocating for Neurodiversity, Human Rights and #MentalHealth for all! 💚 •And while this is a stepping stone, my journey isn’t over. I’m looking forward to contributing to #Neuroqueer Research—examining #Neurodivergence in the queer community. •I am excited for the next chapter in supporting marginalized families, Youth, BIPOC, Neurominorities and Queer communities. Here’s to amplifying voices, fostering resilience, and advocating for those suffering in silence. #Psychology #Neurodiversity #QueerResearch #ADHDAwareness #Academia

I've experienced alexithymia all my life but have never had words to describe it so it makes sense to neurotypical people, especially close family and romantic partners. Now I can just forward them this article as a resource! For all of those who know and/or support autistic individuals, please take a moment to read this.

Martha E. Bernal, Ph.D Trailblazer in Multicultural Psychology and Autism Research In 1962, Martha E. Bernal became the first woman of Mexican descent to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, breaking through the barriers of a male-dominated field that often shut its doors to women and minorities. Facing rejection in academia, she turned adversity into opportunity, securing a fellowship that led her to study autism and human psychophysiology at UCLA. Her passion for inclusion ignited a career dedicated to enhancing multicultural curricula and increasing representation in psychology. Bernal’s commitment to diversity was profound—she co-founded the National Hispanic Psychological Association and advanced understanding of Mexican-American identity development. Her relentless pursuit of equity in mental health not only shaped the education of future psychologists but also left a lasting legacy that continues to inspire and empower underrepresented communities in the field. source: American Psychological Association #HispanicHeritageMonth #HispanicHeritageMonth2024 #RegisteredBehaviorTechnician #RBTCertification #BehavioralTechnician #BehaviorAnalysis #BehavioralDataCollection #ABADataCollection . Who We Are With over 35-years’ experience in the field, the developers of Behavior Agent addressed the pain points related to current systems that fall short of aggregating meaningful data. Our technological solution streamlines the inefficiencies that occur within a behaviorist’s workload. With Behavior Agent, users can double or triple their caseloads without adding any additional hours. The time savings is substantial. We know, we use it every day. The whole person approach is key to successful outcomes so B.A. Medical was developed with industry experts to bring the same level of meaningful data about an individual’s physical health. Behavior Agent was born and is used by professionals who work every day providing treatment to medically and behaviorally challenged people. We are proud that our professional experiences drove the development and that we have solved the problem. We chose to be behaviorists because we care about people and their well-being, not to do admin work. Behavior Agent allowed us to return to our purpose; making a difference in the lives of our clients. . Visit us @ www.behavioragent.com #DrLisaKeliher #BehaviorAgent

This is one of the hardest parts of autism. Combined with the shame from ADHD struggles and confusion around NT sarcasm, plus childhood trauma (loss of my brother) I think my catchphrase for much of my childhood and 20s was “are you angry with me?”. I said it so often (and meant it genuinely) that it ironically wound people up… :( It is now something that has become a strength at work! Because identifying emotions has been difficult, I have learned to help others to do it well. I am pragmatic about it. It’s interesting how powerful it can be to pause a group during a workshop and ask them to name their feelings. Typically these may range from “excited” to “frightened”, from “curious” to “embarrassed” for the “SAME” event happening in a room. Talking about how we are experiencing an event is an extremely powerful way of rapidly building high trust and high performing teams. There is nothing I enjoy more than getting my hands on dysfunctional or low-performing groups of people and supporting them to become high performing. And the ability to do that has been hard won - but is a direct result of the work I have had to do because of this very common autistic trait. #NeurodiversityRocks #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD

The future of 🌌 #neurodiversity - Obviously I don’t actually know. Currently still scrambling around in the dark a fair bit. Mostly trying to listen, without fear or favour. But it would've been hard to imagine something like the Neurodivergent Conditions Screening, (Teaching and Training) Bill going through parliament until quite recently – and yesterday passing to second reading in June. The powerful idea here is that we should put great emphasis on early screening and something resembling a framework of support from early childhood. Many children are being let down. And I know too many adults diagnosed later in life where earlier recognition, support and validation would have made such a difference to careers, relationships, mental health.     Not sure I can quite imagine a utopia where neurodivergence and nuanced individual cognitive processing styles and needs are identified early and acted upon, although I expect technology will enable something like this at some point! Perhaps in the future there might even be a debate about whether neurodivergence should really be in the DSM as a “disorder”. Not that I’m particularly in the “it’s a superpower” camp (although I am always amazed by what the #neurodivergent brains around me come up with!). And for many reasons I think for the forseeable future its important to stay in the DSM. The comedian Fern Brady has a wonderful line on autism as a superpower - “neurotypical people - you have what I’d describe as a pathological urge to smooth things over at any cost….would Superman have been a better film if his ability was to monologue at you for 60 minutes about the poetry of Sylvia Plath?” Assuming this bill passes and and we see a genuine focus and investment in early screening and support...it could be hugely significant long term. When everything is boiled down the reality is at least 20% of the population is #neurodivergent, and if that isn’t recognised and supported, children and adults suffer, employers suffer, society suffers. Brushing aside any political differences... fair play to Matt Hancock for proposing the bill – and also widening the scope from just dyslexia initially. And I’d urge everyone to connect and support Dan Harris FRSA and his great campaign work, along with all the other activists in Westminster yesterday! 👏 [The trippy pic is just something my son chose because he thought it looked futuristic and exciting. I think it looks like a worn out VHS of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so I'd have gone for retro and exciting myself]

Autistic adults exhibit unique strengths in mental imagery, study finds https://lnkd.in/gY9daacd

If I was smart, I never would have pursued my #autism diagnosis. 👎🏻 I can't immigrate to most countries. 👎🏻 I'd lose custody of my kids in many states 👎🏻 I'm more likely to be put in legal conservatorship 👎🏻 I can't update my gender markers in many states 👎🏻 Doctors are less likely to listen to me 👎🏻 Autistic therapists are hired less because we 'lack empathy' 👎🏻 You are placed on a directory once diagnosed I also, did not believe I NEEDED to do it. The DSM and scientific community have systematically excluded marginalized people in their diagnosis. Self diagnosis is a subversive act. So, why did I do it? 🧠 Grappling with the decision to diagnose or not is key for my clients. I wanted direct experience of the process to support my clients in that decision. 🧠 I had access to an experienced evaluator who was competent in assessing adults and took my insurance (a rarity.) 🧠 Advocating for this community is my life's work. Sadly, much of the scientific community only believes you if you are "actually" autistic (emphasis on the air quotes). I can advocate more effectively. Those are all nice to haves....but they were never deal breakers for me. So what was? I'm a white, middle class, cis woman, with degrees from top-tier universities and experience in well-known companies that lend not only credibility to my work, but most importantly they shield me from danger. I can walk down the street unmasked and not fear being shot. I can ask for accommodations at work and not fear being fired. I live in a state that doesn't penalize me as an autistic parent. When we are in a privileged position, the best thing we can do is use the privilege to create an umbrella for those that don't. It is safe for me to challenge your conventions of #autisminleaders and #autismintheworkplace. So I will continue to do so. #autisticleader #adhdleader #executivefunctioningcoach #inclusion #disabilityadvoacy

The grand scale of neurodiversity potential 🌏🌍🌎WORLDWIDE🌎🌍🌏: National Geographic estimates that 80% of the earth's oceans have yet to be explored or even seen by humans, and the world's rainforests are thought to hold great, untapped promise for cures and treatments of diseases. Similar, almost incomprehensible storehouses of possibilities are waiting to be uncovered within undervalued neurodivergent individuals, many of whom are not living their best lives (let alone contributing as their best selves) because they are not aware of their neurodivergence. Life for them (as it was for me and my daughter and so many other unidentified neurodivergent people) is probably the same as it's always been throughout their childhood and young adult lives. They, like my daughter and myself, likely got used to compensating for their challenges and no doubt learned to mask to fit in more with the others...which is why their challenges were not noticed, properly identified, and addressed. And if public knowledge and understanding of conditions like autism, dypraxia, ADHD, and other neurodivergences does not increase, and stereotypes and stigmas accordingly decrease, nothing will change on that score. Late-identified and unidentified autistic individuals and people with dyspraxia and ADHD (and all other neurodivergences) are in every country of the world. They need to be discovered not only for their own well being, but for the well being of all of us, because different thinkers bring different ideas. We have some old and recurring problems in our world, as well as many new ones. Novel and fresh perspectives, ideas, and solutions could help. Please, be open to learning about neurodiversity and to listening, truly listening, to the perspectives and messages of neurodivergent individuals. Our lives, your lives, may depend on it. ************************************************************************ I am dedicated to raising awareness about unidentified autism in adults and to helping late-identified autistic individuals live their best lives. 🌏Lara Schaeffer at Autism Discovery🌍 #Neurodiversity #AutismAwareness #AutismAcceptance #LaraSchaeffer