It’s been a tough summer for so many reasons, including my concerns about the Delta variant, and some challenges with my mental health. Neurodivergent traits like synesthesia, ADHD, and misophonia have their known co-morbidities including depression, anxiety, and insomnia. All three have been my companions over the last few months, rendering me tired and on…

I’ve just returned from a Midwest vacation and my hands are a mess. Before I left, I went to the salon on the corner, just a few doors from my home, and got a brilliant red manicure. I wanted that hue because it felt right for the 4th of July, and because I personally like…

But I don’t have giant bears… #PANDAS I was horrified but not shocked by a recent paper in the prestigious journal The Lancet Psychiatry noting that 1 in 3 persons diagnosed with COVID19 have developed neuropsychiatric symptoms in the months following infection with the virus. Anxiety, depression, and mood disorders were the most frequent phenomena,…

I’m a neurodiversity advocate for so many reasons, both personal and collaborative. I love the ways in which adding to the conversation about neurodiverse traits has helped me stand up for my own differences. I’ve become more confident talking about synesthesia, ADHD, Tourette Syndrome and my other outliers, and I am less afraid of my…

I got my second coronavirus vaccine yesterday, the Moderna option. I have many friends who work in healthcare, and I’ve been following their experiences with COVID-19 vaccination as they have revealed it on social media; I know that some of my friends have had flu-like symptoms with the first and second injections, and a few…

…a neurodiversity advocate, a public speaker, a conference organizer, and an IASAS board executive. I’m also a published poet and essayist. I host a podcast called Weird Sister, and I’m writing a memoir about my very strange brain. I have ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, and many forms of synaesthesia, a trait that confers blended senses. I…

I was doomscrolling Twitter this morning, a practice that I simply must stop, although in all fairness, it’s been a tough 48 hours here in the USA. The vast majority of the people I follow on Twitter are smart, compassionate, and creative, and many of their messages in these days after the January 6th coup…

I am freaked out by things that have holes in them. Swiss cheeses like Emmentaler and Gruyère. Trees with their bark peppered with stowed acorns, the clever work of industrious woodpeckers. Various corals. Honeycomb. And the worst of the worst, the Surinam toad. There’s a name for my fear of holes, trypophobia, which is an aversion to…