Life with Neurodiversity

My spouse and I have three adult sons: twin boys and another son, almost four years younger. Among the five of us, we have anxiety, ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and processing disorders. We didn’t even know the word, neurodiversity, when we started our family. But we learned.

There’s a lot more to our story than that, but I don’t need to go there. Just know that we’ve been through a lot, and if you are going through a lot, you are not alone. There are many people who love, live, or work with people with neurodiversity or who are neurodiverse themselves. Often when adults learn they’re neurodivergent, they experience an 'Ah Ha' moment and think, "That explains so much!"

If you are wondering if you might be neurodiverse, exceptionalindividuals.com is a website where you can take free assessments to find out in what ways you might be neurodivergent. You can also learn about ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and the other “dys’s,” on this same website. And it was created by people who are neurodivergent themselves.

But you don’t need a label to know you are living or working in a unique and challenging situation. And there are many ways get help. Sometimes, coaching, with it’s practical approach, is just the right thing. I wish that I had known about coaching when our kids were young. And sometimes, therapy is the answer. Therapy was a great help to us, and it’s reassuring to know that if our boys need help, they know that therapy is an option. There are many resources and services out there, and if you’d like some help finding them, please let me know.

There are both gifts and struggles that come from being neurodivergent, as well as from living or working with someone who is neurodivergent. Sometimes it takes until adulthood to discover those gifts. Meanwhile, I would be happy to help you, or someone you know, navigate these challenges.