When neurodivergent people in eating disorder recovery talk about exercise, the narrative that we are more susceptible to becoming addicted to it than neurotypical peers might be. "Be careful," we're warned, because adrenaline, endorphins, vestibular input, dopamine, and emotion regulation are all things that movement provides, and becoming dependent on it to self-medicate might mean overdoing it. If you're sensing a tone of cynicism here, you're onto me. To be fair, this exp

For many people, recovery from an eating disorder is a long and winding road, full of self-discovery and unlearning harmful beliefs. But what happens when, after years of work, you realize that the recovery you fought so hard for was actually another form of masking? When the version of healing you were praised for was, in reality, compliance-based and centered around neurotypical norms? The Realization: Unmasking Recovery Many late-identified autistic individuals come to und

There is a tremendous amount of stigma around identifying as "gifted" as an adult. If you're thinking, "oh, poor gifted kids, must be so hard to be smart," I get it. It was that attitude, that kept this key piece of my self-understanding at arm's length for over 30 years. The fear of being perceived as conceited or—similar to how I felt in the early days of trying on my ADHD and autism identities—just plain wrong is a common reason adults who are "twice exceptional" don't eve

For those of us who are autistic and have an interest-driven nervous system, "special interests" (SpIns) are not just hobbies—they’re integral to our identity, offering comfort, focus, and a sense of mastery. An eating disorder may become a SpIn in and of itself or it may arise tangentially through other SpIns that either necessitate heightened awareness of one's body, eating, and movement habits, or are just muddied by the messaging of diet culture and involve a body ideal,