The Blog
De-escalation is a Neurodivergent Access Need
This article explores how traditional crisis response systems often fail neurodivergent people by waiting until visible distress occurs, rather than offering proactive, affirming support. It emphasizes that de-escalation should be recognized as a neurodivergent access need, grounded in trauma-informed care and early intervention. The piece calls for a shift toward environments that prioritize regulation, safety, and autonomy to prevent harm before it happens.
How Ableism Sees the Body: The Politics of Neurodivergent Movement and Expression
This article examines how neurodivergent people are routinely judged and pathologized based on their body language, tone, posture, and expression through a neurotypical lens. It explores how societal norms pressure autistic and ADHD individuals to perform "acceptable" versions of themselves, often at the expense of their comfort, authenticity, and well-being. The piece calls for a radical shift away from ableist expectations toward a world that respects neurodivergent embodiment as valid, meaningful, and worthy of inclusion without condition.
Why Neurotypical Empathy Isn’t the Gold Standard
This article challenges the assumption that neurotypical expressions of empathy are inherently superior, highlighting how autistic and neurodivergent people often experience and express empathy in different but equally valid ways. It explores the emotional depth, ethical commitment, and unique communication styles that characterize neurodivergent empathy, while exposing the ableist bias in how empathy is culturally defined and measured. The piece calls for a broader, more inclusive understanding of empathy that honors diverse ways of connecting, caring, and being human.
The Politics of Being ‘Too Much’: Autistic Intensity and Cultural Policing of Passion
Autistic people are often told they are “too much” for expressing passion, emotion, or deep interest, leading to shame and self-suppression. This article challenges the cultural norms that pathologize autistic intensity and reframes it as a powerful and authentic way of engaging with the world. It calls for a shift away from emotional policing toward honoring neurodivergent expression as valid, necessary, and deeply human.
Neurodivergent Quiet Quitting: How Burnout Shows Up as Boundary (Copy)
Neurodivergent quiet quitting is a self-protective response to chronic burnout, not a sign of laziness or disengagement. Autistic and ADHD professionals often withdraw at work to preserve their mental health after enduring years of masking, overextension, and systemic ableism. This boundary-setting is a form of resistance against exploitative environments and a call for more inclusive, sustainable workplace practices.
Grieving the Years You Lost to Not Knowing You Were Autistic
This article explores the unique grief that many late-diagnosed autistic adults experience as they come to understand how much of their lives were shaped by not knowing their true neurodivergent identity. It reflects on the relationships, opportunities, and self-understanding that were lost or distorted due to years of masking, misdiagnosis, and internalized shame. Through this grief, the article also offers space for healing, self-recognition, and the possibility of reclaiming a more authentic life.
Disordered or Disabled or Neither: Questioning the Pathologizing Language of Diagnosis
This article challenges the deficit-based language used in clinical diagnoses of autism and ADHD, which often frames neurodivergent people as disordered rather than different. It explores the tension between needing a diagnosis for access and support while resisting the harmful impacts of pathologizing frameworks. The piece advocates for affirming, context-aware understandings of neurodivergence that center lived experience, dignity, and agency.
Autistic Intuition Is Real
This article reframes autistic intuition as a valid and embodied form of perception that is often dismissed by neurotypical norms. It explores how autistic people sense patterns, emotions, and inconsistencies with deep accuracy, yet are frequently told their insights are wrong or inappropriate. The piece calls for a cultural shift toward respecting autistic ways of knowing as legitimate, valuable, and worthy of trust.
Inclusion Shouldn’t Hurt: When DEI Work Is Just More Labor for Marginalized People
This article explores how many DEI efforts rely on the unpaid or underpaid labor of neurodivergent and marginalized staff to drive inclusion, placing an unfair emotional and logistical burden on those already navigating inaccessible systems. It highlights how organizations often perform progressiveness without making structural changes, leaving neurodivergent individuals to educate, advocate, and repair harm without real power or support. The article calls for a shift toward shared responsibility, genuine equity, and systemic change that centers value, repair, and accountability over optics.
We’re Not All Tech Bros: Expanding the Public Imagination of Autistic Identity
This article critiques the narrow, stereotypical portrayal of autism as primarily white, male, and tech-oriented, which erases the vast diversity of autistic experiences. It explores how media, clinical frameworks, and workplace initiatives reinforce this limited image, excluding autistic people who do not fit the expected mold. The article calls for a broader, more inclusive understanding of autistic identity that reflects the full spectrum of neurodivergent lives across gender, race, ability, and expression.
Stop Co-opting Neurodiversity to Sell Your Company Culture
This article exposes how companies often misuse the language of neurodiversity as a marketing tool rather than committing to real inclusion and accessibility for neurodivergent people. It critiques surface-level hiring initiatives, ableist workplace structures, and the commodification of neurodivergent traits while ignoring the need for systemic change. True inclusion, the article argues, requires listening to neurodivergent voices, rethinking workplace norms, and building environments where neurodivergent people are supported, respected, and able to lead.
Stop Infantilizing Us: The Deep Harm of Autism’s Childlike Branding
This article critiques the widespread use of infantilizing imagery like puzzle pieces and primary colors in autism-related branding. It explains how such visuals erase autistic adults, reinforce harmful stereotypes, and center neurotypical comfort over autistic dignity. The piece calls for respectful, adult-centered representation created by and for autistic people.
The Neurodivergent Sabbatical: What It Means to Step Away to Save Yourself
This article explores the concept of a neurodivergent sabbatical as a vital act of self-preservation for autistic and ADHD adults facing burnout from masking, overwork, and systemic inaccessibility. It distinguishes the sabbatical from a vacation, describing it as a necessary pause that often arises from collapse rather than choice, allowing space for unmasking, rest, and reconnection with self. The piece challenges productivity culture and calls for a collective reimagining of rest as resistance, care, and a reclaiming of worth outside of output.
Beyond the Diagnosis: Navigating Internalized Pathology After Labels
This article explores the ongoing process neurodivergent adults face after receiving a diagnosis, particularly the challenge of unlearning internalized shame and pathology. While a diagnosis can be validating, it does not erase years of being misunderstood, punished, or framed as broken by systems rooted in deficit-based thinking. True healing begins when neurodivergent people move beyond clinical labels to reclaim their identities, unmask safely, and build affirming narratives rooted in community, authenticity, and self-acceptance.
The Myth of the Independent Adult: How Interdependence Is Pathologized
This article critiques the Western ideal of the “independent adult,” revealing how it harms neurodivergent people by pathologizing natural support needs and masking the universal reality of interdependence. It explores how expectations of self-sufficiency and productivity fuel shame, burnout, and isolation, especially for late-diagnosed autistic adults. Reclaiming interdependence as a strength allows for more authentic, sustainable, and inclusive ways of living that honor diverse needs and foster true community care.
Microaggressions That Erase Our Neurodivergent Identity
This article offers neurodiversity-affirming scripts to respond to common microaggressions that autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people frequently encounter. Each response is designed to validate identity, challenge harmful assumptions, and reduce the emotional labor often required to defend one’s neurodivergence. The piece emphasizes that no one owes an explanation for their identity and that protecting one’s boundaries and well-being always comes first.
“But You Don’t Seem Autistic”: Breaking Stereotypes & Misconceptions About Autistic Women (3/24/25 Keynote Address at Stockton University)
This article features the full text of Bridgette Hamstead’s keynote address, “But You Don’t Seem Autistic”: Breaking Stereotypes & Misconceptions About Autistic Women, delivered at Stockton University’s Neurodiversity Education and Celebration Day. It explores the harmful effects of outdated autism stereotypes, the emotional toll of masking, and the often invisible struggles of late-diagnosed autistic women and nonbinary individuals. The keynote calls for greater recognition, representation, and belief in autistic experiences—especially those that don’t fit traditional expectations.
Unpacking ‘Internalized Ableism’ in Neurodivergent Adults
Internalized ableism in autistic adults develops from years of societal pressure to conform to neurotypical norms, leading to feelings of shame, guilt, and self-doubt about natural autistic traits. Many struggle with masking, burnout, and the belief that they must push through challenges without support, often blaming themselves rather than recognizing the systemic barriers that create these difficulties. Overcoming internalized ableism involves unlearning these harmful messages, embracing self-acceptance, and recognizing that autistic ways of thinking, communicating, and existing are valid and deserving of respect.
How Ableism Hides in ‘Well-Meaning’ Advice
Ableism often hides in everyday conversations through well-meaning but dismissive comments like "Just try harder," "Everyone’s a little ADHD," or "You don’t seem autistic," which invalidate neurodivergent experiences and reinforce harmful stereotypes. These statements ignore the real struggles of autistic and ADHD individuals, downplay the need for accommodations, and pressure neurodivergent people to mask their differences. Challenging these subtle forms of ableism requires education, self-advocacy, and a shift in societal understanding so that neurodivergent individuals are respected and supported rather than dismissed or expected to conform.
The Real Reason Autistic Adults Struggle with Mental Health (And It’s Not Autism)
Autistic adults struggle with mental health not because of autism itself, but because of lifelong masking, systemic ableism, social isolation, and barriers to healthcare, employment, and community support. The pressure to suppress autistic traits, navigate inaccessible environments, and conform to neurotypical expectations leads to anxiety, depression, and burnout. To address this crisis, society must shift from forcing autistic people to change and instead create accessible, affirming spaces that allow them to thrive as they are.