Weirdly Successful
Dedicated to helping you understand, navigate and enjoy your weird & wonderful neurodivergent life.
Self-medication means using substances — consciously or not — to regulate brain states. Many unidentified or late-identified neurodivergent adults reach for caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine because these act on the same neurochemistry that works differently in their brains.
Your ADHD assessment didn't lead to a diagnosis, but the experiences that led you to seek one are still real. This page is for you if you've just received your assessment result and want to know what comes next. Self-understanding, self-compassion, and practical strategies are not conditional on a diagnosis.
Yes, and no. Whether supplements can help with your ADHD depends on where the support need is for you when it comes to your dopamine system.
Around 15–20% of the population is neurodivergent, which is roughly 1 out of 5 — whether they know it or not.
Because routine is architecture you can rely on when everything else is wobbly or up in the air.
When you do the same things in the same order, your brain doesn't have to build the day from scratch. The route is known, the sequence is mapped, all the decisions have already been made, and you are good to go. This frees up precious cognitive resources for the things that actually need your attention.
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) describes the degree to which a nervous system needs predictability in order to function — not as a preference, but as a genuine operational requirement. When outcomes are unknown or plans unconfirmed, a high-IU nervous system tends to generate contingencies: running through variables, gathering information in advance, and finding it difficult to settle until enough is known. For many autistic and ADHD adults, IU runs at a higher baseline than in the general population, and shows up in everyday experiences like needing to know the plan before you can be present, finding plan changes disproportionately disruptive, or preparing carefully for situations in order to free up bandwidth to actually enjoy them. It's not about rigidity or control — it's a nervous system requesting the information it needs to work properly.
Neurodivergent brains don't come with universal solutions—what helps one person might not work for you at all. So if you've tried all the ADHD tips online, but nothing seems to stick, you're not alone. Here's how to discover your specific adaptations and create a life that actually works for YOUR brain. Explore your needs, what environments you work best in, what overwhelms you, and what helps you regulate.
People don't grow out of ADHD. Symptoms change from external hyperactivity to internal restlessness, and life transitions often unmask previously hidden ADHD.
Girls with ADHD are real and underdiagnosed. Population studies show similar rates to boys, but referral bias and different presentations keep girls invisible. ADHD doesn't discriminate by gender, but diagnostic bias does—people socialized as girls face 4+ year delays in diagnosis.
While ADHD correlates with a higher number of adverse childhood experiences, hundreds of studies show that traumatic experiences are not a causative factor - if anything, it’s the other way around.
If you're worried about this, you're already not that person. Asking for accommodations (like quiet spaces, reminders, breaks) is self-care and self-advocacy. The difference between advocating for your needs and being manipulative comes down to respect: are you communicating your limits while taking responsibility, or are you demanding others tolerate harmful behaviour?
You’ve developed coping strategies and made it work so far. Hooray! But what’s working today might not work tomorrow — especially when life throws big changes at you like hormonal shifts, job changes, or major life transitions. A diagnosis can give you a baseline understanding of your brain so you can adapt when things change, rather than having to reverse-engineer everything from scratch during a crisis.
Nothing! Neurodivergent brains need more time to process, decompress, and recharge.
Exploring the impact of internalised ableism made me re-evaluate my misinterpreted autistic and ADHD traits.
Decompressing refers to engaging in activities or behaviours that allow a person to relax, unwind, and alleviate stress or sensory overload.
This term is particularly significant in the neurodivergent community as we often experience heightened sensitivity to environmental stimuli, leading to increased stress and anxiety levels.
Making sure to have time to decompress after especially taxing events is an essential part of self-care.
ADHD tax is a casual term used to describe the additional costs, both tangible and intangible, that ADHD individuals often face due to their neurodivergence, especially struggles due to executive dysfunction.
The double empathy problem is a concept in neurodiversity studies that suggests a mutual misunderstanding between neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals.
Deep pressure is a natural sensory need where firm, consistent pressure (like heavy blankets or tight hugs) helps tension melt away from your body. Many people naturally seek this through things like snug clothing or curling up under blankets - it's your nervous system's way of finding calm and comfort.
"How did no one ever notice??"
The amount of times this sentence is heard in our house, along with the dramatically exaggerated waving of arms, would definitely qualify for a sitcom catchphrase.
You see, reader, I'm what they call "late-diagnosed".
"Late" is relative, of course. For ADHD, "late diagnosis" can mean anything from above 60 for those above 60 to 25 for those who are 25. For Autism, some guidelines even go down to 12 as "late".
My own ADHD stamp (with the bonus traits from a handful of other neurodivergent conditions) came at 37, with the fancy PDF attachment. We already knew, we just didn't know know.
Once confirmed, though, not one week goes by when I don't do, say or remember something that so clearly reveals a neurodivergent trait that's always been there.
So how did no one ever notice?
A trauma-informed approach is looking out for the needs of the individual with the effect of trauma taken into consideration.
Trauma can have a profound physical, biological, psychological and social effect on a person, and this effect cannot be discounted.
The curb-cut effect refers to the phenomenon that policies initially created to serve a marginalized group end up serving a much more significant portion of society, benefiting even more people than it was originally designed for.
Adaptations or coping mechanisms are adjustments you make for yourself or made for you to create a safe and comfortable environment for you to exist in.
Neuroaffirming or neuro-affirmative refers to practices, approaches, or environments that recognize and affirm the neurodiversity of society and the neurodivergence of individuals.
Unmasking is when you slowly learn to allow your neurodivergence to present itself and you don't try to hide yourself. However, to unmask is a privilege, as you need a safe space to do it.
Body doubling means doing a task or errand with someone else or in the presence of someone else so it's easier to start or follow through.
Their supportive presence helps create a safe, anchoring environment that makes it easier to start and follow through with tasks -- without pressure or judgment.
It is one of the strategies for managing focus and creating a flow for work, even if you feel lost and overwhelmed by executive dysfunction.
Co-occurrence means that certain neurodivergent traits and conditions naturally tend to appear together. When you're neurodivergent in one way, you're more likely to experience other forms of neurodivergence too - research shows this happens in up to 70% of cases. These patterns extend beyond just neurodevelopmental differences to include physical health and mental health experiences. Understanding co-occurrence is vital because it helps explain how different aspects of neurodivergence connect, leading to better self-understanding and more effective support. While traditional healthcare often treats conditions separately, recognizing these natural connections can transform how you advocate for your needs and access appropriate care.
Apps, productivity systems, quizzes for ADHD types, supplements, oh my! Not everything labelled with ADHD is actually good for ADHD.
In this article, we'll show you how to tell if a product or service is just using ADHD as a buzzword for a quick cash grab.
