The Neurodivergent Experience

⚠️This episode includes discussion of suicide, mental health crises, and systemic failures in neurodivergent healthcare. Listener discretion is advised, and we encourage you to prioritise your wellbeing while listening ⚠️.

In this Hot Topic episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott respond to reports that the NHS is once again restricting access to ADHD assessments in an attempt to save money — often without informing GPs or patients already waiting.

They unpack how limiting assessments don’t just delay diagnosis, but actively block access to support, accommodations, medication, and self-understanding, particularly for Autistic and ADHD people who already struggle to advocate for themselves. Drawing on their own late diagnoses, Jordan and Simon explain how years without recognition lead to mislabelling, shame, burnout, and serious mental health harm.

The conversation then turns to the real-world consequences of these delays, including a Guardian report detailing the death of a young man who fell through the cracks of the assessment and shared-care system. Jordan and Simon speak openly about grief, anger, and fear — and why framing ADHD as “not life-threatening” ignores the reality of emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, chronic stress, and suicide risk.

This episode has a clear message: withholding diagnosis and treatment is not neutral — it is dangerous.

They discuss:
NHS limits on ADHD assessments and lack of transparency
Long waiting times and being stuck between child and adult services
Why diagnosis is a gateway to support, not a label
ADHD medication, emotional regulation, and quality of life
Why ADHD can be life-threatening
Suicide risk, burnout, and drowning in unregulated thoughts
The cost of denying support vs investing in people

A raw, emotional, and urgent conversation about assessment delays, systemic failure, and the very real human cost of treating neurodivergent care as optional.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this season 3 opening episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott revisit a foundational question from the very first episode of the podcast: what makes me neurodivergent?

Returning to the topic with years of lived experience, self-understanding, and community insight, they reflect on how their understanding of autism, ADHD, and neurodivergence has evolved.

They explore neurodivergence as an alternative neurotype, not a single deficit, and unpack how traits often grouped under autism and ADHD — including dyslexia, dyspraxia, PDA, hypersensitivity, RSD, and hypermobility — can show up differently in every person.

They discuss their abilities — challenging both deficit-only narratives and toxic positivity — and explore special interests, bottom-up processing, pattern recognition, empathy, storytelling, and deep knowledge-gathering.

They discuss:
Revisiting “what makes me neurodivergent?” years later
Neurodivergence as an alternative neurotype, not a single condition
How disability is shaped by environment, not just diagnosis
Energy, hypersensitivity, executive function, and burnout
Masking, communication gaps, and being misunderstood
Why “autism” alone doesn’t explain lived experience
Special interests, knowledge-gathering, and bottom-up thinking
Neurodivergent culture, labels, and identity

A reflective, wide-ranging conversation about disability, ability, identity, and why neurodivergent people make sense — even when the world around them doesn’t.

Our Sponsors:
🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)
🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy
→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde

🔗 Stay Connected
Instagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepod
Facebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook page
YouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperience
TikTok: @neurodivergentexperience

❤️ Support the Show
If this episode resonated with you:
✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience
⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this final episode of our January series on The Anatomy of a Breakthrough, we arrive at strategy - not as hustle, force, or rigid self-improvement, but as a creative, embodied collaboration with your own life.

Throughout the month, we’ve explored how real change unfolds when state comes first, story begins to soften, and strategy is allowed to emerge from alignment rather than pressure. In this episode, we bring it all together.

Drawing on the wisdom of thinkers, artists, and teachers such as Buckminster Fuller, Vincent van Gogh, James Clear, Tim Ferriss, Shunryū Suzuki, Hugh Laurie, Millard Fuller, and contemporary author Jordan Gruber, Ashley weaves a deeply neurodivergent-affirming exploration of how meaningful change actually takes shape.

We’ll explore:

Why strategy works best when it builds the new rather than fights the old

How small, sustainable actions quietly create upward spirals

Why confidence often follows action - not the other way around

How embodied knowledge can return when we meet ourselves in the right state

What it means to design a strategy that truly fits your nervous system

The episode closes with a deeply nourishing Yoga Nidra, inviting your nervous system into a state of rest, receptivity, and neuroplasticity - a place where new patterns can gently take root.

If you’re tired of forcing change, waiting for motivation, or feeling like strategy has to be punishing to be effective, this episode offers a kinder, wiser way forward.

✨ You’re allowed to edit your life. You’re allowed to begin again. And you’re allowed to take one small step at a time.

❤️ Support the Show
If this episode resonated with you:
✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience
⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes

Our Sponsors:
🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)
🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy
→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde

🔗 Stay Connected
Instagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepod
Facebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook page
YouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperience
TikTok: @neurodivergentexperience

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Hot Topic episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott are joined by hypnotherapist and breathwork practitioner Ashley Bentley to unpack the release of “Autistic Barbie” by Mattel — and why representation isn’t always as simple as it sounds.

Rather than rejecting the doll outright, the conversation explores the risks of giving autism a visual “look.” Jordan explains why his concern isn’t about the happiness some children feel, but about how quickly a single doll can turn a diverse neurotype into a checklist of stereotypes — headphones, fidgets, AAC devices — and what that means for autistic children who don’t identify with those traits.

The episode also tackles corporate tokenism, performative inclusion, and why an accessory pack or a customisable approach could have offered representation without defining autism by appearance. The conversation expands to include social media reactions, satire, and how both praise and backlash can perpetuate harmful narratives.

They discuss:
The release of “Autistic Barbie” and mixed reactions
Why visualising a neurotype is inherently problematic
Barbie as imagination vs Barbie as diagnosis
Representation vs tokenism and corporate motives
The idea of an accessory pack over a single “autistic” doll

A thoughtful, funny, and challenging conversation about representation, identity, and why good intentions don’t always lead to good outcomes.

Our Sponsors:
🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)
🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy
→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde

🔗 Stay Connected
Instagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepod
Facebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook page
YouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperience
TikTok: @neurodivergentexperience

❤️ Support the Show
If this episode resonated with you:
✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience
⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Neurodivergent Experience, Jordan James and Simon Scott are joined by hypnotherapist and breathwork practitioner Ashley Bentley to explore slow burn meltdowns — the kind that build quietly over time rather than exploding all at once.

They discuss how ongoing pressure, unmet needs, and emotional overload can simmer beneath the surface for weeks, months, or even years before reaching breaking point. From returning to work after a break, to parenting, health stress, and unspoken expectations, they unpack how slow-burning meltdowns often go unnoticed until it’s too late.

Jordan shares how these meltdowns show up in children, especially in safe relationships, and why behaviour is often misread as attitude or defiance. Ashley reflects on how stress, comparison, and “pushing through” can disconnect people from early warning signs, while Simon talks about recognising the pattern only in hindsight.
Rather than quick fixes, the conversation focuses on awareness, naming what’s happening, nervous system regulation, and compassion — for ourselves and for our kids.

They discuss:

What slow burn meltdowns are and how they differ from explosive ones
Emotional and physical warning signs
Alexithymia, rumination, and overload
Parenting and why meltdowns happen in safe spaces
Childhood pressure, burnout, and long-term survival mode
Expectations, comparison, and delayed breakdowns
Regulation, support, and recognising the signs earlier

A validating conversation about noticing meltdowns before they erupt — and learning how to support neurodivergent nervous systems with less shame and more care.

Our Sponsors:
🧠 RTN Diagnostics - Right to Choose – Autism & ADHD Assessments (UK)
🧘‍♀️ Ashley Bentley – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy
→ https://bit.ly/ashleynde

🔗 Stay Connected
Instagram: @theneurodivergentexperiencepod
Facebook: The Neurodivergent Experience & Jordan's Facebook page
YouTube: @TheNeurodivergentExperience
TikTok: @neurodivergentexperience

❤️ Support the Show
If this episode resonated with you:
✅ Follow or Subscribe to The Neurodivergent Experience
⭐ Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
🔔 Turn on notifications for new weekly episodes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.