S1E06:Late-Diagnosed AuDHD: Masking Habits That Exhausted Me

S1E10:Neurodivergent Travel, Late Diagnosis & Finding Your People

Season 2 is coming soon. Follow on Instagram so you don’t miss the announcement! In the Season 1 finale of Not Quite Typical, Amber is joined by her long-time friend and podcast producer, Jess. They get into what it really feels like to travel as a neurodivergent person, from airport sensory overload and decision paralysis to leaving your passport on the side of a mountain in Vietnam. They also cover late ADHD and autism diagnosis as women, the penny drop moments that changed everything, why COVID was a turning point for so many neurodivergent people, and why resting is an activity, not a failure. If you are late diagnosed, undiagnosed, or just starting to understand your neurodivergent brain, this one is for you.   Mentioned in this Ep • Unmasked by Ellie Middleton — a guide to living as a late-diagnosed autistic and ADHD adult. Highly recommended by Amber. • Sunflower Lanyard Scheme — for invisible disabilities at airports, train stations and travel hubs. Free to pick up at most major UK airports. • Special assistance when flying — available to request when booking with most airlines including EasyJet. Allows priority boarding and reduced queue time. Find Not Quite Typical Instagram: @notquite_typical Substack: ambernapthine.substack.com [https://ambernapthine.substack.com/] Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts — search Not Quite Typical If this episode resonated with you, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or share it with someone who might need to hear it. It means the world and helps more people find the show. Hey friends, just a gentle reminder: I’m sharing from my own lived experience with AuDHD, not a medical textbook! While some of our guests have clinical expertise, every single neurodivergent journey is different. This space is for sharing stories and community, so please always seek professional advice for your own personal health and wellbeing. Thanks for being here!

S1E09:Loneliness & Late Diagnosed AuDHD

Have you ever walked away from a social event feeling lonelier than before you arrived? In this episode, Amber goes deep on one of the most quietly painful parts of the neurodivergent experience — not isolation, but the specific kind of loneliness that comes from being surrounded by people and still not feeling reached by any of them. She covers why ND brains find genuine connection harder, the different types of loneliness and which ones hit hardest for neurodivergent people, how masking means no one actually meets you, RSD and how it makes us engineer our own loneliness, and the double empathy problem (it’s a mismatch, not a deficit). Plus her own honest account from school to adulthood, and why understanding the mechanics of your loneliness is the first step to doing something about it. Resources Mind — loneliness support — https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/loneliness/useful-contacts/ [https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/loneliness/useful-contacts/] Campaign to End Loneliness — https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/feeling-lonely/helpful-links/ [https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/feeling-lonely/helpful-links/] Bridgette Hamstead — AuDHD & Loneliness (Substack) — https://substack.com/@bridgettehamstead/p-195049729 [https://substack.com/@bridgettehamstead/p-195049729] Find Not Quite Typical Instagram: @notquite_typical Substack: ambernapthine.substack.com [https://ambernapthine.substack.com/] Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts — search Not Quite Typical Hey friends, just a gentle reminder: I’m sharing from my own lived experience with AuDHD, not a medical textbook! While some of our guests have clinical expertise, every single neurodivergent journey is different. This space is for sharing stories and community, so please always seek professional advice for your own personal health and wellbeing. Thanks for being here! YyvQMuQa5DgubWUL6T6Y

S1E08:Dopamine,RSD & Limerence: Dating When Late Diagnosed AuDHD

Modern dating is hard. Dating when you’re neurodivergent is a different category of hard altogether. In this episode, Amber gets into the very specific ways that being AuDHD shapes romantic experiences: dopamine-seeking behaviour and dating app addiction, monotropism and why neurodivergent people fall into intense fixations, and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria and how it amplifies every silence and unanswered text. She also talks through what post-diagnosis dating can look like — more intentional, more boundaried, and more aligned with how your brain actually works. If you’ve ever wondered whether your relationship patterns make more sense through a neurodivergent lens, this episode is for you. Find Not Quite Typical Instagram: @notquite_typical Substack: ambernapthine.substack.com [https://ambernapthine.substack.com/] Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts — search Not Quite Typical   Hey friends, just a gentle reminder: I’m sharing from my own lived experience with AuDHD, not a medical textbook! While some of our guests have clinical expertise, every single neurodivergent journey is different. This space is for sharing stories and community, so please always seek professional advice for your own personal health and wellbeing. Thanks for being here!

S1E07:Why PDA Triggers Shame Spirals in AuDHD

Ever feel crushed by shame when a hobby you love suddenly feels impossible? In this episode of Not Quite Typical, I unpack why PDA (pathological demand avoidance) and ADHD shame spirals hit so hard for me as a late-diagnosed AuDHDer. From my abandoned baking dreams to work guilt and friend-text paralysis, I share it all. I dive into the roots: RSD (rejection sensitive dysphoria), masking exhaustion, executive dysfunction, and that nervous-system freeze when “just do it” advice backfires. Then I share three tiny shifts that broke my cycle: * Name the mechanism (like saying “This is PDA, not failure”) * Reframe interests as “mini pools” - deep skill dives I can revisit, not flaky failures * Permission to be small - 5-minute starts over perfection pressure Find Not Quite Typical Instagram: @notquite_typical Substack: ambernapthine.substack.com [https://ambernapthine.substack.com/] Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts — search Not Quite Typical   Hey friends, just a gentle reminder: I’m sharing from my own lived experience with AuDHD, not a medical textbook! While some of our guests have clinical expertise, every single neurodivergent journey is different. This space is for sharing stories and community, so please always seek professional advice for your own personal health and wellbeing. Thanks for being here!

S1E06:Late-Diagnosed AuDHD: Masking Habits That Exhausted Me

Masking: suppressing, adapting, and performing your way through every social situation — is something most late-diagnosed autistic and ADHD people did for years without even realising it. In this episode, Amber traces where her own mask came from, all the way back to childhood, and follows it through school, work, and adult life. She talks about what unmasking actually looks like in practice (spoiler: it’s a lot more complicated than just “being yourself”), the physical and mental cost of long-term masking, and what it means to start finding spaces where you don’t have to hide. Practical advice on unmasking gradually, safely, and in relationships included. Further Reading National Autistic Society — masking guidance — https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/behaviour/masking [https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/behaviour/masking] Find Not Quite Typical Instagram: @notquite_typical Substack: ⁠ambernapthine.substack.com⁠ [https://ambernapthine.substack.com/] Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts — search Not Quite Typical Get in Touch: hello@notquitetypical.com Hey friends, just a gentle reminder : I’m sharing from my own lived experience with AuDHD, not a medical textbook! While some of our guests have clinical expertise, every single neurodivergent journey is different. This space is for sharing stories and community, so please always seek professional advice for your own personal health and wellbeing. Thanks for being here!