About

I self-identified as AuDHD at 47. I am not formally diagnosed. I write from lived experience, not clinical authority.

For 47 years I built workarounds so good that nobody could see what was underneath. Including me. I am a developer by trade. I spent my career debugging complex systems. Turns out the most complex system I have ever encountered was my own brain.

I write this blog for women (and people socialized as women) who were diagnosed or self-identified late. Who built coping mechanisms that worked until they didn't. Who are somewhere in their 40s, dealing with perimenopause and accumulated burnout while the mask falls apart.

What this space is

A field guide written by someone inside the experience, for people inside the experience. Two formats:

Field guides are practical and scannable. Dispatches are personal and raw. Some weeks I post solutions. Some weeks I just write: this is hard and I am still in it.

What this space is not

Not a medical resource. Not inspirational content. I do not have answers. I have experiences and experiments, and I will tell you when they stop working.

On self-identification

The average age of autism diagnosis in women is decades later than in men. Many women never receive formal diagnosis due to cost ($2,000–5,000 for evaluations), provider ignorance about female presentation, and diagnostic criteria designed by observing young boys. Self-identification through extensive research and lived experience is valid. I state this once, plainly, without apology.