A little over a year ago, I started to wonder if maybe I was autistic. Not one to let things go (also known as hyperfixation), my exploration led me to reading scientific books about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and memoirs by autistic people, listening to various podcasts about autism, and looking up resources and information [...]
Alternate title: I'm just a girl, standing in front of her work, asking you to be more neurodivergent-friendly. As I have been learning about my own neurodivergence (with both autism and ADHD), I have been slowly but surely peeling back all the things that I have done to make it in a world that is [...]
Note: "Becoming" in the title here does not refer to the fact that I suddenly "became" autistic - if you're autistic, you've been that way since birth. But in this case, realizing it late in life, I feel that I'm truly becoming my best self knowing about my autism. A little over a year ago, [...]
"Are you OK?" What is it about that magic question that always gets to the heart of the matter for me? Someone can ask me how I'm doing, and I can fib away any bad feelings with no issues. In fact, I have a few ready answers just in case such an event arises: I'm [...]
It's the time of year when everyone is talking about intentions. Call them what you will: intentions, resolutions, goals. Several times in the past week, people have asked if I have any intentions for the new year. Each time, the first thought that popped into my head was, "Survive." I don't know who first decided [...]
Unless you've been under a rock lately - and hey, I wouldn't blame you if you were - you've probably been hearing lots about the television series Ted Lasso. The show follows the quirky and cheerful Kansas football coach to England, where he coaches a different kind of football. The show has won many fans [...]
It’s been a thousand years since this pandemic started. It has often seemed like if something can be harder, it will be. Being a parent during these trying times has been no exception to that. Even as lucky as I am – with a teenager instead of a toddler, a job that allows me to [...]
When I was a kid, I thoroughly enjoyed the thrill and excitement of riding roller coasters. My particular favorite was the Orient Express at Worlds of Fun (pictured with this post). This roller coaster had lots of loops and hills, but the best part was the very beginning. The cars would leave the ride entrance [...]
I was in a Zoom meeting this afternoon (are there any other kinds these days?), and when asked how I was really doing, I found myself babbling for a minute and then suddenly spitting out, "Honestly? I'm scared." When I heard myself saying that, I realized how many different ways I'd been trying to say it over [...]
I can honestly say that I've heard the word "unprecedented" more times in the past week than I have in my entire life, and I get it. But this also means that as leaders and supervisors, we're being asked to deal with brand new challenges - especially in higher education. While there's a whole other [...]
