Identity, recognition and diagnosis
How people first noticed patterns, found language for their experiences, approached assessment and made sense of identity before or after diagnosis.
Lived experience
Lived experience, organised around real life.
A developing collection of personal accounts from the founder and anonymous contributors, organised by areas of life so that different experiences can sit alongside one another without being treated as universal.
This area is in development
Planned material is labelled clearly and should not be read as completed guidance.
These are structured placeholders for future accounts. Contributions will be included only with informed permission, identifying details removed where anonymity is requested, and lived experience kept clearly separate from clinical evidence or formal guidance.
Contribute safely
Share your lived experience
Read how consent, anonymity, editorial approval, withdrawal and safeguarding will work before submissions open.
Planned story areas
Life as it is experienced, not just described.
Childhood, school and growing up
Memories of learning, friendships, behaviour, masking, unmet needs and the different ways childhood experiences are understood in retrospect.
Work, careers and professional life
Recruitment, disclosure, adjustments, burnout, communication, leadership, self-employment and building working conditions that are sustainable.
Relationships, communication and belonging
Friendship, family, partners, loneliness, conflict, connection and the work involved in being understood without hiding important parts of yourself.
Home, routines and everyday systems
The routines, tools, compromises and personal systems people use for food, money, appointments, housework, transitions and caring responsibilities.
Sensory life and regulation
First-person accounts of sound, light, touch, movement, overload, shutdown, meltdowns and the environments that make participation easier.
Health, burnout and wellbeing
Energy, sleep, mental health, autistic or ADHD burnout, accessing healthcare and the uneven process of rest, recovery and rebuilding capacity.
Support, adjustments and lessons learned
What people wish others had understood, which forms of support made a practical difference, and what did not help despite good intentions.