Facilitate Joy

Feeling angry? If you're in Reno on this 100 degree day, hold up on hashing it out with someone. The heat might be making you extra irritable and impacting your ability to think clearly.

Many neurodivergent people get very sick in the heat. It's overstimulating and causes lots of sensory issues. If you have Ehlers Danlos, your compromised blood vessels already struggle to get adequate blood flow to your brain - that only gets worse when your blood volume is lower due to heat-induced dehydration.

Common signs of ND related heat issues include agitation, trouble thinking, heart racing, and dizziness. If this is you, consider going inside somewhere with AC and laying down in the dark (feet above your heart if possible) with a fan for airflow. Hydrate with electrolytes, not just water.

As neurodivergent people, many of us have experienced both sides of this.

We’ve been pushed into situations that were genuinely overwhelming.

We’ve also discovered that some of our greatest strengths, friendships, and accomplishments came from doing something that felt a little scary at first.

Finding the difference between overwhelm and growth is rarely simple, but it’s a conversation worth having. We encourage you to read Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation to learn more.

What do you think?

A lot of young adults have never learned to prepare for interviews. Here are some important steps! Struggling to do these on your own? Feel free to reach out to our team for help!

1) Read up on the company and be able to speak positively about what they do or sell.

2) If it's a Zoom interview, know proper Zoom etiquette! Wear professional clothes, be in a quiet space, and have a clean, non-distracting background.

3) PRACTICE your answers out loud, preferably in a mirror. Even better? Record yourself and listen to your responses.

4) Check out Reddit's Manager subreddit to hear from people who hire about what leads them to hire (or not hire) someone. Here's a great example: https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1u38rjt/managers_when_you_have_conducted_interviews_what/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

For all the hyperlexic little girls everywhere!

https://www.anneofgreengables.com/blog-posts/best-quotes-from-lucy-maud-montgomery

Tonight a former professor - one who believed in me, who truly inspired our mentorship program, The Constellation - wrote "I’m so proud of you always."

I just started crying.

Thank you Peter. You changed my life in so many ways.

No matter how grown up we get, sometimes we are still just little kids, wanting someone to say "I see you, and you're doing a good job."

Sending care and hugs to all the families we love and support, and whether you're a parent or a teacher or a professor or just someone who cares about a kid - hoping you'll give them an extra "I'm proud of you" tonight.

Visit our new website that went LIVE today! Learn about how you can work directly with one of our team, and about our exciting mentorship program The Constellation! Interested in being a mentor? We'd love to talk with you!

For some autistic people, masking can involve hiding interests, communication styles, or natural behaviors in order to avoid negative social consequences.

These choices are often less about preference and more about safety, belonging, or avoiding bullying and judgment.

Many autistic people learn to closely monitor social patterns and adjust their behavior accordingly, even when the unspoken rules themselves don’t fully make sense.

💛 What’s something you wish people understood about the relationship between masking and safety?

For many autistic people, masking can involve trying to follow social rules that were never directly explained.

Sometimes it means changing clothing, behavior, interests, or routines in an effort to avoid bullying, judgment, or exclusion.

What may look small from the outside can carry a great deal of emotional weight internally.

💛 What’s something you wish people understood about the social pressure to fit in?

~Reposting due to formatting errors :) ~

Many autistic people learn to navigate social situations through careful observation, pattern recognition, and adaptation.

Sometimes masking can look like copying behaviors, expressions, or reactions in order to avoid standing out or feeling unsafe socially.

These experiences are often invisible to others, even when they require sitnificant mental effort.

What's something you wish people better understood about masking? 💛

Do you fall into this category? :)

HealthyGamerGG 3.9K likes, 253 comments. "Why Smart People Tend to be Stubborn"