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Join Catherine Quiring in conversation with Megan Griffith, autistic and ADHD life coach, content creator, and author of Welcome to AuDHD: How to Survive and Thrive as an Adult with Autism and ADHD. This wide-ranging discussion explores what it means to live at the intersection of autism and ADHD, from communication differences and alexithymia to masking, self-trust, and disability identity.
Megan shares her diagnostic journey through misdiagnosis, the research behind her book (including lived experience from her community), and practical tools like EFT tapping for emotional processing. Catherine and Megan discuss monotropic vs. polytropic thinking, the building blocks metaphor for masking, and how childhood emotional neglect affects neurodivergent people—even in loving homes where authentic selves weren't fully mirrored.
This episode offers validation, clarity, and hope for anyone navigating neurodivergence, whether self-diagnosed or formally assessed.
Resources:
EFT (Emotion Freedom Technique) Tapping (with Sophia Graniela, another podcast guest)
Neurodivergence Lived Experience Summit: 1/23-25/2026
Connect with Megan Website - Book
Connect with Catherine: Website - Substack - YouTube - Neurodivergent Self-Diagnosis Consultation
Key Topics:
The History of AuDHD: Why autism and ADHD couldn't be diagnosed together until 2013 (DSM-5)
Alexithymia Explained: Difficulty identifying emotions in the moment, but processing them later through "back doors" like journaling or intellectual processing
EFT Tapping: A practical tool for accessing difficult emotions through meridian points and parasympathetic nervous system activation
Communication Differences: How neurotypical people give 70% of information expecting you to fill in gaps, while autistic people typically give 100%
Monotropic vs. Polytropic Thinking: Flashlight (deep focus) vs. lantern (broad attention) approaches to thinking and work
Masking as Building Blocks: A trauma response metaphor—not a removable mask, but borrowed blocks that became part of your tower
Self-Trust and Validation: How diagnosis (formal or self) can affirm "I was right about me all along"
Disability Identity: Community perspectives on whether AuDHD is a disability, difference, or "it's complicated"
Childhood Emotional Neglect: How unmirrored enthusiasm and unmet attachment needs affect neurodivergent children
Intersectionality: Research findings on disability, police violence, and the "ugly laws" that prohibited visible disability in public until the 1970s
Practical Tools:
EFT Tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques)
Three-step process: Acknowledgment → Validation → Gentle Reframe
Taps meridian points while processing difficult emotions
Helps access emotions through the "back door" for those with alexithymia
The 24-Hour Rule for Self-Trust
When trusted people disagree with your reality perception
Put a pin in it for 24 hours
Revisit to see if your perspective has shifted or held steady
Neither perspective is necessarily "wrong"
Meta Conversations
Pausing during disagreements to discuss how the conversation is happening
Addressing tone, communication style, and assumptions
Creating clarity about different communication preferences
Hi, I’m Catherine. I’m grateful to share this time and space with you.
I’m a counselor living on the Emerald Coast of Florida, on the unceded land of the Muscogee. I am a creative, mystic, and neurodiverse adventurer. I love writing, creating, and connecting.
I love helping folx Befriend Your Inner Critic, Become Your Own Best Friend, and reclaim your untamed soul.
Thank you for being here in this sacred space we get to co-create, as we come home to ourselves and enjoy the fruit of that self-belonging. I love hearing from you and walking alongside you on your journey.
My free gift to you: 3 steps to trust yourself.
With a full heart,
Catherine
