Hello

Welcome to my new blog! 

I’ve written in the past, but I wanted to really start a blog with a lot of intention behind it to help others and also be very transparent about what it’s like to be neurodivergent and raise neurodivergent kids, even with that being my niche in my private practice.  So without further ado, let me tell you 10 facts about me!

 I am a licensed professional counselor.  That means that in the state of Texas I went to school, got at least a master’s level of education, and had to take a big test, plus 3000 supervised hours in order to call myself an LPC.  

I specialize in neurodiversity, especially in women.  So neurodiversity encompasses primarily ADHD, autism, and giftedness.  Some folks also categorize learning differences like dyslexia, dysgraphia, etc in this group as well.  These differences can be especially difficult to diagnose and recognize in women, which is why I really love working with women because they have unique barriers that men with neurodiversity simply don’t have to deal with (that’s a post for another time!)

  • I am neurodivergent, and a lot of people I love are neurodivergent.  I was tested as a gifted child, and have many traits of being a gifted adult.  I only recently began to really accept this for what it means for me, especially because I felt like calling myself gifted made me look, well, frankly, like a cocky asshole (PS, I cuss… a lot).  But now that my training has led me to this specialty, I’m working hard to embrace what being a gifted woman means, and all the challenges that come along with it.  Also, I think on the right day, had highly verbal autism in girls been a well known diagnosis in the 80s, I think I could have possibly qualified as being autistic (more on the overlap in giftedness and other neurodivergent diagnoses in another blog post).  Additionally, my mother, sister, daughter, and ex-husband all have ADHD.  So I have lived with ADHD both as a child, a sibling, a parent, and a partner. I know it can be TOUGH.  But it also can be a gift.
  • Yes, I’m a parent.  And I’m divorced.  I have three wonderful kids… all of whom are neurodiverse in their own ways.  My daughter has ADHD, my middle son is gifted, and my youngest is too little to be formally diagnosed, but I’m betting he will come up as 2e (twice-exceptional) with giftedness and ADHD.  I also have a lot of experience in living the divorced life and the challenges that can come up with parenting/co-parenting neurodiverse children.
  • I used to be a special education teacher.  I’m also a certified K-6 Generalist and a certified School Counselor (which is very different from an LPC, although some school counselors are both).  I primarily worked with non/low verbal children who had several behavioral problems, but I also did a couple years of resource/inclusion work.
  • I once had a job where I played video games with kids to help them learn how to make friends.  No joke.  It was the coolest job ever.  Unfortunately it was very far from where I lived, so we had to part ways.  Check out https://brainhealth.utdallas.edu/programs/charisma/ for more information about that program.
  • I loooooooove to travel.  Especially to Colorado.  I have a little place in Cuchara, CO, and it’s my happiest place on earth.  But I also love to just go to new places, and visit my sister in New York and my bestie in Seattle.  My partner and I love to travel and visit Art-O-Mats whenever we can.
  • My hobbies include singing, cross-stitch, and reading.  I sing with The Women’s Chorus of Dallas.  Once upon a time, I was a vocal performance major, but I decided I liked brains and helping people more instead.  So it’s my form of self-care on Monday nights to sing with the TWCD.  I have recently rediscovered my childhood love of cross-stitch.  I last did a little fox for my Cuchara home. And I love reading.  I have to force myself to read fiction sometimes because I get caught up with wanting to learn ALL. THE. THINGS.  
  • I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.  I was only diagnosed in the last few years, but I have had medical problems for literally my entire life.  I remember distinctly telling my therapist in my twenties that there was just something wrong with my joints, and something wrong with my sensory system.  Lo and behold, those are basically the hallmarks of EDS.  Sia recently came out saying she also has EDS.  I’m fortunate in that I don’t have to use a wheelchair like some people do, but Amazon definitely thinks I’m either a nurse or a VERY old person due to some of the medical/orthopedic things I need to buy.I have a wonderful partner and two goofy dogs.  One is an old lady who’s a corgi/terrier mix, and the other is a white lab mix who is only 6 months old and is a hot mess.  My partner and I met on Tinder of all hell hole places, and he’s my favorite person.  I love doing life with him.

So that’s a little about me!  Thanks for coming, and I’m looking forward to going on this journey with you!