Episode

From Outside Looking In to Knowing Yourself Through AuDHD

Podcast
The Neurodivergent Connection / The Curious Storyteller
Published
Jun 26, 2026
Duration seconds
3301
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://podcast.ausha.co/neurodivergentconnection-thecuriousstroyteller/from-outside-looking-in-to-knowing-yourself-through-audhd
Audio
https://pdcn.co/e/https://audio.ausha.co/kk27VU62l6aa.mp3?t=1781977682
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/the-neurodivergent-connection-the-curious-storyteller-4254621/episodes/from-outside-looking-in-to-knowing-yourself-through-audhd
Markdown
/podcast/the-neurodivergent-connection-the-curious-storyteller-4254621/from-outside-looking-in-to-knowing-yourself-through-audhd.md

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Summary

When AuDHD, Unmasking, and Perimenopause Collide What happens when your brain finally makes sense, just as your old coping tools stop working? In this episode, I sit down with Heather Zimmerman for an honest conversation about late discovery, AuDHD, masking, and the very real shift that can happen during perimenopause. We talk about what it’s like to look back at your life through a new lens, why so many women are missed or misread for years, and what changes when you stop trying to fit into spaces that were never built for you. Heather shares her perspective with both personal experience and professional insight, which makes this conversation especially powerful. We also get into overstimulation, literal thinking, burnout, identity, and the quiet relief that can come when you finally understand why life has felt harder than it looked from the outside. Heather Zimmerman has a master’s in psychology and is the founder of Divine Ascension Co. She creates content around neurodivergence, perimenopause, intuition, and self-understanding. If you’ve ever wondered whether masking is costing you more than you realized, or why certain life stages seem to turn the volume up on everything, this episode will give you a lot to think about. Timestamps 0:01 - Why AuDHD, unmasking, and perimenopause matter together 1:11 - What life felt like before having the language for it 10:11 - From “something feels off” to understanding how the brain works 13:12 - What perimenopause changed mentally, emotionally, and physically 22:10 - How masking showed up and why it became too exhausting 25:13 - What overstimulation can really look like in daily life 35:27 - What regulation actually means for an AuDHD nervous system 48:56 - What Heather wants overwhelmed listeners to hear right now Heathers Res…