Homework at the dining table is a system we`ve used since the kids started with homework, with us adults sitting next to them, or pottering around doing other jobs. I remember always doing my homework at the dining table when I was a kid too. Didn`t occur to me to do it any other way, than what is now called `body doubling`.

I wonder now, looking back, how many accidental strategies I`ve implemented over my lifetime - how many times I would answer on an assessment form "Oh, that`s not a problem, you see, I have a strategy..."

And this is one of my main issues with ND assessments - the questions hold huge assumptions within them, that we know exactly how things `ought` to be, or we all know the baseline that they`re working off`. The assessment forms really need to be thrown out and re-written with a group of autistic and ADHD folk, unambiguous and clear.

Or better still, when someone, like me, calls the assessment centre and spends 10 minutes explaining why I couldn`t listen to the many voice notes they`d left me, and why I didn`t call back, and to thank them profusely for finding an alternative way to contact me (a letter), they could just turn round and say "Thanks for your time (on this occasion and the other five pre-assessment meetings and 12 online forms), assessment done..."

#adhd #neurodivergent #assessment #homework #bodydoubling ...

I identify as she/her, and I’ve always shared this openly across my platforms. I recently realised the privilege I hold in having never had to think about it – never questioning, never feeling uncertain.

I’ve spent much of my life reflecting on aspects of my identity – being neurodivergent, growing up in a mixed-culture household, and navigating a complex religious upbringing. But gender identity? That’s always felt like a given.

This shifted during a recent Women’s Embodiment session – a space designed to help women reconnect with their power. During these sessions our bodies are referred to as ‘she’.

The first time it felt jarring, but I recognised it also felt affirming – my inner and outer selves aligned for a moment, and it felt right. This time, it wasn’t just a chord that was struck; it was like every key on the piano was played at once – loud, clear, resonant. A clanging, beautiful recognition: I am she. Deeply. Undeniably.

It was more than just affirmation – it was embodied recognition.

I now understand, not just cognitively, but within my core, that I am she. I have also been gifted with an increasing understanding of what it means to experience my life in an embodied way. This is our power.

#GenderIdentity #SheHer #Embodiment #WomensIssues #Power #FemininePower #Women #Feminine #Identity ...

How do your kids manage their online experiences?

This post by Kieran Snyder is absolutely in line with my belief that many young people understand the limitations of AI far more than many adults.

My kids, 9 and 12, are amazingly aware of all red flags in their gaming/online experiences, they have far more `digital street smarts` than we do - our approach is logical, as adults, we can work out how to keep ourselves safe, how to navigate online landscapes; for them, it is intuitive, like a child who has grown up in a forest, knowing how to avoid the poisonous mushrooms.

We do have - and have always had - conversations around digital safety, and how to critically approach information and `facts` that they find online. Their old school in the UK sent out a PowerPoint presentation to share with all the kids when they were in reception class (age 4/5), so they could see for themselves the `laws` of online worlds, and guidance around how to live safely in them.

As many of you know my kids are neurodivergent and highly intelligent. Obviously my sample is biased, and I don`t know whether this is all kids, because the majority of kids I work with or that hang out in our home, are also from the same population groups!

I`d be interested to hear from others how your kids manage their online experiences - their ability to critique, analyse, see through scams, report inappropriate behaviours etc.

#ai #criticalanalysis #onlinesafety ...

Have a read of my latest blog post!

https://ninekeys.eu/living-with-a-late-diagnosis-neurodivergence/

#adhd #autism #pda #demandavoidance #audhd #neurodivergent ...

This is 100% the inside of my brain. I *can* function and do one thing at a time, but it`s like having a strong, large dog tugging on a leash and it takes all my energy to stay on track.

This is what ADHD is like. Executive dysfunction is a huge part of the assessment criteria. It can also be see in some autistic people. And in many menopausal minds, which is one of the reasons many women don`t get diagnosed until perimenopause when the extra large dog becomes too much to rein in.

#adhd #executivedysfunction #squirrelmind ...