Old Souls & Neurodivergence…… 🌟
By Lian Brook-Tyler
One of the tells of an Old Soul that Jonathan and I have noticed is neurodivergence - such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia - it’s not always present but it is more often than not (and when seems it’s not, it’s usually just that it hasn’t been discovered yet).
Getting a diagnosis of autism in 2021 and then recording this episode with my dear friend Steve James (who is an exceptional interviewer) a year later were both milestone moments for me in understanding and unfolding my own soul’s myth.
As I wrote about it then…
“By popular demand, we’ve released this episode immediately, jumping 3 months worth of recorded episodes.
There were tears, laughter, and some controversial ideas.
The feedback we’ve already had on this episode is blowing me away *and* it’s validated the very reason I went for an autism diagnosis in the first place.
Thank you so much to Steve for suggesting we do this and for being such an incredible interviewer - both in the insightful questions he asked and in the loving, curious space he created for me to unfold into.”
The episode and the response to it, inspired me to create a whole page of resources on neurodivergence, which we regularly add to (link to the episode show notes and the resource page below.)
It was released two years ago today and it has just popped up in fb memories, which is part of what’s prompted this post (see the P.S. for the other part).
As I’ve shared before (including in that episode), the main reason I had the diagnosis was to be a beacon of hope and self-illumination to others who are struggling in the ways I did.
And there’s only ONE reason I now speak about it publicly, and it’s this…
💫
“Thank you for your posts. I’m finding sanctuary in them as I wait for the appointment to find out the results of my autism evaluation. The result doesn’t matter in a way and in a way it supremely matters. I am moving towards welcoming all of me in a new way. My life already looks SO different from when I first heard you talk about women on the spectrum last July.
Thank you, Lian. I feel like you and the community you’ve gathered are holding my hand.”
“Thank you so much! I was able to have a virtual appointment and got my results yesterday. I am on the autism spectrum- and also was diagnosed with social and generalized anxiety, largely from trying to live as a neurotypical person! Lian, thank you for speaking about yourself and bringing attention to women on the spectrum. You were the catalyst to me coming to this understanding about myself. Just encouragement to keep it up, you are what the world needs.” ❤️❤️
💫
(Shared with permission)
I receive messages like this allll the time. 🙏
I don’t speak about neurodivergence for me now…
It’s for the old me, the one who felt like she’d landed on another planet without knowing the language, etiquette or anything remotely useful but by some weird twist of fate looked exactly like the aliens so was expected to know, and was shown, painfully, shamefully, over and over that for all her immense efforts, she couldn’t function as required.
I speak about neurodivergence for the old me, which is for the people who feel like they don’t fit in this world and have yet to discover the ancient-eyed, open-hearted gift they are to it.
I speak about neurodivergence for the Old Souls who haven’t yet understood that their own myth is a vital part of the unfolding myth of this new world.
Neurodivergent ones, Old Souls… You and your medicine are so precious and so needed. Keep going and I promise you’ll discover that.
I love you.
♥️🙏🌟
P.S. I wasn’t going to write this post until Sara J. Sanderson nudged me to do so… a perfect example of how Old Souls need our kin as we walk the path of our own myth which takes us far away from the beaten path.
Watch to the episode with Steve James here:
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