You were the kid who never got the memo.

Everyone else seemed to know where to stand, what to do with their hands, how to slip into a conversation like it was the most natural thing in the world. You were a half-second behind - studying what to do, taking mental notes, hoping nobody would notice.

And later, in relationships, you heard it again and again:

"You're too much."

"You're too sensitive."

"You're too emotional."

"Why can't you just be chill?"

So you tried to bottle it up. Be cool. Act like nothing was a big deal.... when the truth was, so many things felt like a really big deal.

This episode is for you if you've spent your life quietly wondering why connection seems to come easily to everyone but you (and blaming yourself for it.)

Today, I'm doing something I've never done on this show: I'm telling you my own story. The summer camp where no one wanted to pair up with me. The relationships where I felt like too much. And the assessment, at 40, that finally explained who I'd been the whole time: Level 2 autism and severe ADHD.

I'll walk you through what AuDHD actually is, the relief and the grief that show up together with a late diagnosis, and why understanding your wiring changes everything. Because it was never that you were bad at being a person. You were just doing it with a brain nobody ever explained to you.

IN THIS EPISODE

• The summer-camp memory that shaped how I saw myself for decades (and why it still matters)
• How I went from psychology student to realizing I might be neurodivergent myself
• What my assessment actually revealed (and why the word "severe" caught me off guard)
• What AuDHD really is (and why it pulls you in two directions at once)
• The relief AND the grief that arrive together with a late diagnosis
• The everyday tools I'd been quietly building since childhood to mask executive dysfunction (spoiler: it was never laziness)
• The AuDHD strengths I finally stopped apologizing for: pattern recognition, deep empathy, fierce loyalty, justice sensitivity....
• Why "too much" and "too sensitive" were never flaws to fix (and what they actually are)

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

- Free quiz: Is This My Brain or My Relationship?

LOVED THIS EPISODE?

Subscribe so you don't miss what's coming, leave a rating wherever you listen, and send this one to the person in your life who's always been told they're "too much" - and is just starting to wonder if there might be another explanation.

CONNECT

• Website: JennaDalton.com
• Instagram: @neurodivergentlovelab
• Work with Jenna: book a free 15-minute consultation at JennaDalton.com

A NOTE

This podcast is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for therapy or mental health care. If you're in crisis, please reach out to a local crisis line or emergency service.