The Most ADHD Things of Oct '24

It's time for the ultimate shame eradicator! Raising ADHD awareness and uniting the community by sharing @adhdafpodcast followers and Patreon Community members 'Most ADHD Things' to laugh at the things that would usually make us cry, break the stigma and drop the shame!

TODAY - 28th Nov - we kick off the 3 month ADHD Winter Warrior Team Challenge, combating SAD with movement and magic to raise funds for ADHDAF+ Charity! Join/Sponsor HERE PLEASE! xx

Join us in Blackpool for the only ADHDAF Event I can host this Xmas! FREE limited tickets for the Ferny Festive Fundraiser, Sun 15th Dec HERE

ENORMOUS THANKS to Lizee for practicing what she preaches and showing compassion when faced with my most ADHD thing of October!!!! :)

Photo taken by @hattiephotography of 'Miss Biggy' & 'Hermit' at Pikes Hotel Halloween Party in Ibiza, where Big's Most ADHD thing of October took place.

TW:  accidental injury, emotional outbursts, menty b's, loud laughter and too-muchness.

If you are in need of support YOU ARE NOT ALONE! There is immediate help out there so please REACH OUT
If you are struggling to access your ADHD medication, use this: Pharmacy Stock Checker

You can support the continuation of this podcast and connect with literally like-minded legends in the Patreon Peer Support Community
Thank you to the Members for keeping this podcast going for over 2.5 years!

Find out about ADHDAF+ Charity HERE
You can apply to be part of ADHDAF Emporium: an online marketplace championing neurodivergent makers and small creative businesses HERE
Browse the first few handmade items by neurodivergent creatives HERE
To be notified of future ADHDAF re(TREATS) like The Holistic(ish) Weekender SIGN UP HERE

You can also join me at:
- Sarah Templeton's Christmas Auction for ADHD Liberty Charity in High Wycombe on 2nd Dec
- 'Sessionz Session', Xmas ADHD Support Group in Milton Keynes 4th Dec (RSVP via the link
- ADHDAF Emporium at Cattle Yard's Late Night Xmas Market in Norfolk 5th Dec.
- Ferny Festive Fundraiser in Blackpool 15h Dec

Or connect at the community online events including xmas morning zoom HERE

WINTER WARRIORS ASSEMBLE!
BIG love
Laura x

Transcript

 Sorry, I'm just going to start again because I've totally forgotten how to do the intro for this.  So welcome to  the most ADHD things of October. We've just got in there because it's nearly the end of November, but my goodness, it has been busy. There's a lot to share. There's a lot going on. If this is the first time you've listened to ADHD AF podcast, the most ADHD things is a monthly special in which I'm joined by my wonderful husband, the big man.

Hello. And. We read aloud the most ADHD things that are submitted to ADHD AF podcast socials. So the followers share the most ADHD thing they've done that week. I ask every Saturday and it is an exercise in ADHD awareness. It also brings the community together because it means that people can chat to each other in the comments and we can all see we're not alone in the ridiculous situations that ADHD can can put us in basically.

If we don't get round to reading yours, please don't RSD. We've had loads and loads of submissions and we are limited with time, but we're so grateful to everyone who ever shares their most ADHD things. If you listen to this and you think, well, that doesn't sound like how ADHD presents in me. Please don't let it invalidate your experience.

All ADHD is experience the condition differently. And so even if something doesn't sound like an ADHD thing to you, it is to that person. And it's really important that we show compassion to everyone with ADHD. Well, anyway,  but in particular, as the waiting lists in the UK are up to eight years in some parts, but.

You know, life changing and what can be life saving. Assessment, diagnosis and treatment. Self diagnosis has to be valid. Through self diagnosis we can find community, peer support, self compassion, which is essential. We have some very exciting things to share with you. And we are sat in bed at Bernie House Hotel in Blackpool, where we currently live.

We live. We live here now. We reside here. Where there will be an ADHD AF Christmas event. Yep. But I'll come back to that. But before we dive into this ridiculousness, in the name of ADHD awareness, I've got something really amazing to share. And I've also got some really important stuff to share at the end too, so do stick around.

So firstly, it's a really big one. I'm really, really excited to share this with you. Back in March, I literally found out about NHS Task Force  minutes before I went live on Insta. And so it was a bit emotional and I was a bit overwhelmed. I stated then that I was cautiously optimistic about the announcement. 

Well, this week, NHS Taskforce has announced who is involved, and for me personally, the biggest victory of all is that amongst the medical experts, there are experts by lived experience. So, finally, the services are listening. Nothing about us without us. And,  though I'm not allowed to say, I know for a fact that if they listen to one of these experts by experience, in particular, we are in very good hands indeed.

With a view on intersectionality and marginalised groups.  Obviously, you know, none of us know how things will play out, but I have had a few cries about this, and I'm so completely overjoyed about the difference this could make. Make so that is very exciting. Indeed. I wish I could share more, but that's all I can say for now.

Okay. Before I start bullying again, I'm going to wind my emotionally dysregulated neck in and dive into the most ADHD things you legends have shared in the name of ADHD awareness on the socials. So we're going to start off with Insta Joanne Amanda designs. I searched the boot of my car for my raincoat, told my uncle, I was so sure I'd brought it in there.

Then I realized I was actually wearing it. Penders meets world. Cried on my birthday because not enough people remembered.  Well, happy birthday. Hope you had a wonderful one.  Spicy Steph lost the lid to the butter in the cutlery drawer for six hours.  Beth Coleman  put my washing on my bed to put away, then threw it on the floor when it came to getting into bed, repeat times four.

Times four! That's nothing, we've done that for weeks.  Beth Coleman put  my, oh no that's the same person. ADHD teacher diary, spent four hours on what should have been a one hour task and still didn't. didn't finish it. Oh my gosh, I hate you. Yeah. Beauty underscore school underscore dropouts underscore UK. I was supposed to take my re retest for my HGV license on Tuesday, but I lost a tiny bit of paper I needed to take with me to sit the test.

So I had to call the instructor's company in tears to tell them I had to forfeit the test and book another one, which cost me 500 pounds. Bloody hell. Spent the afternoon sitting on a park bench in the rain crying all afternoon because I was so cross with myself. Trotting dog poo on the way home. No!  Oh God, it's the worst.

Insult to injury. The ADHD text just keeps piling  up. So sorry. Um, Addy underscore zero two. I bought vitamins and keep forgetting to take them. Yes! Relatable! It's me, Saskia C. I was prepping some questions to ask a potential landlord, got distracted thinking about the presidential election, wrote, Will you be managing the presidency? 

Will you be managing the presidency? Because  someone needs to. Fox loves Scotland. I booked tickets for London for the wrong month. Brilliant. Bugger. A neurodivergent individual, Oh, I've been waiting for this because I have several. First and most important, I got my clinical diagnosis. Wow, that's amazing.

I'm officially ADHD AF.  Yes, you were always officially ADHD AF, Andy, but now you are medically. And I hope that that means that you get the support that you need and quick. And I'm sorry you had such a long wait. Coffee, yes, and blank stares. Couldn't be bothered to return the sofa, which got delivered in the wrong packaging.

Bye. We ordered a right hand L, they sent a left hand L in a box labelled right hand, so instead spent an entire day rearranging an entire room to accommodate it. Yep, that's definitely something I would do. ADHD coaching with Olivia. I have an early train, brought a tote bag to carry things like phone charger for day out.

Turns out I didn't pack the phone charger. Now to buy a spare one. The ADHD tax is taxing today. Yeah. Murphy Mao Mao. I miss not one. But two important meetings this week. Had them scheduled in my phone and had reminders. I just absolutely didn't even have my phone on me, nor my watch to buzz when I have a reminder, or remember they were a thing.

Feel absolutely grim. I haven't been this organised in a while, but this week has been rough. So sorry, Kirsty. Eleanor Amy Wilkinson. Getting dysregulated over my phone charger not working and I was on 16 percent before meeting clients. Impulsively buys a new charger, forgets that she already has a stack of charging cables in a desk I could just use.

What? These are things? These are. Heather Lou Johnson. Worked 10 days back to back and now I'm off. I don't know what to do with myself. No. Yep, absolutely.  Evelyn underscore MC underscore 2000. Got my washing out and started to hang it up. Halfway through I realised it was dry. I forgot to turn the machine on again.

Again.  Boo Lisa 65.  Travelling in Indo by myself. Where do I begin? Entered the wrong bungalow three times, broke two pairs of glasses and yesterday I booked the wrong homestay and fled in the middle of the night. Can't find anything no matter how organised I am. Swinging from so relaxed to complete confusion and pain for starters.

I've done that a lot when travelling. It's just such a lot of pressure and it's this kind of, It's almost like the boom bust cycle because you're so excited that you're doing the thing and you're so enthused And you know the freedom of different days and whatever and then it's like, oh my god I absolutely cannot live out of a bag anymore and I cannot cope.

Can I stay in one place? It's just backwards and forwards. Yeah amongst all the catastrophes, but hope you have a wonderful time charlottish Just says impulsive tattoo  Circus underscore chrissy went to reach for the coffee pot for getting the kettles on and put my arm right through the sink Steam and burn my wrist. 

Ow. Hope it's healed. Chrissy. Yeah. Jess Ann 33. Had a mental breakdown over tofu, understandable . Um, they didn't have the one I liked at the supermarket, so I stood there staring at a tofu, crying. An employee, I'm sorry, an employee asked if I was okay. I responded. Tofu  . Oh, bless you. We hope you got the one you liked in the end.

Yes. WBDG, the podcast, the got to order anxiety tablets, then put off doing it as, I can't bear the online repeat prescription form. I hear you. When to order them and forgot to log in on the doctor's website again. Overbook works.  I can't get to the doctors to request another password.  Threw a wobbly and said screw the doctors, I don't need the fucking tablets anyway.

This week, low mood, low energy, low motivation, crying at everything and to top it off I have a cold too. Oh dear. I'm sorry. But the system is  ableist. Yeah. We literally have to fight against the very symptoms that we need support with in order to get the support. Yeah. And I totally hear you with throwing a wobbly.

That's exactly what I've done with Access to Work. Yeah. I don't want that fucking money anyway. Ugh. It rankles  me no end.  Lou likes lemons. Didn't dress appropriately for the weather rather than walk back for less than five minutes to get a coat. bought a new coat.  Brilliant.  Marie5373, I agreed to go somewhere tomorrow that I don't have the time to go to, so I've thought of lots of excuses to use to get out of it, but still haven't sent the message to say I'm not going. 

Kim Pierpoint, UK, crept into our bedroom in the dark as my husband had already gone to bed, found my PJs and eye mask in the dark, changed into my PJs, lost my eye mask, found torch to search for eye mask. Found my eye mask where I was sitting. I snuck into bed only to realise I'd lost my eye mask in the game.

Switched torch on and searched everywhere for eye mask. No eye mask, for fuck's sake. Found a spare eye mask. Dropped torch. Put second eye mask on my head. Found first eye mask on my head. Removed second eye  mask. Pulled original one down to my eyes. Realised I still had my glasses on. After nearly 15 minutes, I finally got into bed.

My husband said, what are you doing? Why didn't you switch on the light?  Oh, that's our Kim. So if you haven't already listened to the Chinwag, which kicked off season three with Kim Pierpoint about self sabotage, you have to give it a listen because it's literally the most commented on episode of all time.

Kim is wonderful. It's Coffee Yes and Blank Stares again. Fed my cats their 6pm food. Three times because I'd forgot I'd done it not remembering until seeing the empty packet in the bin cats had a great day Yeah, Burke j008 did one hand of my nails  Took me another 24 hours to finish the other hand. Ha ha ha ha!

Mazpok? Stood crying in Lidl? Need I explain? No. He was trying to buy a horse jacket and a jet ski and And some tofu! And, yeah, three dozen eggs. Ha ha ha ha! Rivka Jacobs, millinery. Went to my corner shop, bought lemons, garlic and ginger. Got home, only had lemons and garlic. I literally did that the other day.

I bought crumpets yeah. Megan Burke's coaching. I have new sheets. Yes, Megan! Well done, Megan. So if you haven't listened to Megan's episode, have a listen. We're very happy that you're no longer sleeping on those sheets. So, Facebook now. Faye Branwell Wood. And for today's ADHD gem, I get on the train to London, Blackfriars.

Doom scrolling all the way. Get off the train at Blackfriars. Walking down the platform, taking in the surroundings, and something doesn't feel right, and I realise it's because I'm on Platform 5, London, Victoria.  Faye Branwell Woods asked a cafe worker where my cup of tea was while sitting there stirring the tea bag, then walked out of the cafe and down the road, still sipping that tea in their lovely standard white tea mugs. 

Okay, so these next ones are from Discord, so the names will remain anonymous. They're from the community, the patron community. My husband passed me a roll of bags whilst he ripped one off. I overestimated the pull. When he let go, I punched my right boot. Another comedy Bruce to add to this week's selection. 

Made a hot water bottle for horrific period pain. Bless you. Poured water in and went to put the top back on. Confused as it was too big. Had it grown in three minutes to boil a kettle. Spent ages trying to get it to fit whilst holding a hot water bottle. Getting heavier. Then I spotted the lid next to the kettle.

What was I holding in my hand? The plug for the sink.  Next one is, uh, left my handbag in the work cafeteria for four hours yesterday and thankfully didn't notice until I was about to leave. Luckily I worked with some trustworthy people and someone in my team even said they'd wondered why there was a lonely bag sat there.

Fortunately I was able to retrieve it without having to go and explain to facilities. The same bag last year was left on my desk and I travel home without it. Oh God.  It is now 12 minutes past midnight. All day, I've been trying to remember something important. I was sure I had forgotten something. Just realised that it was ADHD AF Day.

For me, the day is not yet over. And to prove it, here is my Primark blue leopard print jammies, accessorised with blue flashing harness. On my feet are my grey Tesco Leopard Print slippers, a real up class girl. Go on, Han! He's really good. Thank you very much, and thank you so much to everybody who took part in ADHD AF Day, and who listened to and shared the Leopard Print Army specials to raise ADHD awareness in ADHD Awareness Month.

So, thank you so, so much. So, Unfortunately, someone hit my partner's car on Saturday whilst we were in slow moving traffic. I was sat in the passenger seat at the time. The person who hit us tried to drive off and pretend they hadn't noticed.  Much to their surprise, I flung the car door open and chased them down the road until they were forced to stop at a red light while When I politely, as much as I could at the time, confronted them.

I think this is an example of ADHD fight or flight at its best. No risk assessments were had. I must have looked like Forrest Gump running along the path to catch up with this car. My partner was on the phone to his dad and was saying someone's hit my car and ran off after them. I don't know where she's gone. 

Impulsivity for the win. I bet, I bet you didn't even know that was coming either. Yeah. Put the lid of the coffee jar into my coffee. Instead of back on the jar,  then ate all the red and purple skittles waiting for my wife's notice.  I slept in today, turned all my alarms off. I was dreaming of painting someone as a raccoon. 

The fire under my arse this morning was real. I don't think I've got ready that quickly in a long time. Oh God, yeah. Who did you paint? Can you do it in real life? I poured boiling water in my smoothie bottle instead of the mug from my tea this morning. This isn't the first time I've done this. Wilted spinach isn't the same as, isn't the same in a smoothie.

Oh god. Okay, so now we have got First runner up. The first runner up is Abby Gibbs from Instagram. Lock my front door. Then for some reason I put the keys in the letterbox. 

It's like you've thought, do you know what, I'm gonna, I'm gonna set myself a crystal maze challenge today, unconsciously, and there you go, deal with that. Thanks for having me. Bye.  Okay, the second runner up, Discord just, oh sorry. Sorry,  second runner up. Just arrived at school. I'm wearing my dungarees backwards.

Wow.  Oh, I love it. I mean, they must have been tied around the waist. Who knows? But I love it. Well done community member. We love it. Brilliant. But  The winner  is the wonderful James Brown from ADHD Adult UK and the ADHD Adults podcast who said, I trod in two separate piles of dog shit,  one for each foot within 30 seconds of each other and didn't notice.

That's brilliant. It's horrible, but it's brilliant. That's the worst thing to stand in, isn't it? I think it's nothing. Two, one after another. I then didn't notice. So I said that there would be some big announcements, so I want to share those now and then we'll come back to our most ADHD things because I have got an absolute corker to end on.

Okay. So I just want to say these few bits first. Yeah. Okay. So first and foremost,  we are starting a fundraiser for ADHD AF Plus charity tomorrow. So that is Thursday the 28th of November and it's going to run until the 28th of February. The reason why it's running that long is because those are the dark months of the year.

So this is a fundraiser which not only supports the charity, it also supports the community. Yeah. So last winter it was so incredibly apparent. How many of us were really struggling with SAD? Now, SAD is commonly occurring with ADHDers at 30%, I believe. And also, it's been suggested or researched denotes that it's, it's women.

that suffer from it predominantly ADHD women. So having witnessed this firsthand, well, for two years now in the online peer support community, I wanted to think of something to best support us in these winter months. One of the main things that can be helpful for SAD is movement. But as I said, we're sat here in bed.

Yeah. Literally as soon as winter hits, all I want to do is hibernate or go to sleep. Until spring sit on my ass, especially with Christmas coming up and in the immediate that can feel so comforting But what I know firsthand is that as the days and weeks and bloody months because i'm time blind af roll by Next thing, you know, I haven't left the house for a month I'm, literally completely depressed Even more so than I would be we need even if there's very little daylight We need some we need to move even if we can't go outside.

This is why i've come up with this You Team fundraiser. This is for absolutely everybody. This isn't just for the online peer support community members. If you are listening to this, it is for you. You can share it with your family. You can share it with your place of work. Anyone and everyone is very welcome to join our team.

It is the more the merrier. Because so many of us are already up against it with PMDD, endometriosis, already got depression, anxiety, all of the co occurring conditions that we already battle on the daily. Now we're going to add SAD on top. And at a time when so many of us are on waiting lists for an indefinite amount of time without support and others.

Like myself are struggling with medication shortages. So really we are up against it all of us this winter and we need each other now more than ever. And at the same time joining this team fundraiser will mean that you are helping get ADHD AF plus charity up and running. So the idea is just like on the podcast, we track our glimmers. 

We are translating. Movement into glimmers. I'll share a link because I'll be rabbiting on too long if I try and explain it all bit by bit, but it's like all the ones, like over a million glimmers and we get those by a minute's movement or however many steps. Translates to however many, but I'm not going to go into it because it sounds more complicated than it is, and it's all spelled out.

All you have to do is follow the link and join the team. So you set up your own page on JustGiving, you follow the link, you join the team, and then we get cracking. So it is a team effort, and I've been working with some community members, Tracy, Ruth, and a few others, Kim, Nicole, talking about how this can work for those of us that struggle so much with routines.

So we need the accountability, but we also need it to not be too rigid, that anybody feels pressured. And we need to accept that some of us are going to struggle some days. So luckily, we've come up with this plan that's kind of, it's motivating, and it's also loose enough that if we have a bad day, week, or even month, we're not going to feel behind.

Because it's a collective team effort. Yeah. So we're all looking after each other. So I'm really excited about it. The page is called ADHD winter warriors outshine SAD to illuminate ADHD AF plus charity. So the aim is that we're going to support each other over the winter. And in turn, that will get the charity out into the community by spring.

So it works all the way across the All genders welcome, all neurotypes welcome, you do not have to be a community member, and I'd just love you to get on board and or to sponsor, so please do check that out. Yeah. Because it starts tomorrow and the beauty is with it being a team effort you can join at any point.

You can even join The last day of February, if you wanted to, but I'd love you to get on board right away, because as much as I more than anybody just wants to fester in my pits, I need to get moving. So let's, let's help each other get moving. And that can look like anything. It's not a race. It can be steps.

It can be a kitchen disco. It can be some stretching. It's  whatever movement feels right to you. This isn't about being strenuous or burning calories or anything ridiculous like that. It is just about movement for mental health because we all need the support basically. So please check that out.  Link in blurb.

So that's one of the things I've got to tell you. The other thing I've got to tell you about is I am putting on an event at this wonderful hotel. So Fernie House Hotel is on Blackpool Promenade.  It is the coolest hotel probably in the world. So we have moved into this hotel because we are still in transit for our move to Spain. 

And as we are moving house, it isn't possible for me to do a Christmas tour this year, but it is still so important to me to try and bring people together as a community, to connect with other ADHDers when so many of us Not only struggle with the SAD, but also find Christmas a challenging time. It can be very triggering to us.

I explained this in great depth last Christmas. So the solution that I found is that I'm putting on a social. So rather than a show, I'm putting on a little gathering at Fernie House Hotel, which by the way, has the best Christmas trees. There are disco balls everywhere. It is incredible here. So if you happen to be anywhere near Blackpool on Sunday, the 15th of.

December, then come along. It starts at three, it ends at eight. The tickets are free, but we just ask for a donation on arrival. And if there are enough of us that get together, then it means we'll do a raffle and all of the raffle money and all of the entry money will all go directly to the charity. So if you don't already know about the charity, although it is a separate entity from the podcast entirely.

The podcast and community inspired ADHD AF plus charity, which is to connect and empower ADHD adults of marginalized genders. If you are in or anywhere near Blackpool on that day, please come down and let's get together. Support each other this Christmas, have a mince pie around the tree and a few giggles and a raffle and raise some funds for the charity.

So link in bio for those very limited tickets, there are not many to go, um, and I really hope to see you there for some festive fun. Big will be there too, he'll be manning the bar. On top of that, I have been invited to go along and hang out with some more ADHD legends  this coming week. So on Monday, the 7th of  I'm going to be helping Sarah Templeton of ADHD Liberty charity with her charity auction.

It's a Christmas event in sunny High Wycombe, as she calls it. It better be sunny. So if you happen to be anywhere near,  Sunny High Wycombe on Monday the 2nd of December 7 p. m. I will also put a link in the blurb to that and then  on Wednesday the 4th of December, I'm going to be at Sessions Session  So Pat Sessions is the editor of this podcast.

He edits the interview episodes And he has a Milton Keynes ADHD adult support group. And I'm going along to his Christmas one, which is on Wednesday the 4th in Milton Keynes. And that requires an RSVP. And I will be reading meetup goers, most ADHD things at the event. And I'm really looking forward to seeing you all.

And then on Thursday, the 5th of December, myself and my partner in ADHDF Emporium, Steph of all the discos, we are hosting an ADHDF Emporium store at the Cattle Yard in Norfolk. So this really cool venue, it's music, shopping and festive food, Thursday the 5th of December, 5pm till 10pm, so we will be there with jingle bells on. 

So very excited. Festive. Hi Wiccam. Hi Waccom. Hi Wiccom. Hi Wiccom. Hi Wiccom. on Monday, Milton Keynes on Wednesday, Norfolk on Thursday, and then on the 15th here in Blackpool at the Fernie. So those are my Christmas plans. If any of those work for you, I would love you to come along and connect at what can be, well, what I always find a really bloody challenging time of year.

It is, yeah. And on top of that,  the day before my event here at the Fernie, the girls are putting on another event called the Style Assembly, and they've asked me to be a model. So I will be walking for Crafty Cloth, amazing fashion brand here in Blackpool, and I think I might be wearing some other stuff as well, and it's going to be incredible.

So the House, House of Wings charity, yep. We are putting on this wonderful event called the Style Assembly here in Blackpool with lots of Blackpool creatives to showcase their incredible work. Really wonderfully put together event and I'm so excited to be part of it. So, a bit of modelling, why not? Why not?

And then next day, next day, be joined by the wonderful Nicole Nadler, Kim Pierpoint, Jill Charlton, and Lou O'Connell is coming along. So, big event. What is the most ADHD thing you've done this week? I, um, decided I needed to go for a walk the other day. So I left the hotel, the tide was out, so I walked down to the beach.

Thought, oh, that's nice, I'll go as far as the Pleasure Beach, got to there. I thought I'd just go a little bit further, carried on past the airport, got to some sand dunes, went further from there as well. Kind of lost track of what I was doing, uh, picked up some shells. And then got to this little old pier, which was quite far away, I think.

Got to the pier, walked up, walked into the cafe. 'cause I was hungry. It was past lunchtime by then and said, um, yeah, like this please, and nat and a cup of tea. And um, also, can you tell me where I am please?  , because I didn't know where I was. And the girl that behind the cat looked at me and said, you're in St.

Anne's, live them St. Ann's. And I said, oh, right. That's quite far away, isn't it? She said, why? Where have you come from? I said, central Pier Blackpool. Pretty much. Wow. That's, yeah. And then I realized I'd walked. about five miles really and then had to walk back  so um yeah that was my most ADHD thing i walked well nearly 10 miles you know just felt like running just felt like running  i already know what the most adhd thing you've done this month was it was in a visa the cover artwork it is from the halloween party at pike's hotel that we attended Which is incredible, and the photo is by Hattie Photography, so thank you very much to Hattie for capturing that and letting us use it for the artwork for this episode, go on, tell your story.

Uh, I went to Spikes for Halloween, dressed as Hattie. Miss Piggy. Miss Piggy and Kermit. Or Miss Biggy and Kermit. Miss Biggy and Kermit. I was Miss Piggy. Had the best time.  Got to quite late and I was very tired so I said, you know what, I'm gonna head off, sit in the taxi queue. I obviously stayed. Laura stayed. 

Laura stayed behind. I got in the taxi queue. Which was huge. Which was huge. Because and there were no taxis coming really and I waited in the queue with some mates for quite a long time, probably 40 minutes or something. And then got halfway halfway towards the taxi bit and the old impulse kicked in and I went sod this I'm walking home Um, so I took my dress off which was very sparkly and luckily I had a t shirt spare So I you know with her so I put a t shirt on And shorts underneath.

And shorts underneath. So it was, yeah, so I wasn't willing to poo in it. Um, I had my converse. I said, right, see ya. And a friend in the, in the queue was like, you've waited this long and now you're going to walk home. I said, yeah, I'm going home. And where it is very dark, quite far away, but I said sod it. So I wrapped my sparkly sequin dress around my neck, like a high vis.

Safety. Superhero. Superhero. Um, and then sort of walked down the street. kind of little country lane. It's a Camino in the campo. There's no street lights or nothing. So I was walking along, um, and I mean, it's not the most, the most ADHD thing was that I just decided I was going to. But then I fell down a hole. 

Luckily, luckily kept my footing and didn't sort of end up in this field. When I saw it the next day, it wasn't the biggest hole, but I would have definitely gone. In the pitch black. Yeah, I would have gone arse over tit. Um, so I managed to keep my footing anyway and, um, made it home safely, um, in pretty good time.

Yeah, you did. Pretty good time. Yeah, you did. And I'm fortunate that we weren't already doing the fundraiser then, because that would have stacked up some serious glimmers. That would have stacked up some, a lot of glimmers. Oh, especially, and the Lydham St. Anne wall. And the Lydham St. Anne wall. So thank you for joining the team, because we've got it with you, haven't we?

Yeah, I'm going to smash those glimmers. Just switch off my brain for half an hour. I'll end up somewhere stupid. Um, but yes, so that's mine. And what is your most ADHD thing this week? and this month. Okay, well this week is definitely Discord. So I'm simplifying Discord. Oh yeah. It has been exactly two years on the 22nd of this month that we've had the Discord server.

So there's loads and loads, well two years worth, of conversations and it dawned on me that  all of the information you have to scroll to find it. So at one point I go into one of the channels That I've downloaded, that I've got all of the information from to go through it, to put it in a coherent thing and I start to get deja vu, which isn't uncommon for me.

No. Like, I've been here before, hang on a minute, what's going on? And, uh, yeah, despite doubting myself at every turn as standard, eventually realized I'd definitely already done that one.  Only to discover that I'd actually started the task a few days prior. Yeah. On a different Google Drive. Yeah. And had already done two and a half.

Channels and completely fucking forgotten. So like The task was hard enough without doubling up. Yeah. And I have to sweep up all times. But yeah, for anybody who finds my disorganization and scantiness frustrating, I promise you nobody finds it more frustrating than I do. Because it literally took forever.

Anyway, I've got some real corkers for you for the rest of October. So firstly, I'm very excited that community legend Lou O'Connell, who I just discovered is  MBE because it says so on their amazing book, Lou O'Connell. Has published, You Are Not Your ADHD, The Women's Guide to Hacking Your ADHD Brain So You Can Work With It Rather Than Fight Against It.

And I am overjoyed to have been quoted in it! So it says on page 73, Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, RSD, Is when someone feels extremely hurt or upset by even small signs of rejection or criticism. In the words of Laura Mears Reynolds from the ADHD AF podcast, RSD is just really shit daydreams. Don't believe everything you think.

So thank you very much, Lou. And funnily enough, I got sent this when I needed to hear my own advice. So thank you very much. So that's amazing and congrats to Lou. And Lou will be joining us at the Fernie event on the 15th of December. I'm going to make her read, do a little reading. Do it. Do it. Yes. Just before we went to Bitha, Day and I got myself in a right old state because I literally scheduled, interviewed, recorded.

Edited, did the artwork, and promotion for all of that miniseries myself. So I was basically burnt out. So by the time I put out the, the call in, like, It's ADHD F Day! Let's go!  I was an emotional wreck. So as the messages were coming in, I just spent the whole day either worrying that nobody wanted to be on board or so grateful to everyone that was on board.

And I was just an absolute mess. So that number one, then when we got on holiday, I accidentally locked us in a room. Oh yeah.  Um, and then when we left that hotel, we went to do a little hike. Not in any way strenuous at all. And I immediately fell over and grazed both of my knees. You did, yeah. Yeah. You tripped up quite a lot that day, didn't you?

Yeah, I did. Off the meds. Because I was rationing my meds because of the shortages. That's it, yeah, yeah. And I didn't, and I took for granted how much they helped me. So I just walked along, Uncautiously, which I've now got used to doing, but without medication, just fell ass over to it and grazed both my knees.

So had lovely, lovely grazed knees for the whole holiday. And then, uh, when we were leaving at the airport, I distractedly mistook a silver bin for for one of those Dyson hand dryers that you put your hands  in. So I basically put my hands in a bin. Yeah. But the best one, and I'm actually giving myself the prize for best most ADHD thing for this episode, is when I was recording the Leopard Print Army special ADHD Awareness Month interviews, one particular community member was so organized that she sent me a link, and then she sent me the audio from it.

But, I'm very forgetful, so what happened was, I just went back through my list, which is already saved in my computer, to do all of the editing and add all of the bits, you see where this is going. Yep. So, Lizzie, my sincere apologies for missing out your statement for ADHD Awareness Month in the ADHD Awareness Month mini series, so, I leave you with Lizzie, take it away!

My name's Lizzie. I'm from Birmingham. I'm 32 and I was diagnosed about a year ago. I've just started medication. ADHD Awareness Month this year, the message that awareness is key is really important. I think it's more than that really. Awareness creates compassion for people with ADHD. Awareness. is an awareness of yourself, perhaps if you've been late diagnosed, and you suddenly realize that all of these things, um, that didn't quite make sense about yourself for such a long time, suddenly make sense, be able to be compassionate to themselves.

Um, to be able to understand what they find difficult, why they find it difficult, where they can work with those things, and perhaps where their limits are, so that they don't burn out, so that they don't people please themselves into oblivion, so that they don't lose their complete sense of identity. For people who love and support people with ADHD, you, if you work with someone, or you live with someone, who  They're, you know, they're late all the time and it seems really inconsiderate to you, or they just talk over you all the time.

It could be a myriad of things. Um, it presents differently in everybody.  Having that awareness to think maybe there is something.  Under the surface, maybe there is more to this, um, reaction. Um, perhaps if someone talks over you constantly and you find that really irritating, you think that they must not care about what you have to say.

Think a little bit deeper about how that person thinks that they are communicating with you. Maybe they're just sharing their enthusiasm. Maybe they're just really excited. Um, and what you've said has sparked something. In them that has just, you know, um, kind of exploded in enthusiasm, which means they probably don't actually realize that they're talking over you or that they're being rude, that actually they're just showing you that they found something that you've said really meaningful.

I think it can be the hardest thing to be able to stand up and say, I have this difference.  I have these struggles, but I think there's definitely a massive amount of power in it as well. Going out into the world, um, specifically work, I took a decision to just be very, very open and very, very bold about it.

And it was very much, I think, off the back of ADHD. To just be open about it, to say in incidental conversation, um, you know, to not like, Almost have like a coming out thing, you know, where I'd build it up and how to present to someone, but I just throw it into conversation and then whatever the reaction was, that was.

Not down to me anymore. I actually announced it, um, at my last interview. It was terrifying. I was like, I've never felt so exposed in my life, but it was one of the most transformative things I've done. I think because in doing that, it gave the thing less weight. It gave the thing less.  I've definitely also seen the effects on other people.

I've had conversations with colleagues that I know, seeking support for things, friends that are doing the same as well. So awareness is compassion. Visibility is power.