In this episode I sit down with April Ratchford, occupational therapist and host of Adulting with Autism, a podcast reaching millions of downloads worldwide. April got into OT to become her son's advocate, discovered her own autism along the way, and has spent years since helping neurodivergent adults navigate the parts of adulthood nobody prepared them for.

We talk about autistic burnout severe enough to land April on a ventilator, the exhausting reality of masking for women and men alike, why real self-care rarely looks like a bubble bath, and how perimenopause is finally uncovering diagnoses in women who've been masking their whole lives without knowing it.

April's biggest lesson: you can't pour from an empty cup. Take care of you first. You don't owe anyone anything, and it's okay to just be you.

Connect with April a ...