The Neurodivergent Lens

Why can you do in two hours at 11:37pm the night before a deadline, what you couldn’t start for two weeks? If that question lands a little too close to home, this episode is for you.
In this solo reflection, host Meryem Hassan explores ADHD and our relationship with time through two ancient Greek ideas: Chronos - clock time, the time we measure and organise our lives around - and Kairos - the opportune moment, the point at which something finally becomes possible enough to act on. It’s a storytelling lens, not a scientific model, and a genuinely different way to think about time blindness, procrastination, and the gap between knowing you need to start and actually being able to.
Together we explore why a deadline can be real on Monday yet weightless until Thursday night; procrastination when you genuinely care about the outcome; how practical struggles with time quietly become stories about our character (“late = unreliable,” “not started = lazy”); why shame is a poor timekeeper; and a strengths-based, self-compassionate toolkit - visible timers, bringing the future closer, body doubling, starting rituals, and “episodic future thinking.”
A note for the parents, partners, teachers, employers and professionals listening too: this one offers a gentler, more useful way to read behaviour that’s easy to mistake for intention.
Where does time disappear for you? What helps something become your moment of action? Tell us in the comments, or get in touch through The Neurodivergent Lens.
A NOTE ON THIS EPISODE
This episode uses Chronos and Kairos as a storytelling metaphor, not a scientific model of ADHD. Where research is referenced, it is for general understanding — always speak to a qualified professional about your own circumstances.
FREE GUIDE
Download our free guide, Myths & Misconceptions: Understanding Neurodivergence — covering autism, ADHD and dyslexia — at https://dyscourse.org
ABOUT THE SHOW
The Neurodivergent Lens is a video podcast exploring neurodivergence through conversations with lived and professional experience. Brought to you by Dyscourse — changing minds and empowering differences around neurodivergence.
Website: https://dyscourse.org/podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.neurodivergent.lens
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dyscourse/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNeurodivergentLens/
Produced, filmed, edited and scored by Sue McMillan — Strumhum Creatives.
This content is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.
Free Guide
Download our free guide, Myths & Misconceptions: Understanding Neurodivergence - covering autism, ADHD and dyslexia at https://dyscourse.org
Watch, Listen & Connect
Watch & Subscribe on YouTube: @TheNeurodivergentLensPodcast
Website: https://dyscourse.org/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4wVeWmS
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Vzy9a6fLbo3YnmNUuiM43
Download our free PDF guide on Myths & Misconceptions: https://dyscourse.org/ (above footer)
Follow:
Instagram: @the.neurodivergent.lens
LinkedIn: Dyscourse
Facebook: TheNeurodivergentLens
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional support. Please seek qualified guidance where needed.

She was diagnosed with ADHD at 16 in the US, thought she'd grown out of it, then diagnosed again in her 20s after the pandemic pulled the routine out from under her. In this episode, former GB tag rugby player and Tag Rugby World Cup bronze medallist Sophia Prout joins Meryem to talk about masking, rejection sensitivity dysphoria and the "shame spirals," and the striking contrast between the coaching environment that made her question everything and the one where she thrived and medalled.
Sophia is business manager at Neurodiverse Sport and co-founder of Women in Tag Rugby, which she helped set up. She and Meryem also get into burnout warning signs, the under-researched link between hormones and ADHD, and what a traits-based approach to inclusion in sport actually looks like.
What This Episode Covers
Sophia's ADHD diagnosis, twice over, in two different countries
Why so many women and girls are missed or misdiagnosed
The exact coaching differences between the team where she struggled and the team where she won bronze
Rejection sensitivity dysphoria and managing the internal critical voice
Founding Women in Tag Rugby, from see-through World Cup kit to real change in shorts sizing
Recognising burnout before it hits, and giving yourself permission to rest
Her advice to her younger self
Guest: Sophia Prout
Sophia Prout is Business Manager at Neurodiverse Sport and a former international tag rugby player who represented Great Britain from 2019 to 2024, winning bronze at the 2023 Tag Rugby World Cup. Drawing on 15 years in science communication and her lived experience of ADHD, Sophia advocates for greater understanding and support-particularly for women. She is also passionate about making sport more equitable and inclusive and co-founded Women in Tag Rugby to amplify underrepresented voices in the sport.
Timestamps
0:00 – Diagnosed Twice, Two Countries 
4:07 – Masking and Speaking Up 
6:49 – GB Coaching Gap 
19:19 – Rejection Sensitivity and Self-Talk 
27:05 – The See-Through Shorts Story
35:56 – Hyperfocus, Pressure and Authenticity
45:45 – Recognising the Burnout Cycle 
52:20 – Neurodiverse Sport and Advice 
About The Neurodivergent Lens
A video podcast exploring neurodivergence through conversations with lived and professional experience. Brought to you by Dyscourse - changing minds and empowering differences around neurodivergence: https://dyscourse.org
Free Guide
Download our free guide, Myths & Misconceptions: Understanding Neurodivergence - covering autism, ADHD and dyslexia at https://dyscourse.org
Watch, Listen & Connect
Watch & Subscribe on YouTube: @TheNeurodivergentLensPodcast
Website: https://dyscourse.org/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4wVeWmS
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Vzy9a6fLbo3YnmNUuiM43
Download our free PDF guide on Myths & Misconceptions: https://dyscourse.org/ (above footer)
Follow:
Instagram: @the.neurodivergent.lens
LinkedIn: Dyscourse
Facebook: TheNeurodivergentLens
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional support. Please seek qualified guidance where needed.

"Think differently means at Holmewood we think differently - because we're neurodivergent." That's how one of her own students corrected Bridget Young on what her school's tagline actually means.
Bridget is Head Teacher of The Holmewood School, London - a specialist school built around neurodivergent young people - and has spent more than 20 years in education. Host Meryem Hassan sits down with her for a wide-ranging conversation that moves from double empathy and masking in the classroom, through the realities parents face getting a place, to the emotional intelligence work Bridget believes should be taught in every school.
🔎 What This Episode Covers
Twenty years in education and how Bridget found her calling by accident; her own ADHD diagnosis and why she's chosen not to make it "her thing"; what really sets an independent specialist school apart, including double empathy, masking and rejection sensitivity dysphoria; the 30/70 gender split at Holmewood and how masking shows up differently in girls; body doubling, co-regulation and wellbeing-first behaviour support; the reality of tribunals and the fight parents go through for a place; preparing neurodivergent young people for work, and the unpublished Milburn Review's NEET statistics; emotional intelligence as a teachable skill, alexithymia, and learning to name her own anxiety; a show-and-tell of the sensory tools she's designed, and what her school's "Think Differently" tagline actually means; reframing the "spiky profile" and protecting strengths instead of just fixing weaknesses; and her advice to her younger self.
👤 Guest: Bridget Young
Head Teacher of The Holmewood School, London, with more than 20 years in education. Bridget holds a degree in education, the National Professional Qualification for Headship, the National Award for SEN Coordination, and a Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching, and her thinking today sits at the crossroads of neurodivergent leadership, coaching and emotional intelligence. Bridget is neurodivergent.
⏱ Timestamps
00:00 Meet Bridget Young 
05:44 Inside Holmewood School 
16:15 A Day at Holmewood 
25:22 Supporting Parents & Families 
30:02 Preparing Students for Work 
36:35 A Success Story 
39:47 Teaching Emotional Intelligence 
48:40 Sensory Tools & Think Differently 
57:22 Strengths & Final Advice

📌 About The Neurodivergent Lens
A video podcast exploring neurodivergence through conversations with lived and professional experience. Brought to you by Dyscourse - changing minds and empowering differences around neurodivergence: https://dyscourse.org
🧠 Keywords
Neurodivergent school | Autism school London | Independent SEN school | Holmewood School | Bridget Young | Double empathy | Body doubling | Executive functioning | Emotional intelligence | Alexithymia | Spiky profile | NEET | Milburn Review | Rejection sensitivity dysphoria | Neurodiversity | ADHD | Autism | Dyslexia | Meryem Hassan | Neurodivergent lived experience
👏🏻 Special Thanks: 
Sue McMillan - Strumhum Creatives (filming, production, editing, music), Bridget Young (guest)
Free Guide
Download our free guide, Myths & Misconceptions: Understanding Neurodivergence - covering autism, ADHD and dyslexia at https://dyscourse.org
Watch, Listen & Connect
Watch & Subscribe on YouTube: @TheNeurodivergentLensPodcast
Website: https://dyscourse.org/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4wVeWmS
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Vzy9a6fLbo3YnmNUuiM43
Download our free PDF guide on Myths & Misconceptions: https://dyscourse.org/ (above footer)
Follow:
Instagram: @the.neurodivergent.lens
LinkedIn: Dyscourse
Facebook: TheNeurodivergentLens
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional support. Please seek qualified guidance where needed.

"I was told I just didn't read enough." For years, that was the explanation for Dr Rohini Sabherwal's struggles at school. It wasn't until she was 37 - mid-way through a Master's, and already a practising GP - that a chance moment revealed the truth: she's dyslexic.
Host Meryem Hassan sits down with Rohini for a warm, honest and genuinely illuminating conversation about growing up undiagnosed, the "lightbulb moment" that changed everything, and what her dual perspective - as a dyslexic person and a doctor - reveals about how neurodivergence is understood, missed, and better supported.
Together they explore growing up dyslexic and undiagnosed in 90s Northern Ireland; the childhood "careless mistakes" she still carries; being diagnosed at 37, and the grief, relief and vindication that followed; how dyslexia really shows up beyond the myths; the strengths it brings, from pattern recognition to thinking in pictures; the stigma that still surrounds neurodivergence in healthcare; the surge in late diagnosis and the divide behind who gets assessed; how women in particular have been misdiagnosed; teaching the next generation of doctors; self-care; and her advice to her younger self.
A warm, strengths-based listen for anyone who's ever wondered, felt missed, or is still finding the words for their own story.
GUEST: Dr Rohini Sabherwal
A dedicated East London GP with immigrant roots and a passion for advancing women's health and equitable care. She's also a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Community-Based Medical Education at Queen Mary University of London, helping to shape the doctors of tomorrow. Rohini is dyslexic.
A NOTE ON THIS EPISODE
This is a warm, informative conversation. Where medication is discussed, it is for general information only - please always speak to your GP or a qualified professional about your own circumstances, rather than relying on anything heard here or on social media.
FREE GUIDE
Download our free guide, Myths & Misconceptions: Understanding Neurodivergence - covering autism, ADHD and dyslexia - at https://dyscourse.org
ABOUT THE SHOW
The Neurodivergent Lens is a video podcast exploring neurodivergence through conversations with lived and professional experience. Brought to you by Dyscourse - changing minds and empowering differences around neurodivergence.
Special thanks: Sue McMillan, Strumhum Creatives (production, editing, music); Hannah Taylor, The Lens Box (filming, photography); and our guest, Dr Rohini Sabherwal.
Free Guide
Download our free guide, Myths & Misconceptions: Understanding Neurodivergence - covering autism, ADHD and dyslexia at https://dyscourse.org
Watch, Listen & Connect
Watch & Subscribe on YouTube: @TheNeurodivergentLensPodcast
Website: https://dyscourse.org/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4wVeWmS
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Vzy9a6fLbo3YnmNUuiM43
Download our free PDF guide on Myths & Misconceptions: https://dyscourse.org/ (above footer)
Follow:
Instagram: @the.neurodivergent.lens
LinkedIn: Dyscourse
Facebook: TheNeurodivergentLens
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional support. Please seek qualified guidance where needed.

⚠️ CONTENT NOTE: This episode includes open discussion of suicide, bereavement by suicide, mental health crisis and hospitalisation. Please take care while listening - pause or skip if you need to. Support resources are listed below.
Jon Salmon kept his mental health experience hidden for almost 20 years - but the shame he felt about being dyslexic was even harder to talk about. Host Meryem Hassan is joined by award-winning Executive Producer Jon Salmon to explore dyslexia, late diagnosis, masking, grief, recovery, and what becomes possible when we remove shame and stigma from the conversation.
🔎 What This Episode Covers
A late dyslexia diagnosis and the "I must be thick" years; masking as survival at school; how education still fails neurodivergent children; losing his father to suicide at 17; "man up" culture and buried emotions; being sectioned early in his career; shame and stigma as the barrier to asking for help; speaking publicly for the first time through Heads Together; diverse teams and showing up as your true self at work; the "dyslexic thinking as a superpower" debate; and Listen Out, his new project using music to signpost people to support.
👤 Guest: Jon Salmon
Award-winning Executive Producer, Co-Founder of social impact agency Byte Entertainment, and Co-CEO of lived experience community Speakers Collective. Dyslexic, Jon has built his career by thinking differently - 25+ years leading digital and creative projects across entertainment, health, sport, government and the charity sector, from the first Reading Festival livestreams and the launch of BFI Player to NHS England's Opening Doors suicide prevention resources. Trustee of Let's Talk About Loss.
Find Jon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcsalmon | https://www.instagram.com/j0nsalmon | https://www.twitter.com/jonsalmon | https://www.tiktok.com/@jonsalmon 
https://www.byteentertainment.com | https://www.speakerscollective.org | 
https://www.jon-salmon.com | https://www.letstalkaboutloss.org
⏱ Timestamps
00:00 Introduction & welcome
00:57 Early school years & dyslexia 
01:19 A late diagnosis - "thinking you're thick" 
04:06 Masking and hiding in the classroom 
05:00 "Man up" - boys don't cry 
07:27 Exclusion & the pre-prescribed mould 
09:34 Jon's father - decline and loss 
10:16 Losing his dad at 17 
10:54 Stigma around how he died 
12:05 Internalising & heightened sensory response 
14:29 1999, AOL & the dot-com boom 
15:51 From work to hospital - being sectioned 
17:11 A year off work & the road to recovery 
17:51 Shame, stigma & fear of judgement 
19:45 Getting through - the role of friends 
20:52 Asking the question - suicide prevention 
22:28 Men, internalising & safe environments 
24:27 The mental health campaign 
26:06 Losing a friend to postnatal depression 
27:16 Heads Together - a watershed moment 
28:50 Sharing his story for the first time 
30:39 Diverse teams & different neurostyles 
31:52 Showing up as your true self at work 
32:42 Is "dyslexic thinking" a superpower? 
35:04 Listen Out - Jon's new project 
38:10 Finding help & support pathways 
40:00 Closing thoughts
💜 SUPPORT & RESOURCES
If anything in this episode affects you, please reach out. You don't have to be in crisis to ask for help.
Listen Out: https://www.byteentertainment.com/listen-out 
Hub of Hope — the UK's largest mental health directory: https://hubofhope.co.uk Samaritans — call 116 123, free, any time: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/ 
Shout — text SHOUT to 85258: https://crisistextline.uk
🌍 These services are UK-based. If you are outside the UK, please seek support local to you — findahelpline.com lists free, confidential support in over 100 countries.
📌 About The Neurodivergent Lens
A video podcast exploring neurodivergence through conversations with lived and professional experience. Brought to you by Dyscourse - empowering neurodivergent individuals and organisations: https://dyscourse.org
🧠 Keywords
Dyslexia and stigma | Men's mental health | Mental health stigma | Dyslexic thinking | Late diagnosis | Neurodivergent masking | Shame and neurodivergence | Suicide prevention | Heads Together | Made By Dyslexia | Neurodiversity at work | Jon Salmon | Lived experience
👏🏻 Special Thanks: 
Sue McMillan - Strumhum Creatives (production, filming, editing, music), Jon Salmon (guest)
Free Guide
Download our free guide, Myths & Misconceptions: Understanding Neurodivergence - covering autism, ADHD and dyslexia at https://dyscourse.org
Watch, Listen & Connect
Watch & Subscribe on YouTube: @TheNeurodivergentLensPodcast
Website: https://dyscourse.org/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4wVeWmS
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Vzy9a6fLbo3YnmNUuiM43
Download our free PDF guide on Myths & Misconceptions: https://dyscourse.org/ (above footer)
Follow:
Instagram: @the.neurodivergent.lens
LinkedIn: Dyscourse
Facebook: TheNeurodivergentLens
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional support. Please seek qualified guidance where needed.