The Mind Place

02/16/2026

We are excited to have Shannon join The Mind Place, who brings a wealth neurodiversity and mental health knowledge and experience! They provide individual counselling services under the supervision of a psychologist as they work towards completing their graduate degree program.

02/06/2026

Shannon is completing her practicum hours at The Mind Place where we focus on supporting neurodivergent individuals. Particularly autism and ADHD as well as commonly co-occurring experiences such as giftedness/learning differences. We work with adults and children. Shannon brings a wealth of lived and professional experience. Sessions with grad interns at The Mind Place are pay what you can up to a max of 40 dollars per hour.

03/26/2024

Unmasking and masking is complex.

This post was authored by Tanya Adkin Over the years I've been privileged enough to play a part in the discovery journey of what must be hundreds of Autistic people. One of the questions I am frequently asked about masking is "how do I unmask?", as if there is a more authentic version of themselves

03/26/2024

03/08/2024

03/08/2024

The double empathy problem theory dives into why it can be tough for autistic folks to vibe with non-autistic folks in social settings.

Non-autistic individuals find it challenging to understand or empathize with autistic experiences.

The double empathy problem flips the script—it's not just about autistic people struggling to get non-autistic perspectives, but non-autistic folks finding it tricky to tune into the autistic experience too.

Autism isn't a flaw, it's just a different way our brains work—kinda like being non-autistic isn't a problem either.

03/06/2024

🌈🧠Exciting announcement: I'm now accepting new clients of all ages. I specialize in providing neurodivergent affirming psychological services.

😻🌻Neurodivergence is a broad term encompassing various neurological differences. It describes individuals whose thinking, processing, feeling, and communicating (and so much more) diverges from the dominant social norms.Embracing a neurodivergent perspective recognizes and values these differences as part of the diverse human experience. It emphasizes the importance of understanding and accommodating individuals with unique cognitive styles, preferences, and strengths. 

♾🦋At The Mind Place, the primary focus is on providing support to Autistic and ADHD individuals.

Booking site for neurodivergent psychologist

03/06/2024

Pretty much sums up the neurodivergent rapport building in sessions

03/06/2024

Similar minds = increased social connection

This single-page summary highlights one of the most impactful autism studies I've encountered so far, led by Dr. Catherine Compton and her team, which empirically examines the Double Empathy Hypothesis.

Briefly, the Double Empathy Problem, conceptualized by Dr. Damian Milton, suggests that communication breakdowns between neurotypes are not due to a deficit in theory of mind or empathy on the part of the autistic individual but due to the cross-neurotype interaction.

Contrary to the deficit model—which would predict decreased communication and rapport between two autistic individuals—this hypothesis posits that the key factor influencing communication effectiveness is whether interactions occur within the same neurotype (Autistic-Autistic) or across different neurotypes (mixed neurotype interactions).

To test this, Compton's study formed three sets of pairings: allistic groups, autistic-autistic groups, and mixed neurotype groups. These groups engaged in three semi-structured activities, after which they assessed their sense of connection (rapport).

The results were revealing: allistic groups self-reported the highest levels of rapport, with autistic groups next, and mixed groups reporting the least. However, when 80 observers (40 autistic and 40 non-autistic) reviewed recordings of these interactions, they rated the autistic dyads as having the strongest rapport, followed by allistic dyads, and then mixed neurotype dyads.

These findings support the view that communication issues stem from cultura/neurological differences rather than deficits. This study provides empirical evidence to support the double empathy hypothesis.

You can find the original study here:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.586171/full

I delve into this topic and more in today's blog post, where I present a psychoanalytic framework for understanding autism, mutual recognition, and communication breakdowns. Fair warning, today's exploration marks a significant departure from my usual writing style, venturing into a more academic and philosophical discourse. https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/reframing-autism

03/01/2024