Welcome to this episode of NeurospicED, Eating Disorders Neurodiversity Australia’s (EDNA) podcast.

Our 15th Episode features Alex (he/him) and Maud is the host.

Alex, is cis-gender man and late-diagnosed AuDHDer. He shares his experiences of growing up not knowing he was neurodivergent, and how he started to believe that to be accepted and valued by his peers he had to change his body size and shape.

He reflects on the intersection between his neurodivergence and eating disorder and how he learned to shift his relationship with exercise from a place of harm to self-care.

He also expands on what was helpful in ED recovery and mental health self-care and wraps up the episode with insightful messages to anyone who identifies as men and experiencing an eating disorder.

We would like to remind you that this episode discusses topics that may be distressing for some. Therefore, we would like to emphasise the importance of accessing support services if required:

- The Butterfly National helpline: 1800 33 4673 (1800 ED HOPE)

- The Beyond Blue helpline: 1300 22 4636

- Call 000 in an emergency

Music extracts: Illenium, Fractures ©

Welcome to this episode of NeurospicED, Eating Disorders Neurodiversity Australia’s (EDNA) podcast.

Our 14th episode features Korey (they/she) and Laurence is the host. Korey is an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) and Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician (CEDC) with a passion for helping people of all shapes, sizes, identities and abilities to develop a healthier relationship with food, their mind and their bodies. They have a special interest working with diverse and intersectional presentations of eating disorders and feeding challenges. Korey draws upon principles of Health At Every Size (HAES®), the Non-Diet Approach, and their lived experiences to guide their practice, with passionate commitment and advocacy for safe, trauma-informed, weight inclusive, identity affirming, and personalised care.

In this episode, Korey expresses the impact of growing up an undiagnosed neurodivergent has had on their self-esteem and overall well being, and how this has in turn affected their eating and body image. Further, Korey explains that their literal thinking, along with social masking, have contributed to developing an eating disorder. Korey also highlights the importance of connecting with fellow members of the community sharing similar lived experience of eating disorders as this has helped them find a sense of acceptance.

If you enjoy listening to our podcast, please donate to help us continue do the work that we are so passionate about: https://www.edneuroaus.com/donate

We would like to remind you that this episode discusses topics that may be distressing for some. Therefore, we would like to emphasise the importance of accessing support services if required:

- The Butterfly National helpline: 1800 33 4673 (1800 ED HOPE)

- The Beyond Blue helpline: 1300 22 4636

- Call 000 in an emergency

Music extracts: Illenium, Fractures ©

Welcome to this episode of NeurospicED, Eating Disorders Neurodiversity Australia’s (EDNA) podcast.

Our 13th episode features Ari Spanos (they/she) and Laurence is the host. Ari is a dietitian and credentialed eating disorder clinician who focuses on empowering their clients through gender and neurodiversity-affirming as well as non-diet practices. They are also passionate about promoting social justice within eating disorder care, through person-centred approaches rather than one size fits all frameworks.

In this episode, Ari shares their experience of growing up an undiagnosed autistic ADHDer, and how this has impacted on their sense of self and eating patterns. They mention that masking (also referred to as camouflaging) has been part of their eating disorder development, to avoid being discriminated against and rejected. Ari also discusses how being queer and gender non-binary has influenced their body image. They emphasize the importance for neurodivergent people struggling with eating disorders to connect with the neurodivergent community as this has been a very important aspect of their eating disorder recovery because it provided feelings of validation and acceptance.

If you enjoy listening to our podcast, please donate to help us continue do the work that we are so passionate about: https://www.edneuroaus.com/donate

We would like to remind you that this episode discusses topics that may be distressing for some. Therefore, we would like to emphasise the importance of accessing support services if required:

- The Butterfly National helpline: 1800 33 4673 (1800 ED HOPE)

- The Beyond Blue helpline: 1300 22 4636

- Call 000 in an emergency

Music extracts: Illenium, Fractures ©