NEURO-DIVERSITY Wednesday

Classic Intelligence, Executive Functioning, Emotional Regulation & envirnomental Stress

11/7/2025

Val's Take/Conjecture

I don't think China sees it as its mission to prop up the egos of people with "Bipolar Disorder"
- But researchers in China found that there was a genetic overlap between bipolar disorder and intelligence.

And in fact, "some kind of intelligence above the norm" is not uncommon among people with Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders.

Most Neuro-Diverse people have put ENORMOUS ENERGY into MASKING EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING CHALLENGES.

By ADULTHOOD, you're often like Lucy at the Chocolate Factory and the Conveyor Belt is running way too fast.
But you still have some kind of above average intelligence even if it is being obscured by more obvious Executive Functioning Challenges.

Lucy & Ethel at the Chocolate Factory with the Boss from Hell

Meningeal lymphatics-microglia axis regulates synaptic physiology (2025)

[What gets dysregulated IN UTERO due to Maternal Immune Activation? --- MICROGLIA.]

What Is Masking?
Paige Layle (2021)

Almost the first 2 minutes is a deodorant ad.

At 4:00, Paige talks about feeling like an Alien and that if anyone finds out --- they will kill her.

I think that can mean a lot of different things.

The irony is that many Neuro-Diverse folks are often the ones insisting on RULES.

On the other hand, it becomes apparent our own Executive Functioning Challenges are going to break the rules.

There are a lot of Neuro-Diverse Folks who will talk about being so different in their behaviors.

It seems to me that it is the EMOTIONAL INTENSITY that we experience that is "ATYPICAL" --- not necessarily the act of people watching, or being hurt by rejection or feeling grief.

When you talk about SYNAPSE NUMBER and Neuro-Diversity --- it is confusing.

There is research out there that kids with autism have more synapses.
There is research out there that adults with autism have fewer synapses.

There's research that isn't necessarily addressing "synapse number" but "atypical synapse formation or pruning."

For a lot of Neuro-Diverse people in their Middle Decades, they are not perceiving that they have changed as much as the demands of the environment have gotten greater and the challenges they always had are more obvious.

For me personally there has been ENORMOUS ANXIETY, FEAR and EVEN TERROR with regard to these seeming DISCONNECTS among:

My Intelligence
My Processing Speed, and
My Executive Functioning

Although for most of my life, I didn't have a vocabulary or sufficient understanding to articulate those issues.

When we talk about CHRONIC ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS and Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders, Chronic Disease and Neuro-Degenerative Disorders---

These Challenges and Perceived Incongruities among intelligence, processing speed and executive functioning are much more of a factor than we have historically realized.

Neurodevelopmental and Neurodegenerative Illnesses: Autism, Fragile X Syndrome, Parkinson's Disease, and Dementia (2022)

Editorial: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health

In psychiatry, we work to help patients overcome their symptoms and disabilities at very different stages of their lives, from early childhood to adolescence into adulthood and old age.

The papers in this issue of the Journal are focused on illnesses that present at the two ends of the age spectrum, infancy and old age.

The papers involving neurodegenerative disorders have important clinical implications for our readership providing evidence supporting the optimal treatment of behavioral disturbances and psychotic symptoms in patients with dementia and PD [Parkinson's Disease] .

The papers on ASD and fragile X syndrome characterize patterns of aberrant neural development, bringing to our awareness the possibility of identifying early-life neural risk markers for these illnesses, as well as treatment strategies instituted prior to the onset of significant symptoms that could target alterations in aberrant neurodevelopmental processes.

Orion Kelly on 4 Sub-Types of Autism; Taylor Heaton on High IQ & Autism

11/5/2025

Taylor Heaton makes the point that we're only using a small part of our brains. The experience of poorly pruned synapses turns out to be a BIG ENERGY COST.

You don't have to be using that much more of your brain than someone who is neurotypical --- before that is a BIG STRAIN on the body.

Thomas Kuhn made the point that when paradigms shift --- it seems as if the whole world shifts.

A lot of our ideas about INTELLIGENCE are pretty far off the mark.

Understanding distinctions between CLASSIC INTELLIGENCE, EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING and EMOTIONAL REGULATION implicate not only psychology but also cellular and molecular biology.

Some of us got SMOKED OUT --- without realizing what was happening.

Intelligence as a Symptom

High IQ and Psycho-Neuro-Immunology

Orion Kelly
That Autistic Guy
4 Subtypes of Autism (2025)

Mom on the Spectrum
Does High IQ Mask Autism?
(2023)

Crooked Trees & Precision Neuro-Immunology

10/6/2025

Val's Take: The "Crooked Trees" out there are NOT anxious to lose their special intelligences, talents and/or abilities.

This has come up already in the context of MEDICATION. People have been presented with many difficult choices. Mental Health Professionals have gotten BETTER at acknowledging the challenges of medication, and some of the medications have improved.

We're in the process of a MAJOR PARADIGM SHIFT regarding Neuro-Developmental, Psychiatric and related Addiction Disorders.

Ironically, RESEARCHERS around the World have significantly different understandings of Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders than CLINICIANS or the PUBLIC.

Precision Neuro-Immunology

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Crooked Tree

Austin Lounge Lizards
The Shallow End of the Gene Pool

Suffering

9/26/2025

Val's Take: Suffering is built into life. Helen Keller said that life was full of suffering but also full of the overcoming of it.

There are plenty of complicated problems previous generations didn't resolve, even as they did resolve some extremely difficult problems.

When we're talking about extreme physical and/or affective pain --- that pretty quickly becomes the issue. We wouldn't say --- why don't you go through major surgery without anesthesia and grow through your pain.

Additionally, something like Glutamate Excitotoxicity is associated with both chronic physical pain and affective, emotional pain.

Modulation of Glutamate for Chronic Pain Management (2022)

Doobie Brothers
Toulouse Street

When we're struggling, it can feel like Toulouse Street:

I'm walkin' in shadows, I cannot see
Faces, they smile when I fall or flee
Doors without windows all shuttered tight again

I just might pass this way again

Locked in a room down in New Orleans

Arthur Brooks
Don't Waste Suffering

HealthyGAmerGG on Relationships

9/24/2025

HealthyGamerGG
ADHD and Relationships

Val Take: This is Dr. K with YouTube's wildly popular HealthyGamerGG.

There is a lot here. One of the things that he suggests for addressing relationship issues is an OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST. I've made that suggestion myself with regard to employment issues and issues in general.

I think there is a HUGE MARKET for OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS and COACHES to address Executive Functioning Issues in NEURO-DIVERSITY. My observation is occupational therapists are in short supply, and coaches may be more accessible.

Talk therapy can have an important role in addressing Neuro-Diversity --- but we really need to get to pragmatic work-arounds and accommodations that occupational therapists and coaches will generally be better equipped to address.

"TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES"

"Totality of the Circumstances" is a legal concept.
Most Neuro-Diverse people need to address Neuro-Diversity in both their work and personal lives.
A recent study came out finding that couples have similar psychological disorders.
I think the same can be true for work as well.
BUT PEOPLE ARE NOT CLONES.
Part of this is recognizing that you need work-arounds and accommodations.
The other part is recognizing that others need work-arounds and accommodations.
I don't think Neuro-Diversity is that uncommon, especially when you look at what may cause it --- something like MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION.

Spouses tend to share psychiatric disorders,
massive study finds (Aug. 2025)

Analysis of almost 15 million people shows the trend increases with each decade, across cultures and generations.

Translational Love, Relationships & Neuro-Diversity Saturdday

Demand Avoidance and questioning psychological frameworks

9/12/2025

Val's Take: So I'm pairing Orion Kelly talking about Demand Avoidance with mental health advocate Steven Morgan --- on the questions we still have about Mental Health --- and how the person is not necessarily thinking the way we may assume.

I absolutely think Demand Avoidance is a thing having worked with a lot of attorneys and activists and dated Neuro-Diverse Men and having been married to one for over 20 years --- OMG I believe in Demand Avoidance.

Having said that, I can think of my own behavior that people may have thought was some kind of Demand Avoidance --- but actually involved:

Brain Energy issues,
Complex (Slower) Processing,
Emotional Regulation issues due to anxiety that were ramping up,
Etc.

Orion Kelly
Demand Avoidance

Steven Morgan
Soteria Vermont
People aren't always thinking what you think

Sensory processing differences across psychiatric Phenotypes ---- and Employment

8/24/2025

Val's Take/Conjecture

The "SPECIAL ABILITIES" of neuro-diverse people often involve differences in SENSORY PROCESSING.

In the Tech Sector, there's been recruitment of some neuro-diverse people who had extraordinary technical skills.

Just as not every neuro-diverse person is going to be able to win a fortune at the casinos

See Rain Man & Ricky Gervais
Not every neuro-diverse person is a technical genius, a musical virtuoso, or a gifted visual artist --- but some are.

TRY SMARTER, NOT HARDER

One of the defining characteristics of maternal immune activation is ANXIETY in "offspring."

That plays itself out in many different ways depending on sex, other biological factors, the environment, etc.

Additionally, for animals ----UNPREDICTABLE CHRONIC STRESS can be profoundly damaging.

For many neuro-diverse people, jobs are BURNING THEM OUT repeatedly.

They'll need to find a position better structured for them personally or create something themselves.

We ignore those SENSORY PROCESSING DIFFERENCES at our peril --- BUT

Most of us didn't know we had sensory processing differences, and
Neither did anyone else.

What we did know is that we had some STRENGTHS and we were much fuzzier on what our true weaknesses were ----

Although many of us did try to address those weaknesses --
generally by WORKING HARDER, NOT SMARTER
In a sea of half-understandings, this can be catastrophic.

Strength-based approach

Sensory Processing Difficulties in Psychiatric Disorders (2022)

*Researchers from The Netherlands

Highlights

Many individuals with psychiatric disorders report difficulties in sensory processing.

This meta-analysis examined sensory processing patterns in psychiatric conditions.

We detected a general pattern of sensory processing difficulties in psychopathology.

Sensory processing difficulties are considered to be a transdiagnostic phenotype.

Further research may improve long-term prognosis and treatment in psychiatry.

Employment is a critical mental health intervention (2020)

Strategies to Manage Mental Illness at Work (2020)

WHAT ARE MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES & WHY?

Executive Functioning
Including EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION
As a result of MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, among other things.

19th Century Painters, Imaging Dragons and "I'm gonna say all the words inside my head"

Taylor Swift --- "Soon You'll get better"

8/22/2025

Val's Take: To me, this is a profoundly relatable song to many people in my life..

I want to talk about this in terms of Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders and the FEAR and Challenges of Family Members.

I've been on both the giving end and receiving end of ---"you'll get better soon --- because you have to."

When that doesn't happen, or it doesn't happen in the way people want --- there's a lot of DENIAL-- that can be on the part of family members, the person, and professionals.

More and more, we're getting much more accurate appreciations of problems in brain energy, executive functioning, etc., better understandings and better treatments.

Taylor Swift
Soon You'll Get Better

For many people with Neuro-Developmental or Psychiatric Disorders, once a crisis is resolved, and maybe the person is "better" ---- there is often not an appreciation that there are on-going issues that are not well-addressed under older paradigms.

Neuro-Diversity and "Vice"

8/20/2025

Neuro-immunology as it relates to pain and emotional disorders

"Pain," Sensory Overload, Legal & Illegal Substances and Health Nuts who are not always living longer

Adhd, Autism, Sensory Neurons, Pain and an Intense World

Pain in ADHD & Autism

Miranda Lambert
Vice

Rob Thomas -- Humor & Honesty

8/19/2025

Val's Take: Rob Thomas threads a needle when addressing mental health issues with both humor and honesty. There's an optimism to Thomas' songs even if he's not smiling.

Rob Thomas
Hard to be Happy (2025)

with Matchbox Twenty
Unwell (2002)

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