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.

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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
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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

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Download our free PDF guide on Myths & Misconceptions: https://dyscourse.org/ (above footer)

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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 – Team 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.