This is my attempt at harnassing my neurodivergent chaos into something that might be helpful for someone else with a spicy brain or a spicy-brained loved one in their life. My mom also said I should write more, so here I am, being vulnerable on the internet.

My name is Arielle and I’ve got too many A’s. I don’t think when my mom named me that she knew she was picking a medical theme for me as well but here we are.

“What are your A’s?” you might be asking. Well, I’m autistic, and I have ADHD, arthritis, anxiety, and asthma. A complete handful of A-ridden ailments.

Navigating chronic illnesses while being neurodivergent (and an adult who has to adult) can be difficult at times and surprisingly humorous at others. I’m by no means an expert but I am armed with special interests and neurodivergent friends with similar special interests and I hope to harness all of that into something relatable and useful for my spicy-brained readers.

Education and Background

As I will talk about medical, neurological, and other science-y things throughout this blog, I do want to explicitly state I do not have any degrees or certifications in those areas. I have a BA in political communications with a focus on public relations from the University of Washington and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies with a focus on Iranian politics from Tel Aviv University.

I also have work experience in academic papers which brings me to a wide variety of topics and research studies. Basically, this has left me with the ability to understand (most) academic papers and summarize them. Absolute toss-up of whether I retain any of the information at all or just random tidbits that pop up unexpectedly.

I love reading, dogs (especially my two dogs), miniature things, plants, puzzles, being social in small spurts, sporadic baking, and cute dinos. I’d say I love arguing but it’s come to my attention recently that arguing is a form of dopamine chasing

Special interests include/have included: Newsies, horses, plants, spontaneous rabbit holes around Middle Eastern affairs, studying nonverbal communication (lol), sporadically trying to finish a book in one day, and talking about neurodivergent things with my neurodivergent friends (or any willing bystander.)

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