Divergent Paths

About Divergent Paths

Neurodivergent Strategies for Late-Diagnosed Adults is the podcast for people with ADHD, autism, and other late-diagnosed neurodivergent adults ready to unmask, heal from burnout, and build a life that works with their brain, not against it. Hosted by Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D., this show offers real talk and practical strategies for navigating executive dysfunction, rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD), perfectionism, emotional regulation, masking, PDA, and more. Each episode explores how unspoken expectations, internalized ableism, and cultural myths about productivity keep neurodivergent people stuck and what we can do to shift the narrative. Whether you’re newly diagnosed, self-discovered, or still figuring it out, you’ll find insight, compassion, and tools to help you find your divergent path. Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes (https://drreginaphd.myflodesk.com/nerd-notes)! Book a Free Discovery Call with Regina (https://drreginaphd.myflodesk.com/clarity-call) About the Host: Dr. Regina McMenomy Ph.D. (she/her) is a neurodivergent coach, educator, and host of the Divergent Paths podcast. With a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and over 20 years of experience in higher education and instructional design, she blends academic depth with lived neurodivergent insight. Regina was diagnosed later in life and like many of her clients, spent decades masking, overworking, and wondering why burnout always came back. Now she helps late-diagnosed people with ADHD and autism unmask safely, rebuild their self-trust, and embrace rest as a radical act of self-support. The Divergent Paths podcast offers empowering conversations, practical tools, and hard-won wisdom for those ready to live more authentically. You’ll often find her talking about nervous system regulation, perfectionism, emotional honesty and, occasionally, oatmeal.

Publisher

Regina McMenomy, PhD.

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Sept 2024

Latest episode

16 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

88 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Oct 2026

   ADHD, Autism and Rumination: When their words say "I'm fine" but their face says they aren't

   Someone tells you something you said didn’t bother them but their face said something different. Days later, maybe years later, you’re still replaying that moment, trying to figure it out. That isn’t you being too sensitive. It’s your brain trying to close a loop that never got closed. In this episode, Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D. explores why late-diagnosed and late-identified neurodivergent adults experience more moments of misattunement and why so many of them become moments we can't let go. High-resolution perception, the double empathy problem, and masking all raise the odds of a miss. Many of us also never learned repair growing up, so those moments stay open. The goal isn’t to stop noticing. It’s to build relationships, including the one with yourself, where missteps get resolved instead of replayed. Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes (https://drreginaphd.myflodesk.com/nerd-notes) and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights! Chat with Regina on Instagram @drreginaphd (https://www.instagram.com/drreginaphd/) Book a Make it Make Sense Call (https://drreginaphd.myflodesk.com/clarity-call) with Regina About Dr. Regina McMenomy, PhD Regina is a neurodivergent coach and educator who helps late-diagnosed adults unmask, heal from burnout, and build lives aligned with how their brains work. She founded Divergent Paths Consulting (https://www.divergentpathsconsulting.com/) to provide the type of coaching and support that late-diagnosed nerdy neurodivergent folks need after receiving their late diagnoses.

2. 

   9 Oct 2026

   Neurodivergent Late Diagnosis, Masking & Generational Trauma: Being Loved Versus Being Known

   What happens when everyone in a family is masking, and nobody knows it? Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D. and Russ explore how late diagnosis reveals patterns of behavior that run through generations. Neurodivergence is highly heritable, so when you look to your family to figure out what’s “normal,” you may be comparing yourself to people who are masking the same traits. Children learn to mask by watching the adults around them and attachment built between two masks is compromised from the start. This episode covers how masking gets passed down, why gender expectations kept so many women from being diagnosed, how fawning and contingent love take root, and why loving someone isn’t the same as seeing them. It also makes clear that this is not about blaming parents. Most were doing their best without the understanding to do otherwise. Most importantly, it’s about cycle breaking: what repair looks like, how small shifts change what the next generation inherits, and why understanding your neurotype is part of that work. Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes (https://drreginaphd.myflodesk.com/nerd-notes) and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights! Chat with Regina on Instagram @drreginaphd (https://www.instagram.com/drreginaphd/) Book a Make it Make Sense Call (https://drreginaphd.myflodesk.com/clarity-call) with Regina About Dr. Regina McMenomy, PhD Regina is a neurodivergent coach and educator who helps late-diagnosed adults unmask, heal from burnout, and build lives aligned with how their brains work. She founded Divergent Paths Consulting (https://www.divergentpathsconsulting.com/) to provide the type of coaching and support that late-diagnosed nerdy neurodivergent folks need after receiving their late diagnoses.

3. 

   2 Oct 2026

   Neurodivergent Unmasking: Why You Can Still Feel Lonely in Good Relationships

   You can be loved, cared for, and in a relationship that functions well... and still feel like no one quite gets you. If that sounds familiar, masking may be part of the reason. Attunement means being perceived accurately and responded to in real time. It is the "you get me" feeling that builds safety and belonging. But attunement only works when there is a genuine signal to tune into. When you have spent years presenting a masked version of yourself, the people around you are attuning to the performance. Their care is real. It is just aimed at someone who isn't fully you. In this episode, Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D. explores how masking disrupts attunement in both directions, why near-misses can hurt more than obvious rejection, and how you can start resyncing your relationships without burning everything down. The client story shared in this episode was shared with permission. Sign up for N.E.R.D. Notes (https://drreginaphd.myflodesk.com/nerd-notes) and get weekly nerdy neurodivergent insights! Chat with Regina on Instagram @drreginaphd (https://www.instagram.com/drreginaphd/) Book a Make it Make Sense Call (https://drreginaphd.myflodesk.com/clarity-call) with Regina About Dr. Regina McMenomy, PhD Regina is a neurodivergent coach and educator who helps late-diagnosed adults unmask, heal from burnout, and build lives aligned with how their brains work. She founded Divergent Paths Consulting (https://www.divergentpathsconsulting.com/) to provide the type of coaching and support that late-diagnosed nerdy neurodivergent folks need after receiving their late diagnoses.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

19 ratings

Spotify

4.4 / 5

36 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 20 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

27

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

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