This episode is for anyone who knows (or WANTS to know!) what it's like when your brain just works differently than everyone else's.

More info, resources & ways to connect - https://www.tacosfallapart.com/podcast-live-show/podcast-guests/trashladd

Emmett (TrashLadd) is 17 and from Canada. He graduated high school this year and knows what it's like to navigate school with ADHD and Asperger's. He got his ADHD diagnosis in third grade and his Asperger's diagnosis in seventh grade. That second diagnosis helped explain a lot about how he acted at school and at home.

Before his ADHD diagnosis Emmett couldn't focus in class. He was always moving around and couldn't sit still. His parents took him to see a specialist who tested him and started him on a path to getting the accommodations he needed. After being diagnosed he got extra time on tests, access to an iPad for notes and scribes when he needed them. Most importantly he started to understand the real struggles people face when living with mental disabilities.

The ADHD symptoms Emmett deals with daily include major anxiety and constantly jumping between tasks. He describes being very much in the now, losing track of time completely. He'll get home from school, start playing Xbox with friends and suddenly realize hours have passed. To combat this he sets tons of timers on his phone and tries to stick to schedules even though it's hard.

The Asperger's shows up differently. When something goes wrong or doesn't happen the normal way, Emmett starts to panic. If he can't find his book or phone or charger he feels that wrongness immediately. His solution is keeping things visible. As his mom put it, out of sight means out of mind. His room might look messy to others but everything is in places where he knows he can find it.

Emmett originally planned to go into coding after high school but realized he hated it. During a co-op placement at an elementary school he discovered he loved helping kids in the classroom. Now he wants to become a developmental service worker. He knows what it's like to struggle with learning and memory. He wants to use those experiences to advocate for kids going through the same thing and help them get what they need to succeed.

His advice for other young adults struggling with mental health is straightforward. Find something that motivates you. For him it's talking with friends every morning and asking how they slept. Get into a routine and stick with it until something new happens. Join random Discord servers and make new friends. Find people you can count on.

Emmett is big on calling out people who self-diagnose or compare mental illnesses like they're all the same. Just because someone has anxiety once doesn't mean they understand what it's like for someone who has it way worse. He wants people to inform themselves, learn what's actually going on and figure out how they can help. And if someone doesn't want help then leave them alone.

The biggest takeaway from talking with Emmett is that living with ADHD and Asperger's means constantly adapting. It means finding systems that work even if they look weird to other people. It means having friends who have your back. And it means being willing to reach out for help when you need it.