Divergent Menopause (previously The Autistic Perimenopause)

This episode is a real-time check-in from autistic burnout, recorded from bed under a weighted blanket. Sam shares: Early warning signs of burnout (pain, posture collapse, sensory overwhelm, urinary urgency) How menopause, hormones, burnout, autism and ADHD overlap Why burnout can feel cyclical and retraumatising The grief of losing your “high-functioning” self Why doing less is not failure How in...

In this episode, I’m relaunching The Divergent Menopause Q&A: a community-driven series sharing real lived experiences of neurodivergent menopause. This is an open invitation to contribute your story. We talk about: Why neurodivergent menopause is so underrepresented The risks of silence and lack of support The importance of lived experience alongside research What to expect if you take part If yo...

There is a common menopause-related condition that can cause tearing, burning, recurrent urinary tract infections(UTIs), loss of sexual function and many other symptoms. And it does not improve with time. Yet most people have never heard of it. Even our doctors! If you’ve ever been told it’s “just thrush,” “just dryness,” or “just part of getting older”, then this is for you. Hello and welcome to...

If you’ve ever felt like your brain stopped working in neurodivergent midlife, this discussion may explain why. Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause , previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression. I am Sam Galloway (she/her) , an autistic ADHDer (AuDHDer), and I have recently had a hysterectomy. As a neurodivergent perimenopause and PMDD survivor, I offer peer support...

Episode Title Why So Many Women Don’t Know Their Own Anatomy Episode Description In this conversation, Sam Galloway from Divergent Menopause speaks with Amber Horrox , creator of Warrior Within , about body literacy, menstrual shame and the long shadow of medical misogyny. Many women grow up knowing the names of internal reproductive organs — uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes — yet struggle to name...

The recent debate sparked by autism researcher Uta Frith has exposed a growing divide between traditional autism research and autistic lived experience. As more adults identify as autistic and the autism spectrum continues to expand, an increasingly urgent question emerges: Who gets to define autism? Researchers? Clinicians? Or autistic people ourselves? Read the full article on Substack: Divergen...

Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause with Sam Galloway. Today I'm going to read to you the quadruple empathy problem. Autism, ADHD, menopause, and why we are still the ones expected to adapt. Empathy. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of empathy is the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person's situation...

For anyone who’s ever silently lost their s**t at doctors, hormones, or Ken: this is your AuDHD Barbie, finally done pretending. Originally titled. "Introducing AuDHD Barbie". Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause , previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression. I am Sam Galloway (she/her), an autistic ADHDer, and I have recently had a hysterectomy. As a neurodivergent...

Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause , previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression. I’m Sam Galloway (she/her) and I am an AuDHD woman four months into surgical menopause (hysterectomy and oopherectomy). If you are interested about why I needed the surgery, you can read more here . Thanks for joining me on this wild midlife ride! 🎢 Thank you to everyone who tuned in...

Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause , previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression. I’m Sam Galloway (she/her) and I am an AuDHD woman four months into surgical menopause (hysterectomy and oopherectomy). If you are interested about why I needed the surgery, you can read more here . Thanks for joining me on this wild midlife ride! 🎢 Hello and Happy New Year to you! A...

Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause , previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression. I am Sam Galloway (she/her), an autistic ADHDer, and I have recently had a hysterectomy. As a neurodivergent perimenopause and PMDD survivor, I offer peer support and share knowledge on how to make it through the hard times. Thanks for joining me on this wild midlife ride! 🎢 I am del...

Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause , previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression. I am Sam Galloway (she/her), an autistic ADHDer, and I have recently had a hysterectomy. As a neurodivergent perimenopause and PMDD survivor, I offer peer support and share knowledge on how to make it through the hard times. Thanks for joining me on this wild midlife ride! 🎢 I am del...

Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause , previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression. I am Sam Galloway (she/her), an autistic ADHDer, and I have recently had a hysterectomy. As a neurodivergent perimenopause and PMDD survivor, I offer peer support and share knowledge on how to make it through the hard times. Thanks for joining me on this wild midlife ride! 🎢 “Care fo...

Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause , previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression. I’m Sam Galloway (she/her) and I am an AuDHD woman ten weeks into surgical menopause (hysterectomy). If you are interested about why I needed the surgery, you can read more here . Thanks for joining me on this wild midlife ride! 🎢 October was World ADHD Awareness Month and World Meno...

I am delighted to be joined by Allegra Chapman (she/her) from Creative Fix ! Together Allegra and I have created this four part mini series on the importance of creativity during the menopause transition and beyond. 1) What creativity is and why it matters, 2) How to fit it in around needs and what activities work for different needs 3) Special interests and “accidental” creativity and stuff that’...

Content warning: Discussion of suicidal ideation. Themes 💕 Hormonal literacy | Mental health | Neurodivergent self-advocacy | Medical gaslighting | Access inequality | Post-surgical recovery | PMDD symptom improvement “When I try to raise awareness — what IAPMD does — their mission is awareness and education. And I think that’s really where any woman or uterus owner should begin: with knowing. I...

Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause , previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression. I am Sam Galloway (she/her) and I am an AuDHD woman seven weeks into surgical menopause (hysterectomy). If you are interested, you can read more on why I needed the surgery here . Thanks for joining me on this wild midlife ride! 🎢 October 18th marks the annual event that is World Men...

Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause , previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression. I am Sam Galloway (she/her) and I am an AuDHD woman four weeks into surgical menopause (hysterectomy). If you are interested, there is more on why I needed the surgery here . Thanks for joining me on this wild midlife ride! 🎢 Hi All, Welcome to the final video of the mini series with...

Hi Team Auti Peri, Welcome to the third video in the series with Amanda Hanna from SomaPsych. In this episode we explore how to: * identify our individual patterns of current or recurrent pain flares * be present at times of reduced pain or “good moments” * encourage the nervous system to imprint soothing and regulating patterns in our bodies. How does the nervous system get to know what is painfu...

📣 Great news! The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression has been renamed Divergent Menopause . Yay!! 💕 It’s less of a mouthful, for sure. Only the name has changed, it is still me - Sam Galloway (she/her) and my faithful ragdoll cats Harry and Toby - steering the good ship Divergent Menopause . TL;DR Why “Divergent”? Inclusivity. Why “Menopause”? Verb, not noun. To cover the entire meno...

Hello to you, Welcome to the second part of this four part video series with Amanda Hanna from SomaPsych . You can watch Part 1 here . In the first video we discussed techniques to use in the margins of our day to regulate our nervous systems and feel rested This time we focus on sleep, which can be so elusive to neurodivergent people in times of hormonal flux. Let’s face it, sleep can be hard for...

Hi Team Auti Peri! Well, here it is! The first part of four in this series on nervous system regulation, yay! I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the lovely Amanda Hanna of SomaPsych for sharing her time and expertise with our community. At SomaPsych, we empower resilience and transformation through trauma-informed care and somatic practices - from individual restoration to c...

Dear Team Auti Peri, Thanks for being here, your presence means the world to me! Contents summary * Why I am taking August off * Things you might like to do to contribute at The Autistic Perimenopause * Exciting plans for September on nervous system regulation in neurodivergent hormonal flux with sneak preview! * Recap of the Autism Adapted Suicide Safety Plan with links to the Newcastle Universit...

Hi, I’m Sam Galloway and I have been writing from the nuanced and complex intersection of neurodivergence and menopause for over a year now at The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression . I am so glad you are here! Content warning: ectopic pregnancy, abortion, miscarriage, blood, surgery, chronic pain. Every week I forged a sick note for my high school physical education (PE) teacher that...

How has this happened? Birthing two big babies vaginally over a decade ago has finally backfired on me. It’s been a slow burn, with bumps along the path that have led me to a diagnosis of mixed urinary incontinence. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise because I experienced extreme fecal urgency shortly after having my first son. He was born weighing a mighty 9lbs 6oz, and required an episi...