About Jodee Simpson
I have a few things up my sleeve right now.
Late diagnosed AuDHD, I am passionate about advocating for my peers, especially in the workplace. I co-founded a national peer support group in 2022 for Neurodivergent Speech and Language Therapists after a diagnosis of PTSD, which completely changed my life.
PTSD has made life very challenging. The stigma and shame around mental health is very real. I felt different and was treated differently by others. I started to understand what it feels like to be marginalised, including from well-meaning people who think they are helping by telling you to find ways to hide your mental health at work. I saw how uncomfortable it makes people feel.
That’s why I started to write poetry. It started with affirmations of “I am enough” and “I am not ashamed of having mental health and autistic needs”. Others need to stop treating me as if I am never going to be enough. It’s true, though.
I don’t know that I will ever truly recover from PTSD. I am trying to find a different way of living now that accepts me as I am and does not judge or shame me for something beyond my control that was not my fault. It’s not easy. Stigma shames for being different and my experience of that is motivating me to fight, defend and protect my people.
Late diagnosed AuDHD, I am passionate about advocating for my peers, especially in the workplace. I co-founded a national peer support group in 2022 for Neurodivergent Speech and Language Therapists after a diagnosis of PTSD, which completely changed my life.
PTSD has made life very challenging. The stigma and shame around mental health is very real. I felt different and was treated differently by others. I started to understand what it feels like to be marginalised, including from well-meaning people who think they are helping by telling you to find ways to hide your mental health at work. I saw how uncomfortable it makes people feel.
That’s why I started to write poetry. It started with affirmations of “I am enough” and “I am not ashamed of having mental health and autistic needs”. Others need to stop treating me as if I am never going to be enough. It’s true, though.
I don’t know that I will ever truly recover from PTSD. I am trying to find a different way of living now that accepts me as I am and does not judge or shame me for something beyond my control that was not my fault. It’s not easy. Stigma shames for being different and my experience of that is motivating me to fight, defend and protect my people.
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