General Discussion

Hi, I’m Ryan. I found Squirrel Space through a job post on LinkedIn and now here I am.

Like many of you, I’m neurodivergent. I was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age. For a long time, I treated it like something I had to "deal with" or "manage." That mindset stuck with me for years.

In my late 20s, I started therapy to work through some relational stuff and past trauma. That’s a whole other story, but what I didn’t realize at the time was how connected everything was. That kicked off a period of serious self-discovery, and I quickly realized that my neurodivergence isn’t a weakness. It’s a superpower.

My brain doesn’t work like everyone else’s, and thank God for that. Remember that scene in the first Iron Man where Tony’s building the suit? Jarvis projects a giant hologram, and Tony’s grabbing parts, tossing others, making connections as he goes. That’s how my brain works. Whether it’s a system, a tech stack, or a messy interpersonal issue, I can see it all at once and make sense of it.

That’s helped me succeed in my career and in my relationships. My wife and I have been married for 20 years and have four boys—18, 17, 15, and 11 - - who are all on the spectrum. I’m so thankful I did the work to understand myself because it’s helped me show up for them in the right way.

Thank you, @Emily Kapszukiewicz for building space like this. So many people don’t know where to start, get diagnosed later in life, or never get the resources they need. Being part of a community that shares my kind of wackiness feels like a deep breath I didn’t know I needed.

Happy to be here. Let’s make some magic.