The Different-Functional Podcast

Unpacking Normal: Are Neurotypical Behaviors Worth Performing?

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Handshakes. Eye Contact. Small Talk. Hierarchies. There are so many social customs that we’re expected to know and to perform in any given social in...

Reflexive Reactions: Fear on a Fork: Trying New Foods When Your Brain Says "No!"

11 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This time around we’re exploring ARFID. If you’re unfamiliar with this acronym, it stands for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder and while ...

Games for People Like Us: This or That: Coping Skills Edition

25 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Who doesn’t love a good coping skill? If you’re anything like us, you probably have a whole collection of them to choose from at any given time an...

Try This, Maybe: Flirting with Disclaimers: 15 Neurodivergent Pickup Lines Just in Time for Valentine’s Day

11 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

There are plenty of fish in the sea, so they say. That may be true, but the actual sea is full of poisoned fish and, from what we hear, the fish in th...

Coping Case Files: Welcome to the Plateau: Navigating the Flat Lands of the Healing Journey

28 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

If you’re on a healing journey, you know the struggle of the steep and perilous upward climb. If you’ve been on it for a while, you likely also kn...

Pet (& Feral) Theories: Making Friends with My Symptoms: From Self-Criticism to Self-Curiosity

14 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a couple of weeks into the new year, which means many of us are probably starting to feel just the faintest resurgence of those old struggles a...

Reflexive Reactions: Yuletide Beasts: Holiday Folklore and Finding Cheer in Our Own Way

31 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Christmas is over but we’re still technically in Yuletide territory so we decided to do something a little different this year to acknowledge the fe...

Try This, Maybe: Gifts That Won’t End Up In The Doom Pile: The Neurodivergent Gift Guide No One Asked For

17 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Happy Holidays! Shopping for gifts sucks! Unless you’re one of those people who is naturally gifted at knowing exactly what to give as gifts to othe...

Reflexive Reactions: Sick Day! Reactive Reflections on Illness

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ivy is sick! And so is everyone else it seems. It’s that time of year when bugs and viruses and bacteria skulk around and infect the unsuspecting. S...

Games for People Like Us: Finding the Bright Side: A Playful Take on Shifting Perspective

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Things are rough right now, and by right now I mean for so long that it’s getting hard to remember when they weren’t rough. Walking through the wo...

Coping Case Files: Ghosted by Halloween: Where has the Spirit of the Season Gone?

29 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is it just us or has Halloween ghosted everyone this year? Usually this is a holiday loved and looked forward to by dang near everybody, but this year...

Reflexive Reactions: Living by My Cycle: My Experience with Hormone Regulation and Cycle Awareness

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Okay, we’ll admit, this reaction isn’t very reflexive since it took several weeks to come to any conclusions, however, we will say that the outcom...

Games for People Like Us: Taking Off the Mask: A Neurodivergent Tabletop RPG

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you’re an OG listener, you’ll remember a couple of years ago when we played a game we made to encapsulate the neurodivergent social experience....

Try This Maybe: Reality Checks: Cognitive Tools to Break the Spiral

17 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you ever feel like you get trapped in your own thoughts, spiraling out into negative rumination and worries about the future? If you do, then you k...

Pet (& Feral) Theories: Too Tired to Relax: Why Rest is Exhausting

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why, oh why, is it so hard to rest?! We know we need rest and relaxation and sleep and all of that good stuff, so why can’t we just do it? It sounds...

Coping Case Files: Mindfulness: Does It Suck or Am I Just Doing It Wrong?

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mindfulness is one of those pop psychology suggestions we’re often recommended for stress relief, and while its benefits are also historically well-...

Reflexive Reactions: Stayin' Alive: When Pollyanna and Spite Just Aren't Enough

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’re starting back up after our hiatus on a more serious note, so we’ll give you the trigger warning that this episode contains discussion of sui...

Updated Trailer

03 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A lot has changed since we first started the podcast so we figured it was time to reintroduce ourselves.

Announcement

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's time for a candid talk about where the podcast has been and where it's headed. While we're still holding true to our core values and goals we are...

Too Bright, Too Loud, Too Much: A Neurodivergent Tour of the 5 Senses

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Join us for a romp and a rant through the five senses and explore with us all of the various ways we can become overloaded by our sensory experience o...

The Movement Mindset: Choosing Fitness Activities That Fit You

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How often do you hear that “exercise is important”, and that you should “get more active” or “work on your relationship with movement”? If...

Connected, Not Consumed: 8 Tips for Digital Detox

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Spring is here for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and as the weather starts to warm up it becomes uncomfortably obvious just how extra depend...

Pet (& Feral) Theories: Autism

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a lot of talk right now about autism. Unfortunately, we’re seeing a resurgence of people pathologizing the autistic experience and reinfor...

Futile or Functional: ADHD Life Hacks

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’re back again with another installment of Futile or Functional, where we explore the usefulness of the internet’s suggestions for our mental he...

The Serenity Prayer: Acceptance vs Change

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve all heard some iteration of the serenity prayer, but what does that actually look like? What does it mean to accept the things you can’t cha...

Sounds of Strength: 90s Songs That Helped Us Cope

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The times are tumultuous and uncertain and, let’s be honest, it’s not exactly bringing out the best in most people. So, let’s take a stroll down...

Self-Care Soundtrack: Modern Melodies for Mental Wellness

12 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Music is such a powerful tool for emotional processing and personal expression; and with how crazy the world seems to have been in recent years, music...

ADHD Tourist: Post-Concussive Syndrome Taught Me About ADHD

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to visit the mind of someone with ADHD? Well, now you can! But we don’t recommend actually doing it bec...

The Game of Love: Rants, Rambles, and Random Thoughts on Valentine's Day

12 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do you feel about Valentine’s Day? Personally, we don’t love it, but we also don’t hate it. What we do hate is that the current state of the...

Unraveling Fashion: Neurodivergence and the Struggle for Comfort and Style

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are you a fashionista? Us too! Not really. We lied. We’re not even good at faking it, but we’re trying. Is fashion supposed to be so hard? What ar...

Focus on Your Feet: Finding Strength to Move Forward

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’re starting to settle into 2025 but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ve left the hardships of 2024 behind us (or the previous years for ...

Winging It: The Truth About Adulting

01 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Here we are, yet again, at the start of another year. If you’re anything like us, 2024 must have put you through the wringer too. We’re ready to p...

Gift Giving 101: Gift Giving Tips for Neurodivergent People

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

'Tis the season for gift-giving, but for many neurodivergent individuals, the holidays can bring more stress than joy. From choosing the right gift to...

Futile or Functional?: Gratitude Journal Prompts

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Thanksgiving is sneaking up on us again here in the USA, and there’s just so much to be thankful for this time of year! Or is there? That’s the qu...

Fall Craft-Along: Using Crafts and Community to Improve Mental Wellness

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This time of year is the perfect opportunity for crafting, creativity, and community! Even if you don’t think you’re “that kind of person” you...

Befriending the Boogeyman: How Halloween Teaches Us to Embrace Our Fears

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s spooky season! How are you going to spend your Halloween? Over here, we’ll be having a nice big group hug with the boogeyman and all his frie...

Rising From the Ashes-Part 2: Rebuilding When Everything Has Fallen Apart

09 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What do you do when it all falls apart? Well, you rise from the ashes like a phoenix, of course. Yes, but how? What does that look like and how do you...

Rising From the Ashes: Transitioning from Surviving to Thriving

25 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What do you do when it all falls apart? Well, you rise from the ashes like a phoenix, of course. Yes, but how? What does that look like and how do you...

The Horrors Persist: Does Managing Mental Health Ever Get Easier?

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We would say that things have been rough lately but let’s be honest, for many of us it’s not just been “lately”.  If you’re a regular l...

Patreon Gold: Exclusive Clips Compilation

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Heeeey! So the bad news is that we don’t have a new episode because Ivy is moving. The good news is that we still have an episode for you, a compila...

Hard to Love?: Neurodivergent Traits and Long-Term Relationships

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve got something a little special for you guys this time, since Ivy is still living that couch surfing life for now and won’t have a recording ...

Unseen Influence: Discovering Our Positive Impact

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most of us have wondered at one time or another what impact we have on the lives of other people and what legacy we’ll be leaving behind. All too of...

Navigating Elimination Diets - Part 2: Meat & Gluten

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It seems like over the last several years a lot of us have been experimenting with elimination diets as a way to treat everything from hormone imbalan...

Navigating Elimination Diets: Part 1 - Sugar and Dairy

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It seems like over the last several years a lot of us have been experimenting with elimination diets as a way to treat everything from hormone imbalan...

Reel Inspirations: Using Pop Culture to Embrace Change

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Maybe life is always in flux but it sure feels as though this year has brought with it even more changes than usual. If you feel like your life has be...

Beneath the Mask: 12 Questions for Your Unmasking Journey

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

To a certain degree we all go through life wearing a mask, or a series of masks that we change out based on the social situation we find ourselves in,...

Symptoms of Health: Recognizing Signs of Healing and Growth

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When we think of our mental health, we tend to immediately start making a list of everything that is wrong; and we fall into that habit so easily beca...

Running on Fumes: Tips and Tricks for Tackling Burnout and Refueling Your Tank

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The march of time never stops, the demands on our personal time never seem to wane, and there’s always more than enough stress to go around. The tru...

Bloopers & Blushes: Neurodiversity in the Bedroom

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

S-E-X is almost always a taboo topic of discussion, perhaps especially among neurotypicals and “civilized society”. For those of us who are neurod...

The Duality of Neurodivergence: Recognizing Our Challenges & Embracing Our Strengths

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Like many other things in life, neurodivergence is a bit of a double-edged sword. Some of our neurodivergent traits are so impressive that they almost...

Neurodivergent Vocabulary: An Exploration of Clinical and Community Terminology

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Increasingly more of us are being diagnosed with some form of neurodivergence and/or are accidentally stumbling upon an unexpected sense of kinship am...

The Stress Test: Are Popular Coping Mechanisms Helpful for Neurodivergents?

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How’s everyone feeling out there? Not gonna lie, 2024 has started off as a very stressful year for us. We have our tried-and-true coping mechanisms ...

Mostly Unmasked: A Curiously Candid Conversation Compilation

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing the podcast now for a little over two years and if you’ve been listening for awhile you’d probably think you know us pretty wel...

Dating Differently: Exploring the Awkwardness of Neurodivergent Dating

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Happy Valentine’s Day! Do ya’ll celebrate this holiday? To be honest, we don’t really celebrate it much ourselves. There’s too much pressure t...

Hurt People, Hurt People: How to Stop Paying Trauma Forward

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’d like to believe that all trauma and abuse survivors are purely sympathetic characters who would never inflict the kind of pain they’ve been t...

It's Not Me, It's You: How Society Gaslights Neurodivergent People

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you’re a neurodivergent person, chances are you’re used to feeling out of step with the rest of the world. Those of us in the community have le...

New Year's Resolutions: 10 Tips for Making Lasting Changes

03 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Happy New Year! 2023 was a wild year, and by that we mean it was a feral beast. We may have all walked away from it a little scratched up, bruised, an...

All I Want for Christmas: Offbeat Christmas Media for the Quirky Holiday Hater

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How’s everyone doing out there? If the answer is “Not so great” we feel you. The holiday season is a bit of a trudge for us too, and few things ...

Coping with Holiday Stress: Finding YOUR Reason for the Season

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Love it or hate it, the holiday season can be the most challenging and stressful time of year. Sure, there are lots of pretty sparkly things and good ...

Pass the Trauma: Using Dark Humor to Cope with the Holidays

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Over the river and through the woods, to our traumatic holiday memories we go. Buckle up folks, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride! We may not be able to pi...

Meeting the In-Laws?: Navigating a Functional Family when You Come From Dysfunction

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s here guys. We’re in the thick of it, and we don’t mean mashed potatoes and gravy. We mean the holiday season. Dun, Dun, Dun! If you grew up...

Patreon Unlocked Bonus: The Mothman

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you enjoyed our most recent episode, we have a surprise for you. We actually held back one extra story to release for Halloween. We hope you all ha...

Halloween Special Episode: Urban Legends: Converting the Horror Aversive

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Happy Halloween! Spooky season is upon us and we need your help to settle a dispute! While we both love fall, Ivy has a fondness for the creepy, crawl...

Pumpkin Spice, Flannel, and Halloween: Embracing the Joys of Fall on Your Terms

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Autumn is here! And we don’t mean the co-host of the podcast either. Are you slipping into your flannel shirts, beanies, and boots yet? Enjoyed any ...

Inner Child Play: A Timed Challenge to Help You Connect with Your Inner Child

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Okay ya’ll, we’re doing something a little bit different this time. Chances are you’ve heard of inner child work, and if you’re listening to t...

Don't Speak: 20 Things You Shouldn't Say to a Trauma Survivor

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It seems like everyone has an opinion about everything, whether those opinions are educated and well-informed or not. If you’re a trauma survivor yo...

Pop Culture and the Pre Apocalypse: Staying Sane in a Surreal World

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a whole lot of crazy going on in the world right now. Maybe there always is but these last few years it has felt worse than usual. The pande...

Well, This is Awkward: React and Review

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In our last episode, we may have picked on neurotypicals just a little bit so this time we thought we’d level the playing field and talk about The G...

You're So Weird!: Flipping the Social Scripts

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Those of us in the neurodivergent community have had our fair share of struggles with social situations. By the standards of the neurotypical world, o...

Feeling Your Feelings: An Intimate Exploration of Emotions

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our experience of emotion is something we generally take for granted. Afterall, feelings just tend to happen. Our hearts beat, our lungs breath, our l...

Life is Good as a Goblin Girl: And Other Alternatives to the #HotGirlSummer

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’re in the sweltering stretch of summer and you know what that means... It’s #hotgirlsummer time. Or is it? Join us as we discuss the concept of...

Fears and Phobias: Maybe It's Not All Just in Your Head

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You’re afraid of something. We know you are. It’s okay, you can admit it. Fear is part of the human condition, and unless you’ve got some rare a...

Retro '90s Cartoons! The Lessons They Taught Us About Mental Health, Relationships, & Life

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Buckle up because we’re going retro! Some of the first important lessons we learn as children come from the kinds of media we’re exposed to and if...

Autism vs ADHD: Being Different, Differently

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What does a day in the life of a neurodivergent person look like? Well, that depends. The definition of neurodivergence and the number of us huddled t...

Victim Mentality: The Anti-Hero of Trauma Recovery

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Victimhood is loaded with stigmas and complicated, uneasy feelings and so it’s kind of expected that we should jump straight from being traumatized ...

Anxiety Coping Skills A-Z: A Real Life Rate and Review

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you struggle with anxiety, you’ve probably gone down the internet anxiety rabbit hole more than once, looking for guidance on how to cope with it...

Self-Discovery Playlist: A Musical Guide to Finding Yourself After Childhood Trauma and/or Neurodivergent Masking

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

One of the biggest challenges that comes with experiencing childhood trauma or being neurodivergent is that we often don’t get the opportunity to di...

Neurodivergent Easter Eggs: Exploring the Gifts of Being Different

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Happy Easter everyone! This holiday is a generally fun and uplifting one for most of us regardless of whether we see it in a religious or secular ligh...

20 Dick Moves We All Do

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We all try to be good people and surely that must mean that our hard work results in us being altruistic angels full of Love and Light all the time, r...

Neurodivergent RPG: Symptoms or Superpowers?

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For so long, we were taught that neurodivergence was a glaring flaw in our design and that if we wanted to be successful (or even just normal) we had ...

Let Me Tell You: Communicating Mental Health Needs in Your Relationship

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Love is wonderful and all but, let’s face it, relationships can be really hard; and one of the biggest challenges when you’re building a relations...

Green Flags: A Musical Exploration of Healthy Relationships

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We often look to music to explore and enhance our own life experiences and, for better or worse, “Love” dominates the airwaves. We are constantly ...

Good Grief!: Grappling with Loss and Death

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Grief isn't caused solely by death. Grief can be triggered by any important loss we experience: loss of a job, loss of a relationship, or even the los...

New Year, Same You

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Happy New Year! Time to get back to work, lose that holiday weight, set new goals, and Change. Your. Life!!! But what if…and hear us out here….wha...

Winter Whispers: Finding Hope in the Darkness

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout history, cultures have ascribed meaning to the natural cycles of the seasons, seeing in them the cyclical nature of our human existence as ...

Boundary Setting Basics

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The holiday season can be a difficult time for anyone with a dysfunctional family, mental or physical health struggles, neurodivergent traits, or very...

Turning the Tables on Holiday Traditions: A Holiday Season Survival Guide

23 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Uh oh. The holidays are already upon us again. 'Tis the season, so they say, and while many people are giddy with excitement, some of us enter the hol...

The Echoes of Childhood Trauma in Our Adult Lives

09 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Childhood trauma imprints on us like nothing else can. It lives rent free in our heads and takes a toll on our lives well into adulthood. Our minds an...

Jekyll & Hyde: The Duality of the Social Masks We Wear

26 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Happy Halloween! It’s that time again, to dress up as ghosts, ghoulies, and whatever else floats our happy little spooky boats. But what about the m...

Lesser Known Truths About Trauma Recovery

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a lot of information out there about trauma recovery; some is valuable and honestly, some is clichéd and irrelevant nonsense. It can be a c...

Mental Health Support 101: When and How to Provide Support to the People in Your Life

27 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How can you support someone who is struggling with their mental health, trauma recovery, or neurodivergence? If someone you love has ever experienced ...

My Brain Made Me Do It: Everyday Compulsions We All Have

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Admit it. You have compulsions. Do you count floor tiles for no reason? Feel a need to correct a strangers' grammar or speling? Do you jiggle the heck...

Damaged Goods: Trauma's Negative Impact on Self-Esteem and How to Flip the Script

31 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Let's face it. Trauma is complex. It hits us where it hurts, the wounds are deep, and the scars often leave us feeling flawed. Today, we're discussing...

Patreon Unlocked: Unnecessarily Disastrous: Clothing Concerns & Wardrobe Weariness

24 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Yes! It's our off week but we wanted to share a little something extra with you. We hope you'll enjoy this special mini-episode from our Patreon vault...

Body Image Issues: Why We Have Them and How to Shift Our Perspective

17 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How do you feel about yourself when you look in the mirror? From our earliest developmental years, we’re fed messages about the connection between b...

6th Sense or Mental Illness? Exploring the Intersection of Paranormal Experience and Mental Health

03 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's so freakin' HOT! Summer has been taking us for a crazy ride on this heat wave for too long and I don't know about you, but we're ready to feel a ...

A Neurodivergent Guide to Making Friends When You Suck at Socializing

20 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You ever try making friends? If you're anything like us then it's surprisingly hard. When we're kids we just ask some other random kid at the playgrou...

Coping with Depression

06 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Last time, we discussed what it's like when depression takes up residence in your head, but how can you actually deal with this frustrating, unwanted ...

Depression: An Exploration of Lived Experience

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Depression is one of the most common mental health struggles that people experience. For some, it is a temporary response to a specific trauma or loss...

A Walk Down Memory Lanes: Differences in Memory in a Dysfunctional Home

08 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we're talking about the convoluted connection between reality and personal experience. You can expose several people to the exact same event, a...