If your hyperfixation got a hyperfixation, congratulations, you are exactly who this episode is for. The 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs broke a lot of neurodivergent brains this season, and I needed to talk about it with someone who gets it. This is the season finale of Clinically Awkward, and I went out with a bang.

My friend Jana Morgen (@thisbookishlady on TikTok) is a content creator and event coordinator based in the Bay Area who came into hockey through Heated Rivalry, went to eight Sharks games in a single season, and has been crying about men she found out existed that day ever since. We have been mutuals on TikTok for a while and I have been waiting for the right moment to get her on the pod. A Stanley Cup win felt like the right moment.

We got into why sports fandom might be the most neurodivergent-friendly environment on earth, how hyperfixation works when the thing you fixate on has literally infinite content, the parasocial spiral that happens when the playoffs eliminate someone's favorite captain and TikTok serves you their retirement press conference six minutes later, and why I think we need to stop calling it mental health and start calling it brain health. We also talked about goalie psychology, WAG shoe choices, the Vegas jerseys, the rotisserie chicken on the ice, and why Carter Hart simply does not have the mental fortitude. You know what you did, Carter.

Find Jana on TikTok at @thisbookishlady and find me at @clinicallyawkwardpod. If you want to work with me or apply to be a guest, head to alyssazimmerman.com.

00:00 You Found Your People: Neurodivergence, Sports Fandom, and the Art of the Hyperfixation 03:50 Heated Rivalry to Rinkside: How an AO3 Fic Accidentally Turned Into Eight Sharks Games 09:01 Had to Google It: Vintage Footage, Early Playoff Chaos, and Wait That's the Same Guy 13:30 Parasocial as a Love Language: Crying About Men You Met Today 21:37 WAG Culture, Vegas Jerseys, and the Case for Sparkles: Hockey Fashion We Did Not Expect 24:25 Bussi, Anderson, and the Case for Calling It Brain Health 30:35 Non-Toxic Male Friendship and the Carolina Hurricanes: What Seth Jarvis and His Friends Are Teaching Us 33:17 Technically a Tangent: ADHD, NVLD, and Ways to Make Your DSM Actually Useful 36:32 Carter Hart Has No Mental Fortitude and Other Things We Said Out Loud 42:53 The Stanley Cup Is the Best Man at Three Weddings 47:07 I Did That: ADHD Superstitions, Hockey Rituals, and How I Won the Stanley Cup 52:02 Next Season Energy: PWHL, Finding Your People, and Jana's Secret Project

Some people have a pet. Nikki Dinwiddie has a neurodivergent household that includes two Great Danes, a goat in perimenopause, and what she describes as feathered roommates. She is a therapist. This tracks.

Nikki and I get into what it actually looks like when the whole household is neurodivergent, kids, husband, dogs, and possibly the goats. We talk about animals as an autism special interest, why parrots are feathered roommates and not pets, and where each of us falls on what I'm calling the autistic animal spectrum. Spoiler: we are not on the same side.

We also get into goats with a PDA profile, elephants who understand their own mortality, orcas organizing to flip yachts, and what animals know about us that we consistently underestimate. Plus Nikki closes us out with a snake fact that I was not prepared for and neither are you.

Nikki practices in Concord, New Hampshire and is licensed in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts, specializing in autism, ADHD, and the LGBTQ community. She can be found at balancementalhealth.com.

If you've ever sat in a performance review thinking "I would be so good at this job if everyone would just leave me alone," this episode is for you.

This week I'm joined by Polly Pollock, an AuDHD marketing and sales coach for neurodivergent online business owners, and we are getting into all of it: why the workplace was never actually built for us, what the ADHD tax really costs, why "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" is a crock of shit, and how to build a business that works with your brain instead of against it. We also get into neuro supremacy, the sinking boat analogy, and what it means that the primary thing we're bad at is capitalism.

If you're a neurodivergent woman who has ever been called bossy, hot-headed, or a pain in the ass for asking for a chair, or who has quietly fantasized about just being left alone to do the work, Polly has some thoughts. And so do I.

Find Polly and learn more about the Neuro-Friendly Sales Accelerator at https://www.neuropreneurrising.com/nfsa.

00:00 Late ADHD and Autism Diagnosis: Living With It Before You Had a Name for It

08:29 ADHD, Autism, and the Workplace: Why Neurodivergent Brains Reject Capitalism

15:02 Workplace Accommodations, Masking Exhaustion, and Neurodivergent Direct Communication

22:14 Neurodivergent Women at Work: Masking, Mean Girls, and the Double Penalty

26:42 Directness, Neuro Supremacy, and Why Systems Don't Actually Want Solutions

34:11 ADHD Burnout, the "Do What You Love" Lie, and Messaging That Baked in Self-Doubt

40:01 Starting a Neurodivergent Business Without a Safety Net: Random Tuesday Energy

45:51 ADHD Burnout vs. Good Tired: Wellness Routines, Hormone Cycles, and Knowing the Difference

50:52 The Neurodivergent Bullshit Detector: Why Overnight Success Stories Are Fables