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  • When Church Doesn't Feel Safe: A Story of Autistic Shutdown
    2025/07/10

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    Sometimes the places that are meant to be sanctuary feel like war zones instead—especially for neurodivergent people navigating unspoken expectations, sensory overload, and shifting social norms. In this honest solo episode, Josh shares the story of a recent autistic shutdown: the days of emotional buildup, the weight of masking in church spaces, the crash into silence, and the surprising moments of care that brought glimmers of repair.

    With poetic words and a pastor's heart, Josh invites us to reflect on what it means to honor our bodies, communicate our needs, and build spaces where people don’t have to pretend to be okay.

    Whether you’ve lived this experience yourself, or want to learn how to better accompany those who have, this episode is an offering of gentleness, insight, and hope.


    #NeurodivergentFaith #AutisticShutdown #WhenChurchHurts #HonoringNeurodivergence #NeurodivergentVoices #AutisticMasking #AutisticShutdown #AutisticInChurch #ActuallyAutistic

    To connect further, find Josh on Facebook, Instagram or email at: justjosuedavis@gmail.com. Or, for personal encouragement on your own journey of neurodivergence, consider booking a spiritual direction session with Josh through Patreon.

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    28 分
  • Moving From Compliance to Invitation: Demand Avoidance, Faith, and Belonging with Sunita Theiss
    2025/07/03

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    What if “no” wasn’t seen as rebellion, but a nervous system seeking regulation? What if belonging in the church didn’t hinge on meeting expectations, but on being met with grace?

    In this rich and poetic conversation, I’m joined by Sunita Theiss—an autistic, ADHD, PDA’er and parent coach—who offers profound insight into demand avoidance and its impact on relationships, parenting, and spiritual formation. We explore the invisible weight of expectations in church spaces, how demand avoidance is often misunderstood, and what it might mean to create faith communities centered more around relationships than requirements.

    This episode is for the ones who’ve been labeled resistant, the parents walking the path with PDA kids, and the leaders who long to shepherd with more compassion than control.

    To check out Sunita's upcoming workshop entitled Parenting PDA Children with Grace & Hope: A Christian Perspective on Understanding, Supporting, and Raising PDA Children, use promo code NDFAITH and visit: https://sunitatheiss.com/resources/p/parenting-pda-children-with-grace-hope-a-christian-perspective-on-understanding-supporting-and-raising-pda-children

    To connect with Sunita for 1:1 low demand parent coaching or schedule a free intro call, visit: https://www.amandadiekman.com/coaching (Promo code: SUNITA15)

    #DemandAvoidance #PDAProfile #NeurodivergentFaith #ParentingPDA #SpiritualFormation #SafeChurch #TraumaInformedChurch #AutisticChristian #ADHDAndFaith #GentleFaith

    To connect further, find Josh on Facebook, Instagram or email at: justjosuedavis@gmail.com. Or, for personal encouragement on your own journey of neurodivergence, consider booking a spiritual direction session with Josh through Patreon.

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    40 分
  • Tourette Syndrome and the Cost of Suppression – with Joy Martin
    2025/06/26

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    In this powerful episode, Josh is joined by Joy Martin to explore life, faith, embodiment, and community through the lens of Tourette Syndrome. Together, they name the visible and invisible realities of TS, from daily resilience to misunderstood tics, from spiritual reframing to hard-won grace. They explore the tension between suppression and authenticity, wrestle with the idea of self-control, and reflect on what consideration can look like in faith communities. If you’ve ever felt like you had to hide parts of yourself to belong, this conversation is for you.

    To connect further, find Josh on Facebook, Instagram or email at: justjosuedavis@gmail.com. Or, for personal encouragement on your own journey of neurodivergence, consider booking a spiritual direction session with Josh through Patreon.

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    54 分
  • ADHD + Ministry (with John Miller)
    2025/06/19

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    What happens when the structures and forms held up as faithful or godly don’t make room for your neurotype?
    When the “right way” to minister, to lead, to show up—was not made with your wiring in mind?

    In this honest and liberating conversation, I sit down with coach and fellow ADHDer John Miller. Together, we name the ways religious spaces often spiritualize and moralize rigid frames—frames that can bring deep shame when we can’t (and weren’t meant to) fit inside them.

    We talk about John’s journey of discovering he has ADHD and how he has moved from self-doubt to self-acceptance as a person and a minister. Together, we explore how redefining concepts like faithfulness and redeeming the time can open up space for neurodivergent bodies, minds, and callings.

    Email John at: john@wearecatapult.org

    To connect further, find Josh on Facebook, Instagram or email at: justjosuedavis@gmail.com. Or, for personal encouragement on your own journey of neurodivergence, consider booking a spiritual direction session with Josh through Patreon.

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    42 分
  • ADHD + Shame (with Jess Pentsil)
    2025/06/12

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    Welcome back to Neurodivergent Faith—a space where our whole selves are welcome, where questions are holy, and where the messy, miraculous work of being human meets the mystery of God.

    We begin Season 2 with a sacred and tender conversation: ADHD + Shame.

    I’m joined by my friend Jess Pentsil—a therapist and a fellow ADHDer—as we begin to explore the intersection of neurodivergence and shame.

    Together, we reflect on:

    • The shame scripts ADHDers often carry
    • How spiritual practices can help in our healing
    • What safety and freedom can look like in therapy, church, and community
    • How God meets us in our most human places

    This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt like they were too much or not enough, and anyone longing to find freedom from the weight of internalized shame.

    If that’s you—lean in. There is grace here. There is truth. And there is room for all of you.

    To connect with Jess: jess@jessicapentsil.com

    #NeurodivergentFaith #ChristianPodcast #NeurodiversityPodcast #ADHDLife
    #ADHDAwareness #NeurodivergentVoices #ShameResilience #HealingFromShame #TherapyAndFaith

    To connect further, find Josh on Facebook, Instagram or email at: justjosuedavis@gmail.com. Or, for personal encouragement on your own journey of neurodivergence, consider booking a spiritual direction session with Josh through Patreon.

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    41 分
  • When Someone Says, "I'm Autistic": Responses That Harm, Responses That Heal
    2025/04/25

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    How do you respond when someone tells you they’re autistic?

    In this tender and truth-telling episode, Josh invites us into a deeper way of responding when someone shares their neurodivergent identity. With grace and gentle clarity, he names some common responses that can harm—even when meant with kindness—and offers alternatives that cultivate connection, dignity, and trust.

    Whether you’re autistic yourself, in relationship with someone who is, or simply want to be a more compassionate presence in the world, this episode will help you slow down, listen more deeply, and respond with love.

    Because when someone says, “I’m autistic,” they’re not handing you a problem to fix. They’re inviting you to see them more fully—and to love them as they are.

    #NeurodivergentFaith #AutismAcceptance #ActuallyAutistic #AutismAwareness #AutismAwarenessMonth #AutismAcceptanceAndAwareness #Neurodiversity
    #SpiritualDirection

    To connect further, find Josh on Facebook, Instagram or email at: justjosuedavis@gmail.com. Or, for personal encouragement on your own journey of neurodivergence, consider booking a spiritual direction session with Josh through Patreon.

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    34 分
  • What Autistics Want The Church To Know
    2025/04/17

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    In this heartfelt episode of Neurodivergent Faith, autistic voices rise with clarity, honesty, and hard-won wisdom. When asked what they long for their churches, pastors, and fellow Christians to understand, their answers are rich with vulnerability, nuance, and sacred truth.

    You’ll hear deep expressions of love, sincere accounts of pain and isolation, and powerful invitations to rethink what it means to welcome, include, and honor autistic people in our churches—not just in theory, but in practice.

    This is a sacred conversation—a chorus of lived experience echoing the call: see us, hear us, make room for us.

    🕊️

    #NeurodivergentFaith #AutisticVoices #ChurchAndNeurodiversity
    #SacredInclusion #DisabilityJusticeInChurch #SpiritualAccessibility #AutismAwareness

    To connect further, find Josh on Facebook, Instagram or email at: justjosuedavis@gmail.com. Or, for personal encouragement on your own journey of neurodivergence, consider booking a spiritual direction session with Josh through Patreon.

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    33 分
  • Autism + The Glory of God [with Harrison Litzell]
    2025/04/10

    What if autism isn't a barrier to experiencing God's presence—but a uniquely beautiful lens for beholding God's glory?

    In this rich and heartfelt conversation, Josh is joined by Harrison Litzell, a late-discovered autistic ordained minister, to explore the question: How do autistic people reflect the glory and character of God—not despite their autistic traits, but in them? Together, they delve into story, theology, and lived experience to illuminate how autistic ways of thinking, feeling, and relating can uniquely reveal divine attributes.

    We press into the sacredness of autistic embodiment, perception, and relationality, considering the glory of God not as something abstract or far-off, but as something revealed in the particularities of neurodivergent lives.

    This episode challenges deficit-based narratives and invites listeners to see autism not as an obstacle to spiritual life, but as a sacred and beautiful expression of it. Whether you're autistic yourself, walking alongside someone who is, or simply longing for a more expansive theology of humanity, you're welcome here.

    #NeurodivergentFaith #AutismAndFaith #AutisticTheology #ImageOfGod #NeurodiversityInTheChurch #LateDiagnosedAutistic #GloryOfGod #AutismAcceptance #FaithAndDisability

    To connect further, find Josh on Facebook, Instagram or email at: justjosuedavis@gmail.com. Or, for personal encouragement on your own journey of neurodivergence, consider booking a spiritual direction session with Josh through Patreon.

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    53 分