Meet Megan

My Story

Hi! Thank you for stopping by! My name is Megan and I'm a former academic research librarian specializing in information seeking behavior. I received a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology from Louisiana State University in 2006 and a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from Louisiana State University in 2017. While I adored working in a university library for 16 years, discovering my own neurodivergence led me to this entirely different path.

 

It all began in 2020 after I stumbled upon an article about the autistic phenomenon known as masking (suppressing one's autistic traits). Naturally a curious person, it led me down a research rabbit hole as I learned that everything I thought I knew about autism was completely outdated and inaccurate. This is when I first encountered the term "neurodiversity" and the broader advocacy movement surrounding neurodivergent conditions beyond autism like ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc. The random discovery of that article became a pivotal moment in my life, because while I loved working as an academic being paid to research and support the educational needs of students and professors, I still felt like I lacked a deeper purpose in my career. I knew I wanted to do more to help and make a direct impact in people's lives while still using my skills as an academic researcher, educator, and information specialist. In 2022, I made the decision to leave academia and commit to educating and supporting neurodivergent individuals and families while also pursuing my dream of becoming a homesteader. 

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Neurodivergent people often report feeling a sense of liberation after receiving their diagnosis. I can attest to this fact personally. Prior to my diagnosis, I spent much of my life dealing with intense anxiety, bouts of deep depression and occasional panic attacks. Years in and out of therapy trying to understand why only got me what - "Well, Megan, looks like you have social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, depression, highly sensitive person," the diagnostic list goes on. The answer to why I was experiencing these things was never answered. My gut kept telling me there was a larger reason that life was so much more challenging for me than a lot of my peers. So everything changed when I found that article on autistic camouflaging. Literally, it was like the sky opened up and I was blinded by the light of a major revelation. It took me about a year to find a professional with the expertise to diagnose an adult woman, which is a whole other travesty that we could discuss at a later date, but finally, I had the answer to the underlying cause of all the symptoms. I could now modify my life in the appropriate ways to manage them by identifying triggers and planning accordingly. Almost immediately, my levels of anxiety went down because of those adjustments. So yeah, that's liberating af.

 

The whole experience has been so profound, and that's why I want to support and educate others. Given the high rates of suicide among neurodivergent people, having the right kind of support can literally be the difference between life and death! I hope that sharing my story will lead others to a deeper understanding of themselves and the challenges that hold them back. You don't have to navigate it alone!​