current email addresses : 1,188 of 10,000 goal

current followers : 6,213 of 10,000 goal

My family and I were out having dinner with friends at a casual family restaurant chain.

The waiter brought my order, but it was distributed across three different plates. I assessed the table space in front of me and quickly determined that the surface area of the plates significantly exceeded the surface area of table vacancy in front of me.

Old brain processes immediately appeared on the scene. I felt a perceived threat that someone had the audacity to expect me to fit so much in so little space. An impossibility. Wasn't that obvious?! I immediately began to panic. 

But then, I stopped.

Having just recently received my first diagnosis of autism, I was in a new season of better understanding myself and my entire life up to that point: including unique strengths and also disabilities.

Finally, I knew that I had an autistic brain. In that moment, it could be the reason why I was so intensely fixated on this situation, that lacked obvious-to-me logic and reasoning. So, I did what I normally wouldn't do: I looked around me to find support and caught eye contact with my husband.

Instead of saying, "What am I supposed to do with all this?!",

I said to my husband, "I need help. I don't know what to do".

My husband immediately assumed Mr. Fix-it mode and I was able to avoid a dysregulated emotional reaction, or worse: unintentionally making another person feel mistreated.

That was over five years ago. 

As a neurodiversity advocate now, I encourage others daily, to also look around for support.

This is one of the many ways that we can thrive. 

If we are being honest with ourselves, we have to acknowledge sooner or later that there are many things in this life that we will NEVER figure out on our own. 

This is what community and fellowship are for. It’s not a hierarchy like our pride wants it to be. It’s a network, a body.

We cannot do this all on our own.

We need the Lord. We need His Word. We need each other. We need teachable and thankful hearts.

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I was reminded of this again recently when I heard back from a celebrated literary agent. The feedback was unanimous consensus from them and their colleagues, that my book proposal for The Neurodivergent Christian: A Guide to Life is "REALLY good". But, there is a catch. The only thing missing from my resume is 10,000 email subscribers. In the grand scheme of things, that's nothing compared to getting such positive feedback from a major literary agency that has to reject 99% of the proposals it receives! 

HOWEVER,

I am NEVER going to reach 10,000 email addresses on my own. 

I need to look around and find my support.

I need my community - the body's help - not working for me, but for the sake of those of us still out there. The Neurodivergent Christian is an urgent conversation. The Church should be the first place that neurodivergents should feel wanted and connected; not the last.

I am available to you and your community in this capacity. 

Would you connect with those in your circles to let them know about this resource?

It is as simple as sharing a link to this website here: ww.TheNeurodivergentChristian.org or forwarding this blog post.

Regularly in my inboxes are neurodivergent Christians - raising families and navigating careers - all hiding their neurodivergent diagnosis from their church but seeking Christian community among others like them - because we are isolated.

We can fix this. We can recover the one-third missing from God's house. Yes, one-third. But, that is another conversation for another day...

I know that you get it. Thank you for being my community.

Your neurodivergent Christian sister,

Amanda Hebert Hughes

Autistic. Artist. Author. Advocate.