Beyond 6 Seconds: Neurodiversity stories from neurodivergent people

Amy Richards is a queer autistic podcaster and business owner from Cardiff in the UK. Amy became self-employed in 2015, after multiple burnouts culminated in a breakdown that ended her previous career as a high school English and Media teacher. With her business hat on, she offers business strategy sessions, builds websites and supports online business owners with their websites, email marketing and automation. 

In 2020, Amy starte...

Pastiche Graham is a proud autism advocate, emerging motivational speaker, children’s book author and powerhouse for change and inclusion. After being featured on the CBS Television show Undercover Boss in 2022 (Season 11, Episode 4), Pastiche’s platform pivoted towards a lifelong journey of advocacy. Pastiche’s first book, “Pia Pistachio Gets a Job,” features much-needed representation of autistic girls in children’s literature. 

...

Max Barrows is an award-winning disability rights leader and advocate based in Vermont. As the Outreach Director for Green Mountain Self-Advocates, Max mentors people with developmental disabilities to speak up for themselves and become leaders. Max is also the Assistant Director of Technical Assistance and Outreach for the Self-Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC), where he works to strengthen local and state...

With a career across media, tech, and entertainment, Kirsty Cullen-Campanelli has held roles at the BBC, Netflix and Apple. Her experience as a corporate executive and a late-diagnosed Autistic woman with ADHD have shaped her neuroinclusive leadership style.

On my latest episode, Kirsty shares what life is like for her as an autistic corporate executive with ADHD, and how discovering her autism and ADHD shifted her understanding of...

Sania Khimji is an accomplished artist, model, influencer, and international beauty pageant winner based in India who continues to redefine boundaries and inspire inclusivity in every space she enters. Living with Down syndrome, Sania celebrates her uniqueness as just one part of her powerful story that’s rooted in creativity, confidence, and courage.

Through her art, modeling, and advocacy, Sania continues to shine as a global voi...

This is a special Beyond 6 Seconds episode for Podcasthon, where for one week, thousands of podcasts are highlighting a nonprofit of their choice, to raise awareness and encourage support for charities around the world. The focus of this episode is Meals in the Meantime, a nonprofit organization addressing food insecurity in the Chicagoland south suburbs. Meals in the Meantime provides free, fresh, healthy, high-quality grocery bag...

Psychotherapist Ivy Rizzo has a master's degree, speaks multiple languages, and owns her own business... but she struggles with doing basic math, remembering important dates, and recalling events in chronological order. Dyscalculia is often dismissed as just being "bad at math," but for Ivy, it has a wide-ranging effect on her life. 

In this episode, Ivy talks about:

• How the severity of her dyscalculia impacts her math, memory...

Sonido Reyes is an award-winning and bestselling author who is best known for tackling difficult topics through a hopeful lens. They write stories celebrating their own queer and Mexican identities, including The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School, The Luis Ortega Survival Club, The Broposal, and The Golden Boy's Guide to Bipolar. They also have contributed short stories to the anthologies Transmogrify! and For the Rest of Us.

Son...

This episode is a special collaboration between Beyond 6 Seconds and the Living with FASD podcast hosted by Patti Kasper. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are lifelong conditions caused by prenatal alcohol exposure that can impact physical, cognitive, and behavioral development.

FASD is a type of neurodivergence, but it’s often left out of conversations about neurodivergence. This episode is part of a series that Patti is do...

Nieta Greene is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Disability Community for Democracy, Inc., an organization focused on safeguarding the rights of individuals within the disability community and providing a platform for political engagement founded on intersectional disability justice.

She is a resilient and proud Disabled Puerto Rican, Black, gender non-conforming, gay woman. Nieta openly champions her identity as she advo...

In this year-end solo episode, I celebrate some big milestones that Beyond 6 Seconds achieved in 2025, highlight the variety of topics that my guests and I discussed on my podcast, and share what podcasting-related things I’ve been up to this year! I also reflect on several challenges that the neurodivergent and disability communities are facing in the United States, and share my focus for the year ahead.

Watch the video of this in...

Caroline Smith founded her business, The Introverted Misfit, to help shy, awkward introverts become socially confident versions of themselves so they can have healthy, manageable social lives.

Because of her experience with being autistic, which was the source of many social difficulties and major social anxiety for her, she knows what it's like to build self-acceptance, self-improvement, and a life that works for individualized ne...

Kellina Powell, known as the Deaf Queen Boss, is a podcast speaker, best-selling author, and passionate advocate for the deaf and disability communities. She empowers young adults with disabilities to chase their dreams, breaks down barriers around mental health, and educates others about deaf culture and inclusion.  

During this episode, you will hear Kellina talk about:

• What it was like for her to grow up deaf from an early ...

Tiffany Hammond is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and disability advocate. She is the author of A Day with No Words, a picture book about a Black mother and son who use a tablet to communicate with each other and the world around them. A Day With No Words successfully normalizes communication methods outside of verbal speech and provides representation of neurodiversity and autism in a way that affirms and celebrates...

As a dyslexic child, Sabrina Fandell had to sit in her school's book closet for her reading lessons. Now she sits on the Board of Directors of the International Dyslexia Association - Dallas Branch. She is passionate about fostering inclusive environments and advocating for neurodivergent students in school.

During this episode, Sabrina talks about:

• Her experience growing up as a child with dyslexia, and as a parent of childre...

Ava N. Simmons, also known as Ava The S.T.E.M. Princess®, is a 12-year-old S.T.E.M. Ambassador, Entrepreneur, Toy Designer, Author, and the creator of educational toy brand Team Genius Squad. Diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia in 2021, Ava used S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) and entrepreneurial activities to help overcome her ac...

Caroline Mincks is a writer, director, and voice actor who is best known for their audio drama “Seen and Not Heard,” which is about navigating hearing loss as an adult. Seen and Not Heard features disability representation, including deaf, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and autistic characters. Caroline also works as a consultant, assisting other creators in making their shows accessible to as many people as possible.

During t...

Content note: This episode describes my guest’s experience with psychosis, delusions, and suicidality / suicide attempts.

Sally Littlefield is a national speaker and mental health advocate dedicated to changing how the world understands schizophrenia. After experiencing a 10-month long psychotic episode that led to a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, she returned to work in communications and fundraising roles at three mental ...

Content note: This episode discusses abuse in a religious cult, gender dysphoria, body dysmorphia, and the negative impact of U.S. current events on marginalized people.

Tas The Artist is an autistic, queer, disabled and deaf graphic artist, illustrator, and advocate who blends storytelling with a passion for accessible design. Tas supports fellow members of their community through vocational coaching, developing adaptive curriculu...