Episode 101: Finding Neurodivergent Joy After Autistic Burnout

Written By Kory Andreas

What does it look like to choose your nervous system over everything else? Austen Marie, a former special education teacher turned podcast host, shares her journey from creating trauma-informed classrooms while burning herself out, to the moment her body forced her to stop. We talk about growing up undiagnosed, the cost of high-masking, and what "living a nervous system life" actually means.

Austen Marie.

101: Finding Neurodivergent Joy After Autistic Burnout
Austen Marie spent years as a TK teacher trying to create trauma-informed, neuro-inclusive classrooms - until autistic burnout forced her body to stop. In this conversation, we talk about what it's like to grow up undiagnosed as a first-generation American, how masking as a woman in special education nearly destroyed her, and what it looks like to choose a slower, simpler life in order to heal.

We cover:

    •    The cost of being late-diagnosed and high-masking

    •    How neurodivergent traits were used against her in a narcissistic relationship

    •    What it means to parent neurodivergent kids while healing your own nervous system

    •    Why creating regulation-first environments for children is revolutionary

    •    The moment TikTok helped her finally recognize herself

    •    Choosing a "nervous system life" over financial security

    •    Finding joy in using your voice to change how the world sees autistic kids



Guest: Austen Marie is a former TK teacher, mother of neurodivergent children, and host of The NeuroSpicy Mom Pod, a podcast for late-diagnosed adults navigating parenthood and reparenting themselves.



Find Austen Marie:

    •    Podcast: The NeuroSpicy Mom Pod (Patreon & YouTube)

    •    Instagram: @_neurospicymama

    •    YouTube: @neurospicymompod

Mentioned in this episode:

    •    NeuroSpicy Tea Time (Patreon community conversations)

    •    Unmasking Retreats with Kory Andreas



Resources:

    •    Learn more about high-masking, late-diagnosed autism: Instagram @neurokoryous

    •    Unmasking Retreats: koryandreas.com

    •    YouTube: @ThatsMePod

Kory Andreas