Are Neurodivergent People More Intuitive?

Are Neurodivergent People More Intuitive?

Why do so many autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD people describe simply knowing something before they can explain why?

In this episode of AuDHD for Grownups: F Them Fish, Callie and Jayne dive deep into the neuroscience and lived experience behind neurodivergent intuition. We unpack the thin line between a true gut feeling and trauma-informed hypervigilance, exploring how our brains process the world around us.

In This Episode:

  • The Neuroscience of Intuition: How rapid processing and predictive processing create unconscious knowing.
  • Pattern Recognition vs. Hypervigilance: Distinguishing genuine intuition from anxiety, trauma responses, and rejection sensitivity.
  • The Body Connection: The vital role of interoception and what a literal gut feeling means for an AuDHD brain.
  • Masking & Self-Trust: How years of social monitoring and masking cause us to override our own internal signals.
  • Are We Psychic?: A lighthearted look at why neurodivergent people frequently joke about having a sixth sense.

Timestamps

  • 00:00 – Welcome
  • 04:03 – Big changes for Jayne
  • 07:35 – Callie’s Melbourne adventures and Dame Jacinda
  • 14:54 – What do we mean by intuition?
  • 20:11 – Is there neuroscience behind intuition?
  • 22:10 – Jayne’s journey back into her body and trusting herself
  • 25:45 – Spirituality, skepticism, and understanding intuition
  • 28:31 – ADHD, hypervigilance, and taking in ALL the information
  • 34:13 – Autism and enhanced pattern recognition
  • 39:36 – Predictive processing: Is the brain predicting what comes next?
  • 42:10 – Interoception and the literal gut feeling
  • 48:37 – Hypervigilance, trauma, intuition, or anxiety?
  • 50:35 – Masking and learning not to trust yourself
  • 55:32 – Are neurodivergent people psychic?
  • 1:00:30 – A practical way to investigate your intuition
  • 1:02:34 – Listener questions & Callie’s shameful unreleased episode vault

Hello, hello, and welcome!

We are your neurodivergent besties, Callie Elward-Barrett and Jayne Gurton. We talk about neurodivergence in real adult life: work, relationships, burnout, identity, and all the things we wish someone had explained earlier.

This podcast was created on the lands of the Ngunnawal, Wadawurrung, and Dja Dja Wurrung Peoples.

Disclaimer: This episode shares lived experience and general discussion of research, neurodivergence, trauma, fibromyalgia, somatic practices, and wellbeing. It is not medical or psychological advice.

Connect With Us

AuDHD for Grownups: F Them Fish is a podcast about adult ADHD, autism, AuDHD, neurodivergence, executive functioning, masking, burnout, relationships, work, identity, and figuring out grown-up life with a differently wired brain.

Email: fthemfish@gmail.com

YouTube and Instagram at AuDHD for Grownups: F Them Fish

Callie’s Website: https://executivefunctioning.com.au/

LinkedIn: Callie: www.linkedin.com/in/callie-elward-barrett-263068142

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