LATE BLOOMERS

This week on LATE BLOOMERS, Rich and Rox break down the six types of memory — and why ADHD and autism hit almost every single one in opposite directions.
ADHD struggles hardest with working memory and prospective memory, described as writing on a whiteboard while someone else actively wipes it. But it can come with genuinely excellent semantic and procedural memory, the kind that makes songwriting easier than cleaning the kitchen. Autism runs almost the reverse: strong working, prospective, semantic and episodic memory, but real struggles holding onto the emotion behind a memory, even the painful ones.
They also get into why autistic memory relies entirely on a calm nervous system, and Rox's actual advice if you've got ADHD: assume you have no memory at all, and externalise everything.
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This week on LATE BLOOMERS, Rich and Rox are laying down the ten commandments for surviving a world that wasn't built for your brain. No cards, no notes — Rox is running the whole manifesto from memory, which given the memory episode is a bold choice.
Protect your energy like it's gold, master the art of strategic masking, stop apologising for existing, and stop trying to be neurotypical — you'll burn out whilst failing. Plus the coffee-in-bed morning routine they both refuse to let anyone derail, and why being the only "normal" one in your friend group is actually the first warning sign.
If you're exhausted from pretending to be like them, this one's your permission slip to stop.
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This week on LATE BLOOMERS, Rich and Rox are asking the question nobody wants to answer honestly — who's actually more empathetic, ADHD or autism? Spoiler: everyone's had it backwards.
They break down the three types of empathy nobody talks about, why Rich's empathy sometimes tips into full-blown overwhelm, and why the "autistic people don't feel empathy" myth needs to die. Rox also drops one of the most quietly devastating stories either of them has shared on the show.
If you've ever wondered whether you're actually empathetic or just anxious and pretending, this one's for you.
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This week on LATE BLOOMERS, Rich and Rox are taking apart five pieces of relationship advice everyone treats as gospel — and explaining why they fall apart completely when one or both of you is neurodivergent.
"If they wanted to, they would." "Never go to bed angry." "They should just know." Rox explains why her memory has nothing to do with how much she loves Rich, Rich makes the case for going to bed mid-argument, and the dishwasher gets stacked twice. There's also a birthday story that nearly ends in a domestic.
If you've ever been told your relationship is doing it wrong, this one's for you.
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This week on LATE BLOOMERS, Rich and Rox are doing something different. Ten neurodivergent hot takes, controversial questions, and genuinely unpopular opinions — and they're trying really hard not to get cancelled in the process.
Is masking always bad? Is self-diagnosis valid? Is the autism spectrum too big? They go there. All of it. And they don't always agree.
Fair warning — some of these will make you uncomfortable. That's kind of the point...
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