36. S3, Ep5: Making your own path: finding passion and purpose in work through special interests

Corinne Cariad is self diagnosed autistic and currently waiting for her assessment, but already has a diagnosis of ADHD. She's 40 and lives in Pembrokeshire in Wales, where she is a consultant with a focus on third sector, food and education. Food has been a special interest for most of her life, and she's worked in catering, run her own cookery workshops, and been a Food Technology teacher in high schools. In our conversation we talk about: ➡ The overlap of ADHD and autism ➡ Autistic burnout ➡ Her teen years, fitting in and finding herself  ➡ Meeting the needs of autistic children in schools ➡ Following her special interest in food to find work that she loves Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes. I hope that these conversations will be inspiring and thought provoking, open you up to new ways of thinking about being neurodivergent, and help you feel more connected to a worldwide community of people with similar experiences. I'm Amy Richards, and after being diagnosed autistic at the age of 37 I'm now on a mission to learn more about different perspectives and issues around being a neurodivergent adult in a world that feels like it doesn't quite fit.   EPISODE LINKS: Corinne's website is: https://www.corinnecariad.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myepicuriouslife/    If you'd like to connect or get in touch with Squarepeg, you can find me on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarepeg.community/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/squarepegautism  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/squarepegautism/  Or on my website: https://squarepeg.community/   THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS! A HUGE thank you to my amazing patrons, who support my work on the podcast: Cat Preston, Corinne Cariad, Elise, Kate Faust, Katharine Richards, Lea Li, Lilli Simmons, Pete Burke, Sarah Hardy, Vera Cady If you're enjoying the Squarepeg podcast and would like to help me carry on making new episodes, you can become a member of the Squarepeg community on Patreon from £3 per month: https://www.patreon.com/squarepegpodcast