PODCAST · education
Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge
by Jennifer Purcell
Have you ever wondered what it is like to live with an invisible learning disability? Well then, step into my and others’ world of Living with Multi-Learning Differences (MLDs). I want to provide a podcast for nuerodivergents or someone who knows them and wants to help improve their life. Awareness about MLDs should be raised because the public needs to be more knowledgeable about them. This can be hard to do because many of the learning disabilities that someone can have aren't obvious.
Episodes
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Beyond the Stereotypes: Understanding Invisible Learning Differences
In this episode of Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge, we will explore how learning differences can be recognized differently in girls and boys, and how stereotypes, expectations, and coping strategies can cause challenges to go unnoticed. Through examples of NVLD, dyslexia, dysgraphia,...
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Neurodivergence, Habits & Healing
This episode explores how habits are shaped by the brain, environment, stress, and our need for comfort or stimulation. Using The Power of Habit, I look at habits through the lens of neurodivergence, ADHD, weight, chronic migraine, and trauma—moving beyond willpower and self-blame to ask what...
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Bridging the Gap: From Diagnosis to Real-Life Support Part 2
This is part 2 of this interview with Jodie Herbert, which discusses neurodiversity, autism, disability advocacy, and the gap between understanding someone’s needs and actually providing the support they need in everyday life. She calls this the “implementation gap” and shares insights from her...
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Invisible Strength: Neurodivergence, Migraines & Resilience
What does resilience look like when the challenges we face aren’t always visible? This episode explores neurodivergence, invisible learning challenges, chronic migraine, sensory sensitivity, and trauma through the metaphor of the Everchanging Butterfly. Discover how adapting, resting, asking for...
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“Invisible Challenges: The Story Behind the Struggle”
Today let's explore how we can better understand people whose challenges aren’t immediately visible. Inspired by What Happened to You? by Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry, the episode shifts the question from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” and “What do you need now?” It...
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Bridging the Gap: From Diagnosis to Real-Life Support
Jodie Herbert discusses neurodiversity, autism, disability advocacy, and the gap between understanding someone’s needs and actually providing the support they need in everyday life. She calls this the “implementation gap” and shares insights from her personal and professional experiences…
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How Different Brains Process the World
This episode explains the differences between developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, and processing differences, including autism, dyslexia, NLD, and auditory and visual processing challenges. It emphasizes that these differences are not a reflection of intelligence or effort and...
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Neurodivergent Gifts and Strengths
Neurodivergence isn't just about challenges—it's also about strengths. In this episode of Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge, Jennifer explores the unique talents that often accompany neurodivergent minds, including creativity, pattern recognition, resilience, memory, and…
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Interview of Rev. Dr. Xenia Barnes and Me Part three
In Part Three, Jennifer continues her conversation with Rev. Dr. Xenia Barnes, exploring how workplaces and healthcare systems often fall short for those with neurodivergence and chronic conditions. They discuss the gap between performative inclusion and real accessibility, the toll of masking…
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Getting Unstuck as a Family (Without More Pressure)
If you or someone you love is navigating NVLD, you already know how exhausting it can be to keep trying the same things and getting the same results. The stuck feeling is real. The conflict cycles are real. The gap between knowing what needs to change and actually changing it is real. That is...
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The Inner Light: NLD, Neurodivergence & Resilience
In this episode, The Inner Light: NLD, Neurodivergence & Resilience, the host explores how living with Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD) and other neurodivergent traits can bring both challenges and hidden strengths. Drawing from personal experience and research, the episode discusses how...
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Your Wings, Your Way
Not all advice fits every brain. In this episode, we explore how neurodivergent individuals can use critical thinking, self-awareness, and lived experience to evaluate advice instead of accepting it automatically. From neurodivergence and comorbidity to resilience and the “Inner Light”…
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Interview with Dr. Barnes and Me, Part Two
In Part Two, Jennifer continues her conversation with Rev. Dr. Xenia Barnes, exploring how workplaces and healthcare systems often fall short for those with neurodivergence and chronic conditions. They discuss the gap between performative inclusion and real accessibility, the toll of masking, and...
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The Mask We Wear
This episode explores how people with invisible learning challenges use “masking” and perfectionism to hide struggles rooted in shame—a concept defined by Brené Brown as feeling unworthy of belonging. It explains how repeated experiences of misunderstanding turn mistakes into identity, leading to...
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The Narrator Inside My Neurodivergent Mind
The Narrator Inside My Neurodivergent Mind explores what it’s like to live and work with multiple learning differences and chronic migraines, using the narrator in your head as a metaphor for constant mental juggling. It highlights the balance between productivity and health, the tools and...
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Interview with Rev. Dr. Xenia Barnes and Me (Part 1)
This episode features a conversation with Rev. Dr. Xenia Barnes exploring lived experiences of neurodivergence and chronic conditions, and how systems—especially workplaces and healthcare—often fall short in supporting individual needs. Together, they examine the gap between performative…
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Seen, Not Understood: Neurodivergence & Chronic Pain
This episode explores awareness vs. acceptance through the lens of neurodivergence and chronic pain. It reflects on living with invisible challenges, the impact of being misunderstood, and how a diagnosis can bring clarity. Ultimately, it highlights that acceptance—not just awareness—is what...
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Myths vs Facts: NLD, Neurodivergence & Comorbidities
This podcast script debunks common misconceptions surrounding Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD), emphasizing that co-occurring conditions like ADHD, anxiety, and sensory sensitivities are the rule rather than the exception. Rather than viewing these traits as childhood-only deficits or a lack of...
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Interview with Jennifer and Me (Part 3)
In this episode, the host and Jennifer discuss what it is like to live with invisible learning challenges and how progress can look different for people with neurodivergence. Jennifer explains that growth is not always linear—people may move forward, struggle, and then move forward again. They...
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The Everchanging Butterfly Mind
This podcast episode explains the difference between PTSS and PTSD through the host’s personal experience as a neurodivergent person, showing how trauma can accumulate and keep the nervous system stuck in survival mode. Using the “Everchanging Butterfly” concept, the host reframes healing as an...
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The "Tangled Knot" of Headlines
This episode explores the complex social and political ties between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein through the unique lens of Non-Verbal Learning Disorder (NLD), offering personal survivor insights and practical strategies for processing heavy news cycles....
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Interview with Jennifer L and Me (Part Two)
This episode is a continuation of a conversation between the host, Jennifer Purcell, and her guest Jennifer, exploring what it’s like to live with an invisible learning disability. Together they share personal experiences and reflections on neurodivergence, discussing the challenges of executive...
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The Rush Trap: Slowing Down to Move Forward
The Rush Trap: Slowing Down to Move Forward explores why many neurodivergent people feel driven to start tasks before fully planning, a pattern rooted in executive function differences rather than laziness. The episode explains how ADHD-related impulsivity, dopamine needs, time blindness, and...
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Health Premiums, Policy, and the Neurodivergent Community
This episode of Living with Invisible Learning Challenges explores how rising health insurance premiums and government policy decisions affect everyone, while hitting neurodivergent individuals especially hard. Because many neurodivergent people rely on ongoing, specialized care, even small...
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Interview with Jennifer L and Me (Part One)
The episode features an interview conversation that explores personal experiences of living with an invisible learning challenge, focusing on neurodivergence, self-understanding, and advocacy, while highlighting the importance of sharing stories to build awareness and connection....
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Neurodivergent Voices in Print
In this episode, I share the deeply personal journey of turning her neurodivergent life and podcast conversations into a book, honoring her unique writing process, using AI as a supportive creative tool, and affirming that neurodivergent stories deserve space, accessibility, and power....
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Progress Isn’t Linear: A Neurodivergent Reality
This episode reframes “two steps forward, one step back” as a natural and meaningful pattern of growth for neurodivergent people and those with invisible learning challenges. Jennifer explains why nonlinear progress happens—due to brain variability, environmental mismatches, and sensory or...
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Interview with Me and Christina (Part 3)
Here the final part to interview with Christinia from last year. She is an attorney and advocate for military families navigating special education. With experience at UC Berkeley, Notre Dame Law School, and William & Mary, Christina shares how she supports Marines’ families, the challenges they...
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Interview with Me and Christinia Part 2
Here the second part to interview with Christinia from last year. She is an attorney and advocate for military families navigating special education. With experience at UC Berkeley, Notre Dame Law School, and William & Mary, Christina shares how she supports Marines’ families, the challenges they...
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The "Tangled Knot" of My Learning Differences
This episode is about acknowledging the full scope of my invisible challenges and, in doing so, giving a voice to others who may be living with their own tangled knots. It's a reminder that everyone's journey is unique and that true strength lies in understanding and embracing who you are,...
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Podcast Trailer
Welcome to "Living with Invisible Learning Challenges," the podcast where we explore the struggles, triumphs, and unique journeys of navigating life with learning differences. I’m your host, Jennifer Purcell. Website: http://livingwithmultilearningdifferences.com/ Patron link:...
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Am I Enough? My Journey of Becoming
A personal story shared with respect for experiences different from my own. Today, I want to talk about something deeply personal and something that’s been on my mind for a while. It’s about relating to someone you admire, even if your lived experiences are profoundly different. And for me, that...
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Interview with Me and Christina Jones
Last year, I had the opportunity to interview Christina Jones, an attorney and advocate for military families navigating special education. With experience at UC Berkeley, Notre Dame Law School, and William & Mary, Christina shares how she supports Marines’ families, the challenges they face, and...
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Stella & the Silent Spaceship: My Return to the Road
The host Jennifer recounts her emotional return to driving—after almost two years off—navigating the learning curve of driving a Tesla, overcoming her invisible learning challenges, and reclaiming independence with her new red car, Stella. Website: http://livingwithmultilearningdifferences.com/...
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The DSM Inclusion Project: NVLD's Fight for Visibility and a New Name
Experts at Columbia University and the Child Mind Institute are leading a time-sensitive project to include Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD) in the DSM under the proposed term Developmental Visual-Spatial Disorder (DVSD). Formal inclusion is crucial for securing correct diagnosis, insurance...
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Beauty in the Flaws of ND (Part 2)
This is the second part to "Beauty in the Flaws of ND" and this one has the interivews. Link for Multi-LDs: https://site-y2pc01yz2.godaddysites.com/ Etsy shop: https://wovendifferently.etsy.com. Link for Patreon:...
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Beauty In the Flaws ND (Part 1)
This is the first part to "Beauty in the Flaws of ND," this one has articles and my interpretation of them. Links for articles;...
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Living with ND: Hope and Healing
For neurodivergent individuals, a holistic toolkit combining hope, music, journaling, and self-talk offers a more effective strategy for managing stress and pain than mindfulness alone. 🔗 Referenced Articles & Resources: Medium: How hope can be more effective at stress management than...
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The Neurodivergent's Guide to Time
An insightful podcast episode redefines "wasted time" as a crucial act of mental autonomy, especially for those with neurodivergent minds. The host, Jennifer, connects this idea to her own experience with NVLD, explaining how structured "pause time" is essential for recharging and creative...
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Interview with Me and Dr. Andrew Hill Part 2
Today's episode is the second part of my interview with Dr. Andrew Hill. Here's his website: https://andrewhillphd.com/. Link for Multi-LDs: https://site-y2pc01yz2.godaddysites.com/Etsy shop: https://wovendifferently.etsy.com. Link for...
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When the Words Won’t Come: NLD and Writer’s Block
In this episode, we explore how Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD) impacts writing, why writer’s block can hit harder for those with invisible learning challenges, and strategies to overcome it with compassion and creativity. 🔗 Show Notes: Articles & Resources NLD.org – Academic Challenges...
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Time Isn’t on My Side: Neurodiversity and Scheduling
Why does time feel slippery for so many neurodivergent people? In this episode of Living with an Invisible Learning Challenge, Jennifer explores time-blindness, why traditional planners and rigid schedules often fail, and how to create flexible systems that actually support neurodivergent…
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Interview with Me and Dr. Andrew Hill
Today's episode is the first part of my interview with Dr. Andrew Hill. Here's his website: https://andrewhillphd.com/. Etsy shop: https://wovendifferently.etsy.com. Link for Pateron:...
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How does the NT world hide ND?
This episode explores how neurotypical society—through unconscious biases, rigid systems, and lack of representation—both unintentionally and intentionally reinforces the invisibility of neurodivergent individuals, and how awareness and inclusive practices can help change that. Links for…
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Disability Pride Month: Celebrating ND Identity & Community
Celebrate Disability Pride Month by embracing your neurodivergent identity through activism, reflection, and personal pride practices that foster belonging and visibility. 🔗 Reputable Articles & Resources: ABA: Celebrating Disability Pride Month & its origins (americanbar.org) Neurodivergent...
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Me and Keith (Part 2)
Keith Murfee‑DeConcini is a lifelong disability rights advocate who founded and hosts the podcast and upcoming nonprofit Disability Empowerment Now, raising awareness and amplifying disability voices through speaking, writing, and storytelling. This is part two of the interview and the last part...
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Interview with Keith and Me (Part 1)
Keith Murfee‑DeConcini is a lifelong disability rights advocate who founded and hosts the podcast and upcoming nonprofit Disability Empowerment Now, raising awareness and amplifying disability voices through speaking, writing, and storytelling. Etsy shop: https://wovendifferently.etsy.com....
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When Help Feels Heavy: Living with the Invisible
This episode explores the emotional challenges of asking for help while living with invisible conditions like neurodivergence and chronic migraines, including the pain of loneliness, feeling like a burden, and the journey toward self-compassion. Etsy shop: https://wovendifferently.etsy.com.…
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Invisible Struggles with Medication
This episode explores the unpredictable journey of medication for neurodivergent individuals, revealing the science behind why treatments succeed or fail — and the hope for more personalized, inclusive care. Etsy shop: https://wovendifferently.etsy.com. Links to Articles Mentioned: New Atlas on...
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Interview with Me and Laura
Today's episode is an interview with a small, local business in San Diego, "Oil's Cookies." Oli’s Cookies was founded by a mother, Laura who left her chef career to care for her son Oliver, who has severe autism, and turned her passion for baking into a business. The company offers high-quality,...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Have you ever wondered what it is like to live with an invisible learning disability? Well then, step into my and others’ world of Living with Multi-Learning Differences (MLDs). I want to provide a podcast for nuerodivergents or someone who knows them and wants to help improve their life. Awareness about MLDs should be raised because the public needs to be more knowledgeable about them. This can be hard to do because many of the learning disabilities that someone can have aren't obvious.
HOSTED BY
Jennifer Purcell
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge have?
Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge currently has 261 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge about?
Have you ever wondered what it is like to live with an invisible learning disability? Well then, step into my and others’ world of Living with Multi-Learning Differences (MLDs). I want to provide a podcast for nuerodivergents or someone who knows them and wants to help improve their life. Awareness...
How often does Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge release new episodes?
Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge publishes regularly with 261 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge?
You can listen to Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge?
Living With an Invisible Learning Challenge is created and hosted by Jennifer Purcell.
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