The Sight Side

Season two of The Sight Side opens with Theresa Falk, a Honolulu-based author, educator, and 31-year veteran of the classroom. Theresa currently teaches 8th grade English and women's literature at 'Iolani School, where she advocates for gender equity and neurodiversity. James met her at the Slowdown Summit in Columbus, Ohio, where she was a speaker, and this episode is a continuation of the conversation that started there.This is a wide-ranging one. Theresa traces how neurodivergence has emerged across three decades of teaching, from a time when the vocabulary did not exist in education to the present moment where her students self-organize around it. She talks about the two branches of how she came to this work, professionally through the kids in front of her and personally through her own neurodivergent son. She talks about Kainoa, a former student who asked her to help him build a club for neurodivergent kids, and about what it cost him to write a perfect email.James and Theresa get into the buzzword problem ("everybody's ADHD these days"), the difference between a state and a condition, the cost of being undiagnosed for four decades, and why kids who were told audio books "do not count as reading" end up doing better in public schools than private ones. The conversation turns toward AI, the credential collapse, what Gen Z is going to have to build because the institutions handed them holes instead of bridges, and Theresa's direct call-out to her own generation: we hold the power right now, and we cannot walk away from this work.Theresa is a writer, a poet, a performer, a teacher, and someone whose career is in education, but whose life path is in healing. That comes through.Some moments worth flagging:Why the moment a vocabulary word enters a school is the moment a student becomes visibleThe Einstein and Spielberg Club, where 20 kids showed up to the first meeting"I teach a child, not a subject"The take-a-lap story, and why five sweaty middle school boys gave the best presentation of the dayWhat it actually costs a neurodivergent student to do what everybody else doesWhy "what's wrong with you" is the wrong questionTheresa's call-out to Gen X and the BoomersAbout Theresa Falk:Theresa Falk is a Honolulu-based author, educator, and creative who has spent more than three decades guiding students to discover the power of their own stories. Her work centers on voice, identity, and connection, both in the classroom and on the page. She currently teaches 8th grade English and women's literature at 'Iolani School, where she is an advocate for gender equity and neurodiversity.Find Theresa:Substack: Rewriting the Lead — https://theresafalk.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresa-falk-a27534368/About the host:James Hickey is the founder of PathWays Collective and host of The Sight Side. He is an AuDHD systems architect, Licensed Peer Recovery Supporter, and author of Cyberspace Psychosis and the Virtual Reality Blues. He was identified as autistic and ADHD in his forties, after decades of being labeled unfocused, underperforming, or not living up to his potential.Website — https://pathwayscollective.net/the-sight-sideLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/james-hickey-9b8ab43a2Audio note:Some technical issues during recording resulted in James's audio being quieter than Theresa's. Transcript available on the website if it helps you follow along.New episode Thursday:James gets into Cyberspace Psychosis and the Virtual Reality Blues: what the book is, what it argues, and why he wrote it.

Guest: Genie Love, M.Ed. (Founder of NeuroAutonomy)Episode SummaryIn our first guest episode, James sits down with Genie Love to pull back the curtain on the "High-Performing until suddenly they’re not" pattern. With 25 years of experience spanning special education and executive coaching, Genie explains why traditional productivity advice fails neurodivergent brains and how both individuals and organizations can move toward Applied Neurodivergence—treating unique cognitive wiring as an asset rather than a liability.Key Discussion PointsThe Late-Diagnosis Lens: The difference between early support and discovering your neurodivergence in your 40s or 50s, and the process of "looking back" to forgive your inner critic.The Duck Metaphor: Understanding masking fatigue—the cost of appearing calm and "neurotypical" on the surface while pedaling furiously underneath.Executive Function Breakdown: Why smart, capable professionals suddenly hit a wall, and how "tripping over the pebble" of small daily frustrations leads to total overwhelm.Discarding Generic Productivity: Why "eating the frog" or the "two-minute rule" can actually be detrimental for ADHD and Autistic brains.Bottom-Up Systems: Genie’s approach to building personalized scaffolding, including her color-coded regulation system for managing overstimulation in real-time.The ROI of Retention: Why it is cheaper and more effective for organizations to coach and retain neurodivergent talent than to let them burn out and face the costs of turnover.Notable Quotes"You always trip over the pebble on the path; you don't trip over the mountain.""They've been working their whole lives to meet us where we want them to be... maybe we can meet them a little more where they are."Resources & LinksNeuroAutonomy: neuroautonomy.comConnect with Genie on LinkedIn: Genie Love, M.Ed.

I got written up once for trying to solve a customer's problem. Not for failing—for trying the wrong way. And here's the thing: the problem never got solved. The customer left without ever getting what they needed. But I still got the write-up. Because the process mattered more than the outcome.In this episode, I break down one of the biggest friction points between neurodivergent talent and the organizations we work in: the NT obsession with methods over results. I share the casino story that still makes me salty twelve years later, and offer practical strategies for navigating hierarchy when your brain is wired to see answers directly.Key quote from this episode:"Does this need to be said? Does this need to be said by me? Does this need to be said right now?"Topics CoveredThe casino anecdote: written up for trying to solve a problem the wrong wayNT method obsession vs. ND results orientationWhy being right doesn't protect you if you're right the wrong wayThe pattern recognition penaltyCircumspection: the skill late-diagnosed ND people learn the hard wayPractical strategies for communicating with supervisorsReframing accommodation as communication protocolFive Strategies for Navigating HierarchyLead with the outcome, not the problem — "I want to make sure we hit [goal]. I noticed something that might get in the way."Frame it as a question — "Have we considered..." gives room to engage instead of defend.Document in writing — Creates a paper trail and gives you processing time to choose your words.Find the person who can hear it — Sometimes the chain of command is the problem.Know when to let it go — If you've raised it and documented it, you've done your part. Protect yourself.LinksPathWays Collective: https://pathwayscollective.netLinkd In: James HickeyHave a story about being punished for solving problems the wrong way? I want to hear it. Reach out on LinkedIn or leave a comment.The Sight Side Pioneering the Field of Applied Neurodivergence From Friction to Flow

In this episode, James defines Applied Neurodivergence—a framework that shifts the ND conversation from accommodation to capability. He explores the difference between early and late diagnosis, the uncomfortable realities of how employers view accommodation, and why it's time to start talking about what neurodivergent professionals can actually deliver.Topics covered:What's missing from the current ND conversationEarly diagnosis vs. late diagnosis: accommodation vs. scarsThe employer perspective on accommodation (uncomfortable but true)The JP Morgan Autism at Work dataApplied Neurodivergence: definition and core cognitive operationsPathWays Collective: pathwayscollective.netConnect: [email protected]: www.linkedin.com/in/james-hickey-9b8ab43a2

In this first episode of The Sight Side, host James Hickey shares his origin story—from truck driver to systems integration specialist in nine months.James explores why trucking was his “unicorn profession,” how a hip injury forced a sudden life pivot, and what happened when a single sentence in a peer recovery training shut him down completely:“Instead of asking what’s wrong with you, ask what happened to you.”That question led to a formal autism and ADHD diagnosis at 45, medication that silenced decades of chronic negative self-talk, and a complete reframe of what he had spent his entire life calling “broken.”This episode also introduces the concept of Applied Neurodivergence—the deliberate and systematic use of neurodivergent cognitive patterns as functional assets rather than pathologies.If you’ve ever felt like you don’t fit, like you’re surviving instead of thriving, or like you’ve been asking yourself the wrong question—this episode is for you.Topics Covered: • Why trucking is the “unicorn profession” for AuDHD brains • The pivot: injury, depression, and rebuilding from zero • “What’s wrong with you?” vs. “What happened to you?” • Late diagnosis at 45: autism, ADHD, and finally having language • Medication, executive function, and the silencing of chronic negative self-talk • Masking, survival, and the suicide risk nobody talks about • Bottom-up processing and cognitive latency • Neurodivergent productivity: the JPMorgan and HP studies • From surviving to thriving: why this podcast existsResources Mentioned: • From Liquor to Dhikr by James Hickey • Path of the Sober Seeker podcast • PathWays Collective — pathwayscollective.net • JPMorgan Chase Autism at Work ProgramConnect: • Website: pathwayscollective.net • Email: [email protected] is a long-form origin episode and sets the conceptual foundation for future, more narrowly focused discussions.