For a lot of us, the support just stops. You finish high school and the programs end, the services end, and nobody hands you a replacement. Your social life quietly becomes your own problem to solve.
Jamie Pastrano said something in this conversation I have not stopped thinking about. There is no milestone for loneliness. You get one for a first job, a first apartment, riding the train alone. There is not one for having somebody to call on a Tuesday night. And if nobody measures it, nobody plans for it.
Jamie is a licensed social worker and a peer certified provider, and a mom. She watched her autistic son age into that gap and could not find him a solution. Brittany Moser is a former teacher with a master's degree in autism studies. Rebecca Matchett, who everybody calls Becky, spent two decades in fashion, co-founded Alison Olivia, and holds a patent in women's sizing. Together they built Synchrony, a social app made specifically for neurodivergent adults who want to make real friends. Not adapted from something else. Built from the ground up for us.
The part that surprised me is the way you get in. You upload an ID, and somebody who knows you vouches for you. I assumed that would push people away. They told me the opposite. Wide open platforms are exactly what failed this community, and those extra steps are what finally let people stop performing once they are inside.
We also talk about masking and what it does to your body, what happens when the diagnosis came late or never came at all, and how to bring something like this up with someone you love without it landing badly. And we go straight at the AI question, because there is an optional coach in the app named Jesse.
Synchrony, the app and the download links: https://joinsynchrony.com
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The Real Ones, five dollars a month, gets you the ADHD Deep Dive Library and Reverse the Mic, where my guests flip the script and interview me. That one is subscriber-exclusive and never hits the main feed. Jamie, Brittany and Becky recorded one for this episode.
Ky is a mental health advocate speaking from lived experience. He is not a clinician, and this content is not medical advice.
Much love. Good vibes. - Ky.
