Episode 203

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Published on:

16th Aug 2025

Episode 203: Growing Up Twice After Adult Autism Discovery [featuring Elena Carroll]

In this episode, Patrick Casale and Elena Carroll, an Autistic content creator who’s inspiring many others on her journey of late-diagnosed autism, talk about her story of moving from New Zealand to Toronto and finding her voice as a writer and advocate for neurodivergent communities. This conversation highlights some powerful lessons for mental health professionals, neurodivergent individuals, and anyone passionate about inclusion.

Key Takeaways:

  1. Unmasking and Self-Discovery is a Lifelong Process: Elena shares her experiences with late autism diagnosis, showing that it’s never too late to understand yourself and make space for authenticity—even if it means returning to and healing parts of your childhood.
  2. Accommodations Are Not “Extras”—They’re Essentials: Both Patrick and Elena discuss the importance of embracing sensory tools, routines, and downtime as valid forms of self-care, not signs of weakness or “neediness.”
  3. Community & Representation Matter: Finding others who share your experience makes a world of difference. Content creation and open conversation help others feel seen, reduce shame, and normalize diverse neurodivergent journeys.

If you’re looking to deepen your understanding of late-diagnosed autism and want a refreshing, vulnerable perspective on healing and self-acceptance, this episode is for you.

More about Elena:

I'm Elena. I was diagnosed Autistic at 25 after years of struggling with mental health challenges and receiving different diagnoses that didn’t quite fit. I always felt different growing up, but I spent most of my life working hard to appear “normal.” Now, at 29, I’m on a journey to undo more than two decades of masking and finally get to know my true self.

I recently moved from New Zealand to Toronto, Canada, and over the past 18 months, I’ve started creating content focused on neurodivergence and autism. This work has been incredibly healing for me and has helped me connect with others who share similar experiences. I’m also in the process of writing a book about what it’s like to be a late-diagnosed autistic woman, exploring all the complexities and discoveries along the way.

  • Instagram: elenacarr0ll
  • TikTok: elena__carroll
  • YouTube: Elena Carroll

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About the Podcast

The Neurodivergent Entrepreneur
Honest conversations about building a business while Autistic, ADHD, or both — the self-doubt, the chaos, and everything in between.
The Neurodivergent Entrepreneur is a podcast for ADHD, Autistic, and otherwise neurodivergent entrepreneurs who are building businesses, creative work, and lives that actually fit how their brains work. Hosted by Patrick Casale, this show is for people who
want to create meaningful work, make money, grow their impact, and build something sustainable without losing themselves in the process.

Being a neurodivergent entrepreneur can feel like holding a lot of contradictions at once. You may have big ideas, deep passion, creative energy, and a strong desire to do things differently. You may also be navigating burnout, masking, self-doubt, perfectionism, rejection sensitivity, executive dysfunction, inconsistent energy, and the pressure to keep showing up when your capacity is already stretched. This podcast speaks to that reality honestly, because building a business around your brain, your values, and your lived experience can be powerful, complicated, messy, and deeply personal.

Patrick Casale is a therapist, entrepreneur, speaker, retreat host, group practice owner, and neurodivergent business owner who has built, grown, burned out, pivoted, and kept going. His work brings together clinical insight, lived experience, business perspective, and real conversation about what it actually takes to create something that feels aligned. His conversations are direct, compassionate, unfiltered, and practical, with room for both the emotional reality of entrepreneurship and the concrete decisions that shape a sustainable business.

New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature honest conversations with neurodivergent entrepreneurs, creators, therapists, business owners, and leaders. Together, Patrick and his guests explore entrepreneurship, identity, mental health,
creativity, leadership, systems, money, visibility, community, sustainable growth, and the behind-the-scenes reality of creating work that matters.

Build the business. Protect your capacity. Create work that actually fits.