Autistic Culture Presents... Late Diagnosis Club: How KW Unlearned a Lifetime of Wrong Labels After Identifying as AuDHD
In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes KW Raney, a therapist, creative, and podcast host who identified as AuDHD in adulthood after years of misdiagnosis, burnout, and self-blame.
As a child, KW was labelled with oppositional defiant disorder and grew up believing he was difficult, lazy, and broken. But decades later, recognition of ADHD, and later Autism, helped him reframe the struggles that had followed him since childhood.
Together, Angela and KW explore the cost of wrong labels, Autistic burnout, meltdowns mistaken for behavioural problems, sensory overwhelm, masking through work and education, and the long process of learning how to accommodate yourself instead of fighting yourself.
🪑 Attendees
Chair: Dr Angela Kingdon — Author, community-builder, and Autistic advocate
Guest: KW Raney — Therapist, creative, and AuDHD advocate
You: The Listener!
🗒️ Meeting Agenda
- Opening remarks from the Chair
- Member introduction: Misdiagnosis, masking, ADHD discovery and later Autism recognition
- Discussion: ODD labels and childhood misunderstanding
- Burnout, depression, and reframing the past
- Meltdowns, sensory overwhelm, and self-accommodation
- Music, animals, and nervous system regulation
- Trusting your own internal compass
- Key learnings
- Club announcements
🧾 Minutes from the Meeting
1️⃣ Opening Remarks
Angela introduces KW Raney, who reflects on how years of wrong labels shaped his identity, and how discovering he was AuDHD helped everything begin to make sense.
2️⃣ Member Introduction: KW’s Story
KW was diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder as a child, a label that framed his distress and overwhelm as bad behaviour rather than unmet needs.
Despite academic success, he carried deep feelings of failure and self-blame into adulthood. It was only later, through recognising ADHD and then Autism, that he began to understand the lifelong patterns beneath those experiences.
3️⃣ Discussion Highlights
- ODD label: Childhood distress framed as defiance instead of neurodivergence
- Hidden struggle: Good grades masking internal overwhelm
- Adult ADHD recognition: A workplace conversation changed the lens
- Autism realisation: Later patterns are becoming clear through a new framework
- Burnout reframe: Depression and suicidality viewed differently in hindsight
- Meltdowns misunderstood: Pressure-valve overload mistaken for behaviour problems
- Self-accommodation: Learning to support needs instead of suppressing them
- Animal regulation: Comfort, pressure input, and nervous system calm
- Music as lifeline: Emotional release, identity, and connection
- Creative return: Rebuilding expression after burnout
- Inner compass: Learning to trust yourself over old labels
4️⃣ Key Learnings
- Wrong labels can shape identity for decades.
- Achievement does not cancel out struggle.
- Burnout is often misunderstood when neurodivergence is unseen.
- Meltdowns are overwhelm, not moral failure.
- Self-accommodation can be life-changing.
- Healing often begins when you trust your own experience.
📌 Notice Board
📣 Club Announcements
🎧 The Late Diagnosis Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.
💬 Join our online meetups and community at latediagnosis.club.
📌 Check the LDC Notice Board for Member Contributions
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🎙️ Executive Producers: Amy Burns, Anamaria B Call, Andrew Banner, Anna Goodson, Ashley Apelzin, Audrea Volker, Ben Coulson, Brian Churcek, Cappy Hamper, Carley Biblin, Charlene Deva, Chloe Cross, Clay Duhigg, Clayton Oliver, Danny Dunn, Daria Brown, David Garrido, Emily Burgess, Eric Crane, Erik Stenerud, Fiona Baker, Grace Norman, Helen Shaddock, Jaimie Collins, Jason Killian, Jen Unruh, Jennifer Carpenter, Julia Tretter, Kathie Watson-Gray, Kenneth Knowles, Kira Cotter, Kristine Lang, Kyle Raney, Llew P Williams, Laura Alvarado, Laura De Vito, Laura Provonsha, Lily George, Nelly Darmi, Nigel Rogers, Rachel Miller, Tim Scott, Tyler Kunz, Victoria Steed, Yanina Wood.
🎧 Producers: AJ Knight, Bobby Simon, Da Kovac, Eleanor Collins, Emily Griffiths, Hannah Hughes, Jennifer Kemp, Jonas Fløde, Kate F, Katie N Benitez, Kendra Murphy, Lisa Dennys, Logan Wall, Louise Lomas, Melissa Nance, Nicola Owen, Rebecka Johansson, Sam Morris, Sarah Hannah Morris.
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