Hello and welcome to Divergent Menopause, previously known as The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression.
I am Sam Galloway (she/her), an autistic ADHDer, and I have recently had a hysterectomy. As a neurodivergent perimenopause and PMDD survivor, I offer peer support and share knowledge on how to make it through the hard times.
Thanks for joining me on this wild midlife ride! 🎢
I am delighted to be joined again by Allegra Chapman (she/her) from Creative Fix in the final episode of Divergent Creativity in Menopause!
Together Allegra and I have created this four part mini series on the importance of creativity during the menopause transition and beyond.
🎧 1) What is creativity is and why does it matter?
🎧 2) How can creativity fit your needs?
🎧 3) Can you be creative by accident?
🎧 4) Can your creativity change as you change?
In this fourth and final part we talked about:
💕 Creativity shifts as our needs change throughout fluctuating capacity in neurodivergent perimenopause and beyond. Our creative practices can adapt and may become slower, smaller, or look entirely different.
💕 Creativity is a tool for unmasking and self-understanding. It helps us process our emotions (even when alexithymia makes them hard to name), recognise our needs, and navigate a world not built for neurodivergent, disabled or midlife women.
💕 There is no “right way” to be creative. We don’t need to follow neurotypical or traditionally masculine productivity advice. Creativity can look like writing novels or doodling, resting, or simply daydreaming. Whatever works for you is the right way.
Writing an autism adapted suicide safety plan
is creative because you’re thinking about what are your triggers,
what do you need, and what needs to be on hand. And then also about having
a toolkit you know to keep you regulated, regulate your nervous
system and then that that’s also creative to meet your needs. You don’t always
have to be doing something.
Sam Galloway
Further reading and resources
Allegra’s inspiring book ‘Creativity is your self-care: 52 creative therapy exercises exercises to support your emotional wellbeing all year round’ is available to buy here!
If you would like to immerse deeper into Allegra’s creative wisdom, you can sign up to her course, Divergent Creatives.
The online programme to enable neurodivergent or disabled people to build a sustainable and joyful creative practice. If you’re a writer or artist who has more ideas than you know what to do with, but you struggle to finish things, or even to get started, then this course is going to help you get sh*t done!
A group of autistic menopause researchers based in the UK and Canada invited creative submissions reflecting people’s lived experience of this often challenging life transition. They wrote a paper on the submissions called ‘Stepping into who I fully am: A creative exploration of Autistic menopause.’
Creative exploration of Autistic menopause encouraged emotional catharsis, self-understanding, and activism/artivism. Autistic Community Researchers noted transcendent, almost “magical” dimensions of connecting with other Autistic people’s lived experiences. Our creative emancipatory approach enabled Autistic, multimedia responses which traditional research methods would not have elicited…
… Traditional research methods have limitations in capturing lived experiences of the Autistic menopausal transition. In this study creative, multimodal, arts-based approaches enhanced understanding by capturing nuanced interpretations and meanings.
The ability to communicate through creative submissions facilitated participants’ self-expression and they recognised the potential therapeutic value of the creative process, as a “remedy” for Autistic menopause related difficulties.
This study adopted a novel approach to data analysis in which Autistic community researchers used creative, reflexive approaches to respond to arts-based submissions rather than relying on traditional academic methods.
For both Autistic research participants and Autistic researchers, creative methods had the potential to act as a catalyst for activism, artivism, and self-actualisation, encouraging personal transformation and magical transcendence through a process of (to paraphrase one of our participants) “stepping into” who we fully are.
Stepping into Who I Fully Am: A Creative Exploration of Autistic Menopause
Author(s): Mx Rose Matthews , Christine A. Jenkins , Margaret Janse van Rensburg, Miranda J. Brady, Rachel L. Moseley, Julie M. Gamble-Turner
Publication date (Electronic, pub): 27 June 2025
This concludes our series, and we hope you have enjoyed it! Thanks so much again to Allegra for recording this great chat with me, and thanks also to you for reading and listening!
Cheers,
If Divergent Menopause has helped you feel seen, understood, or a little less alone, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps me keep this space accessible, and funds time to create more honest writing, Q&As, and resources for our neurodivergent menopause community.
