Rise As We Are CIC

You know more about yourself than you used to. Maybe you've spent months or years reading about autism, ADHD, masking or burnout. Maybe you've had a diagnosis, are exploring whether you're neurodivergent, or are just starting to make sense of why life has always felt harder than it seems to for other people.

The problem is that understanding yourself doesn't automatically make things easier.

You might still be exhausted, overwhelmed by everyday life, struggling with boundaries, questioning yourself, feeling lonely or wondering why you can't seem to make the changes you know would help.

That's why we created Rise As We Are.

It's a community for neurodivergent adults who want more than information. A place to connect with people who understand, ask questions without judgement, and get support to build a life that works for them.

Because understanding yourself is just the beginning.

Join me live in the Rise As We Are community tomorrow at 1pm.

I'll be hosting an informal Q&A where you can bring your questions about autism, ADHD, burnout, masking, parenting, education, work, relationships, self-advocacy, or anything else that's on your mind.

Here's a no pressure chance to get support, ideas and answers.

Join via the link in my bio or head to https://riseasweare.org/community.

Carly Steel

Rise As We Are - Community Rise As We Are online community provides sociable, educational and supportive safe spaces for autistic adults, those with ADHD or AuDHD and their families.

Just put a poll out for our next community webinar....
What would you choose?

I am really looking forward to being part of the Autism and ADHD show this year. My talk will be on the Friday on the ADHD stage. It's called:

“She’s Fine at School.” The Hidden Reality for Neurodivergent Girls

For such a long time I’ve wanted to be involved in feminist advocacy and work that creates change for neurodivergent girls and women... and over the past few years it feels like that is becoming real.

I feel incredibly lucky to be able to do this work, share these conversations, and hopefully help people feel seen and understood.

Fingers crossed we will have a stall for Rise As We Are too!

Just a quick reminder that the Neurodivergent Burnout webinar will be starting at 7pm this evening.

If you can’t make it live, don’t worry the replay will be available inside the community afterwards.

You can join and access it for free here:
https://riseasweare.org/community

In this session, we’ll be covering:

Early signs of burnout, shutdown, or depletion
Common causes of burnout
Practical ideas to help you through burnout and reduce future cycles

Hope to see you there,
Carly

Burnout doesn’t come out of nowhere and it’s not just about doing too much. You might notice it seems to cycle.

In this session, we’ll cover:

- what neurodivergent burnout is (and why it’s different)
- the role of masking and why it catches up with you
- early warning signs most people miss
- how to come out of burnout without forcing yourself through it
- how to prevent it happening again and staying in the cycle

This is calm, practical, and realistic, delivered by Carly Steel, an AuDHD specialist mentor and consultant.

If you want access to this training, all resources (burnout checklist and unmasking plan) plus the community space, comment INTERESTED and I’ll show you how to get it for £5.99 (instead of £39).

This is why we started the doom pile challenge.
Not to be perfect but to just get started.
Join us next week: https://riseasweare.org/community

The Rise As We Are neurodivergent community opens today at 12pm.

If you’ve been thinking about joining, this is how it works:

From 12pm, head to riseasweare.org/community
and click Join Now.

That will take you to the sign-up page (it won’t be live until midday).

Once you’ve signed up, you can access the community straight away on desktop.

If you’d prefer to use it on your phone, just download the Heartbeat App and sign in using your details.

That’s it - you’re in.

Don’t forget, you can use the code **LAUNCHMONTH** for your free first month.

See you inside

We open tomorrow.

If you’ve been thinking about joining, this is your reminder.

The free first month is only available during launch week, so if you want to come in and see what it’s like without committing, now is the time.

Inside, there’s:

A space to chat, meet people and learn

Chatrooms and conversations with people who get it

Practical resources

Monthly webinars (starting with neurodivergent burnout)

Low-pressure things like the doom pile body double sessions

Ongoing support and ideas when you need them

Live Q&As with me and other professionals

You don’t have to use everything, just what works for you.

We’re a not-for-profit community, so after your free month it’s just £5.99 per month to help cover costs and keep everything running.

If you’ve been looking for something like this then you are so welcome to join us here:

https://riseasweare.org/community-pre-launch

Carly

My Story

We open in 2 days, and I wanted to share a bit more about why this community matters and it begins with my own experiences.

For a long time, I looked like I was doing fine.

I did well at school, went into education, moved into leadership roles, and spent years supporting other people. From the outside, it all made sense.

But underneath, I was exhausted, anxious, and didn’t really know myself.

Masking started very early for me and I didn’t actually question it... I just thought this was what everyone did. I learned how to be in the world before I had any real sense of who I was.

I was constantly aware of myself. Trying to get things right, be easy, capable, likeable.

I lost track of what I needed. Everything felt effortful and rest felt like something I had to earn. It wasn’t sustainable.

University was the point where I couldn’t hold it together anymore. I burnt out and didn’t understand why. I thought I was the problem.

I was misdiagnosed more than once. I was told I couldn’t be autistic because I made eye contact, had friends, did well academically.

So I kept trying to fix myself.

It took a long time before things started to make sense. And even then, unmasking wasn’t simple and finding 'my people' didn't come easy.

What helped wasn’t more pressure or more strategies, but being around the right people.
People who understood without needing a full explanation.
People who didn’t expect me to be different.

That feeling of not having to explain yourself all the time changes things.

Alongside that, my professional work has grown over the years. I’ve worked across education, supported lots of different people and families, and built up qualifications and experience in this area.

But the reason this matters to me isn’t just professional.

It’s because I see the same pattern all the time in the people I work with now.

People who feel like they don’t quite fit anywhere.

That’s where this community comes in.

It’s a space where you don’t have to start from scratch explaining yourself.

You can come in, read, join in, or just sit back.

There will be support, resources, webinars, and conversations. But more than anything, it’s about having somewhere that feels a bit easier to be in.

Somewhere you don’t feel like the odd one out.

If that’s something you’ve been missing, you can find out more here:
https://riseasweare.org/community-pre-launch

We open this Wednesday!