How Shyloe Learned to Care for Her Sensitive Heart After Late Diagnosis
In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes Shyloe Fayad, a late-diagnosed Autistic school counsellor and somatic experiencing practitioner.
In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes Shyloe Fayad, a late-diagnosed Autistic school counsellor and somatic experiencing practitioner based on the stolen land of the Syilx people of the Okanagan in Canada.
Shyloe works both within schools and in private practice, supporting neurodivergent people, mixed race communities, and teens and adults navigating depression and anxiety.
Together, Angela and Shyloe explore sensitivity, boundaries, and the quiet but radical act of honouring your own needs in a culture that often teaches you not to.
🎧 Listen to this episode:
🪑 Attendees
Chair: Dr Angela Kingdon — Author, community-builder, and Autistic advocate
Guest: Shyloe Fayad — Late-diagnosed Autistic School counsellor and somatic experiencing practitioner
You: The Listener!
🗒️ Meeting Agenda
Opening remarks from the Chair
Member introduction: Learning to trust your own needs
Discussion: Sensitivity, boundaries, and self-trust
Late diagnosis and identity integration
Cultural conditioning and productivity expectations
Emotional processing and internal timing
Accountability vs compassion
Key learnings
Club announcements
🧾 Minutes from the Meeting
1️⃣ Opening Remarks
Angela welcomes Shyloe Fayad to the club, introducing a conversation centred on emotional sensitivity, self-trust, and rebuilding your relationship with yourself after a late diagnosis.
2️⃣ Member Introduction: Shyloe’s Story
Shyloe was raised in environments that prioritised productivity, deadlines, and external expectations over internal needs. Over time, this led to a disconnection from her own timing and instincts, something she began to recognise and unlearn following her late Autism diagnosis.
Her work as a counsellor and somatic practitioner informs this perspective, grounding the conversation in the body, nervous system, and the lived experience of navigating a world that often teaches people not to trust themselves.
3️⃣ Discussion Highlights
Sensitivity: Experiencing the world deeply and needing space to process
Self-trust: Relearning how to listen to internal signals
Cultural conditioning: Being taught your needs are “less important”
Productivity pressure: Deadlines overriding well-being
Women and masking: Social expectations shaping behaviour
Accountability vs compassion: The tension between rules and humanity
Black-and-white thinking: Wanting clear rules in complex social situations
Community: Drawing strength from like-minded people
Emotional care: Protecting your “sensitive heart”
4️⃣ Key Learnings
You have been taught not to trust your needs — and that can be unlearned.
Sensitivity is not a weakness, but something to be protected.
There is no perfect rulebook for being human — only ongoing adjustment.
Accountability and compassion must coexist.
Late diagnosis is the beginning of rebuilding self-trust.
Community can help you navigate a world that feels misaligned.
Honouring your needs is a practice, not a one-time decision.
You can start again — as many times as you need.
📌 Notice Board
Contact Shyloe: radicalwondering@gmail.com
📣 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
💜 There is a small charge — but no one is turned away for lack of funds.
💌 Want To Be Our Next Guest?
If you’ve been nodding along and thinking, “That could be my story,” we want to hear from you.
We’re always looking for late-diagnosed or self-identified neurodivergent adults who are ready to share their story on The Late Diagnosis Club.
Tell us a little about yourself and your diagnosis journey here:
💜 Whether you’ve just realised you’re Autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, or you’re still figuring it out — your story belongs here. We’ve saved you a seat.
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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.