Turns Out I’m Not Lazy

By Alix Munro ,BA, MA, RCT-C, CCC

Posted: November 20th, 2025

It took me seven years to finish my undergrad. Seven. Years. For context, that’s the same length of time it takes to become a doctor, or the length of time it feels like it’s been trying to get my son to use the potty. At the time, I couldn’t figure out why I was moving at the pace of a snail with an existential crisis. Failing the same two courses over and over again, while excelling in others.

Fast forward to age 28: I finally got my autism and ADHD diagnoses. Suddenly, everything made sense. Apparently, I wasn’t lazy, flaky, or terrible at life—I was just running a completely different operating system. Great news, except that it would have been really helpful to know while I was sweating through exams and struggling to motivate myself to drive to 10 am classes.

I think a lot of people did some level of self-discovery during the pandemic. That is exactly what happened to me. One day, I was wondering why so many autism posts on Instagram were so relatable – and the next, I was booking an assessment. It helped me massively in understanding myself, how I grew up, my marriage, and how I parent my son.

The funny thing is, once I understood my brain, grad school went much smoother. I finished my master’s in 2.5 years. 2.5 years. Seven years of undergrad. 2.5 years of a master’s. Make it make sense. (Spoiler: it does, once you factor in executive dysfunction, sensory overwhelm, and the joy of hyperfocus when something actually interests me.)

Now I’m a therapist, which means I spend my days listening to people, reflecting things back to them, and occasionally thinking, “Wow, that sounds familiar.” Being autistic and ADHD doesn’t just shape my story—it shapes how I practice. I don’t see my clients through the lens of deficits. I see people who are trying to survive in a world that was not designed with their brains in mind. Been there. Still there.

The upside of living this way is that I bring a certain... je ne sais quoi- an authenticity - to the work. I know the shame of feeling “behind” because I’ve lived it. I know the thrill of discovering coping strategies that actually stick. I know the “smart kid gets good grades in school to burnt out university student” pipeline. And I know that sometimes the best therapy involves laughing at the absurdity of trying to function in a world built for linear thinkers when your brain is basically a machine.

So, yes—my path here was winding. And yes, it took me longer than typical to get through school. But that winding road also gave me the perspective to sit with people in their struggles without judgment. Neurodiversity is not something I’ve had to learn from a textbook—it’s something I live, every day.

And honestly? If taking the scenic route means I can be a better therapist now, then I’ll take the seven-year undergrad. At least it makes for a good story, just way more student debt.