510 | Asexuality, Grief, and Community - with Emily Karp

This week, Eric is joined by Emily Karp! Emily is a 33-year-old entrepreneur, asexuality activist, and fan-work creator!  She embraced her ADHD around age 30 and quit her tedious job to become self-employed as a funeral celebrant and memorial slideshow editor who crafts personalized funerals and celebration-of-life events for non-religious individuals.  Emily went through the ADHD reWired coaching program in spring of 2021 and became a peer mentor in 2022.  

Emily is also one of the authors of the book Ace and Aro Journeys: A Guide to Embracing your Asexual or Aromantic Identity, and is a lead organizer of the Washington DC Metro Area Ace and Aro meetup group! 

• Learn more about Emily at griefpictured.com! (click here!)

Questions/Topics:

• [00:01:39] Introducing Emily
• [00:02:41] Diving into the start of Emily’s ADHD journey
• [00:03:37] The stakes of getting an ADHD diagnosis
• [00:04:47] Life as an administrative professional before treatments 
• [00:08:47] Burnout, becoming an entrepreneur, sleep struggles, and coaching 
• [00:10:30] The “why” behind becoming a non-religious Funeral Celebrant 
• [00:13:24] Helping others grieve and heal, family estrangements, memorial gatherings, and closure 
• [00:17:17] Grief to acceptance with ADHD 
• [00:24:07] The basics of asexuality and aromantics
• [00:26:04] Nuances of ace relationships, significant others, attraction, and more  
• [00:28:25] Physical desire, libido, and other statistics in the asexual community 
• [00:30:44] A discussion on dysfunction, orientation, sexual trauma, and gatekeeping 
• [00:33:20] ADHD and neurodivergence in the Ace community 
• [00:42:07] The positive impact of community and relationships 
• [00:45:01] Emily’s facilitated sessions in the ADHD reWired community spaces 
• [00:46:54] Sharing more wins 
• [00:48:43] Emily’s work, website, and closing thoughts

Resources & Honorable Mentions:

• Podcast: Aceterpretations (click here!)
• Website: TAAAP - The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project @ taaap.org (click here!)
• Book: Ace and Aro Journeys: A Guide to Embracing Your Asexual or Aromantic Identity (on Goodreads)
• Want to go to CHADD this year?  Go to chadd.org to learn more! (click here!)

---

🌟 Have you heard about our Adult Study Hall Community? Go to adultstudyhall.com to join our ADHD-friendly body-doubling community!

---

🌟 Interested in group coaching and want to take your ADHD management to the next level? Go to coachingrewired.com to get all the up-to-date information on the upcoming season of ADHD reWired's award-winning Coaching & Accountability groups!