How Amber Realised “Postpartum Anxiety” Was Autistic Burnout

In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes Amber Covucci — a late-diagnosed Autistic attorney, mother of two, and brilliant pattern-matcher who spent decades thinking she was “just sensitive” before discovering she was Autistic in her mid-30s.

Together, Angela and Amber explore Autistic motherhood, masking, sensory life, high-achieving burnout, and raising neurodivergent kids while still learning how to accommodate their own needs.

🪑 Attendees

Chair: Dr Angela Kingdon — Author, community-builder, and Autistic advocate

Guest: Amber Covucci — Autistic attorney, writer, and mother

You: The Listener!

🗒️ Meeting Agenda

• Opening remarks from the Chair
• Member introduction: Amber’s Autistic childhood & early masking
• Discussion: Pregnancy, postpartum, sensory overwhelm & burnout
• Key learnings
• Club announcements

🧾 Minutes from the Meeting

1️⃣ Opening Remarks

Angela welcomes listeners into a conversation many Autistic mothers rarely hear reflected: what happens when your mask collapses under the sensory, emotional, and logistical weight of early parenthood.

2️⃣ Member Introduction: Amber’s story

From childhood, Amber felt different: intensely focused (“too much attention disorder”), deeply sensitive, academically exceptional, and physically overwhelmed by clothing, noise, and transitions.

Despite high achievement — gifted programs, top grades, law school — she also experienced chronic burnout, shutdowns, and sensory barriers nobody recognised as Autistic traits.

3️⃣ Discussion Highlights

• Missed Signs: Sensory overwhelm, hyperfocus, and lifelong burnout are misunderstood.
• Pregnancy & Postpartum: What looked like “postpartum anxiety” was Autistic burnout.
• Birth & Autonomy: Sensory-safe support and control made labour manageable.
• Work & Burnout: Deep-focus strengths paired with crash-level recovery needs.
• Autistic Parenting: New language and compassion for her own and her children’s needs.

4️⃣ Key Learnings

• Late diagnosis brings relief, not limitation
• Sensory overwhelm is not weakness — it’s information
• Autistic parents can be extraordinary caregivers
• You can redesign your life once you understand your brain
• Diagnosis isn’t necessary for belonging — self-knowledge is

📣 Club Announcements

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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.

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