Ever wondered what would happen if the working world was simply not built for you? The 23-year-old is not short on drive or intelligence—an offer onto a forensic psychology master's course is proof of that. But a late double diagnosis of autism and ADHD slashed her ambitions because the rigidity of traditional work and education failed to accommodate her needs, and the symptoms that flare when those needs are neglected.
Thompson has never held a job for longer than two months. Her every attempt ended in a dramatic, tearful meltdown, followed by resignation. So, she stopped trying, turning to education instead in 2024—until that "very intense" master's degree pushed her past breaking point and into a hospital bed.
"I was struggling with anorexia rooted in not accepting or accommodating my autism," Thompson told Newsweek. "And I started opening up about my journey after being hospitalized. "That's where my 'Good Girls Don't Get Diagnosed' movement began." That movement has since become Good Girls Club, an online community for late-diagnosed women with AuDHD—the combination of autism and ADHD.
Ten weeks ago, Thompson began posting on TikTok, then Instagram, chronicling her struggle to survive inside a working world she says was never designed with her brain in mind. The story she tells is deeply personal. But it is also, increasingly, a public one—shared by millions of neurodivergent adults navigating corporate expectations that assume everyone's mind works the same way.
For Thompson, the problem was never a lack of ability. "It's less that the 9-5 is unsuited, and more that it's unaccommodating," she said. "Plenty of adults with ADHD and autism thrive within a traditional structure, but for people like me, who have both, it takes more than workplace adjustments provide." Steady focus for eight-plus hours, minimal breaks and identical output expectations regardless of energy levels create, in her words, "a rigid model that doesn't account for how our focus and energy move." Harsh sensory environments compound the strain.
"Open-plan offices, fluorescent lighting, and constant background noise are exhausting in a way that has nothing to do with motivation or capability," she said. Then there is what Thompson calls the invisible second job outside the office: workplace socializing. "Workplace culture leans on teamwork, on socializing with colleagues," she said.
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