Beany Brain #80: Do I Tell? Lovely!

Author

Abigail Munday
February 10, 2026

Beany Brain: loving our jumping-bean brains!

Welcome to this issue of the Beany Brain! I hope today’s newsletter will bounce us up as we contemplate the upsides and challenges of being neurodivergent, a little beauty, some creativity, and just general yeehawesomeness.

Table of Contents

Photo by Abigail Munday

Do I Tell?

What are the benefits of telling others that you have a diagnosis of a differently-wired brain?

What are the drawbacks?

In the latest episode of the “Meet My Autistic Brain” podcast, The Autistic Woman, the host, researcher, director, and producer of the podcast, tells us a true story.

First of all, to set the scene, the podcast is for late-diagnosed autistic adults. (Check.)

Then comes the story: An author’s agent contacted The Autistic Woman to see if she’d like to interview the writer on her podcast. He’d written a book about friendship.

Just to give him some background, she emailed him back and told him that autistic people process social interactions differently, and that it would be great to have him on to talk about friendships.

He emailed back and said the show “wasn’t a good fit” for him.

(source unknown)

Do I tell? Don’t I?

Every person is different, and every autistic person is different.

Would it be helpful for someone to know? Would I be able to ask for accommodations that I need?

But would it be safe to disclose?

Everyone has to make their own decision in each particular situation.

I know. That doesn’t make it easy.

I wish I could snap my fingers and make it a supportive and safe world.

Is it possible? Do tell. (I mean, you don’t have to. I’m just using an idiom here.)

Ha Ha Haiku

A funny haiku for you every week in every newsletter, whether it’s one of my own or one I curate for you. HA. Ha. Haiku.

(source unknown)

Photo by Abigail Munday

Love, ND Style

If you’ve met one ND (neurodivergent) person, you’ve met one ND person.

And since we’re coming up to Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d say a few words about love in ND language.

Because I am just one ND person, this is one ND person’s experience and preferences.

(source unknown)

Roses? I’m allergic to flowers. Please don’t bring them in the house or I’ll be sneezing my head off.

Chocolate? I’m allergic to dairy, so there are very few kinds I can have.

Fancy dinners out? Expensive and I probably can’t eat most of the ingredients.

I am just so happy to hang out with my hubby and cook for us (he does the dishes).

He vacuums.

We take walks.

We each have our own sofa: I read books or write Beany Brain newsletters and he usually watches a Japanese show on his phone with earbuds. (Unless we’re watching something together, like the Netflix adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials.)

We talk. A lot.

He found a vegan restaurant that we might try. I’ll have to research their menu first.

I don’t need or want disco balls. High heels kill my feet. Tight dresses are for the birds.

I’ll take an old-fashioned bowling alley, or a quiet cafe, or a stroll around a museum.

Or a library!

I hope your Valentine’s Day is exactly the sensory experience that you need—sending friendship love your way.

Hand-drawn bookmark found in a Little Free Library book

Photo by Abigail Munday

Yeehawesome!

Yeehawesome! is a happy-brain roundup in each issue of Beany Brain. What’s happening that’s good in brain land? What’s bringing me joy?

  1. That yeehawesomely special carrot (above).

  2. Zinnias are some of my favorite flowers, and did you know that they are friendly companion plants for other plants? They attract pollinators and beneficial insects! And they protect vegetables by trapping aphids and other insects that would chomp the veggies. Not only are zinnias beautiful, but they are so helpful and supportive for the plants around them. I picture good friends like this.

  3. A yeehawesome young autistic lad named Monty in the UK, aged 11, has started a petition to get sensory areas put into classrooms.

Quote of the Week

It is necessary to leave the impersonal highway, to step inside the rusty gate and close it behind. One is now inside the orange grove, out of one world and in the mysterious heart of another. And after long years of spiritual homelessness, of nostalgia, here is that mystic loveliness of childhood again. Here is home.

- Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in her book Cross Creek, 1942

Beany Brownie Points and Extra Bonus Funniness

Jane Austen Daily Dose

Wonderful Wednesday

Wonderful Wednesday was a day once a year in college when they would suddenly and surprisingly call off all classes and we’d play all day. The cafeteria provided special fun food and we’d do stuff outside like slip ‘n slides and jello wrestling in sumo suits. This segment of Beany Brain is dedicated to that memory of silliness and fun—no words, just a photo from the week that I’ve taken or found that reminds me to let the joy in. Since Beany Brain is published on Wednesday every week (at least, Wednesday in Japan), I hope you enjoy this Wonderful Wednesday.

Photo by Abigail Munday

Today’s Beany-full Summary:

  • Whether you disclose an autism diagnosis is a personal decision that depends on each situation you’re in.

  • Valentine’s Day can be what you need—the exact sensory experience that works for you as an ND person.

  • Go forth in Beany joy. What will help you feel yeehawesome this week?

Thank you for reading this installment of Beany Brain! You’re very welcome to hop on by any old time.

If you’re enjoying Beany Brain, please share with a friend or seventeen at www.beanybrain.com. Cheers big time!