THE INVISIBLE RULEBOOK: 10 social rules ADHD and autistic people were never taught
LATE BLOOMERS
Rich & Rox Pink
5.0 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2026
⏱️ 33 minutes
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Summary
Why does small talk feel so awkward? Why is eye contact so confusing? And why does honesty sometimes get labelled as “rude”? In this episode, Rox and Rich unpack the invisible social rulebook that everyone seems to follow… except no one ever actually explains it.
Together they break down 10 unwritten social rules – from small talk and eye contact to reading between the lines, texting expectations, and the pressure to “be polite.” They explore why these rules often feel confusing, exhausting, or even completely illogical for ADHD and autistic people.
If you’ve ever felt like socialising is a game everyone else somehow learned the rules to, this episode will make you feel seen. Rox and Rich challenge the idea that neurodivergent people are “bad at social skills” and ask a bigger question: what if the rules themselves are the problem?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Does the fact that you have to make small talk when you meet people make you feel really weird? |
| 0:04.2 | How about holding eye contact? |
| 0:06.2 | Today we are talking about the little book of social rules, all the invisible rules that no one ever told us, but that we are expected to follow. |
| 0:16.3 | Welcome to Late Bloomers, where we are getting our lives together. |
| 0:21.4 | Eventually, brought to you by the amazing loop earplugs. |
| 0:26.5 | Social rules. |
| 0:28.7 | Someone needs to do a book called The Little Book of Social Rules and just tell us all what we're meant to be doing because I don't have a clue. |
| 0:36.0 | You don't have a clue. |
| 0:37.1 | Well, I'm not having it. |
| 0:38.2 | I'm not having it. |
| 0:39.2 | I think they're wrong. |
| 0:41.6 | I think the rules are ridiculous and they don't make sense. |
| 0:45.5 | That is a spicy take and I am so here for it. |
| 0:49.5 | We are going to talk about like the 10 rules that I think A don't make sense and B, play havoc with the |
| 0:59.6 | neurodivergent experience, okay? |
| 1:02.2 | Yeah. |
| 1:02.7 | Like, I'm so ready for this episode. |
| 1:05.3 | Yeah? |
| 1:05.8 | Some of it makes me quite angry. |
| 1:07.5 | We're going to take a sledgehammer to the social rules. |
| 1:09.7 | I am even tells you a rules. |
| 1:10.7 | Okay. Number one, small talk being mandatory. |
... |
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