
Evie Brush is certainly "Miss Independent."
There is no more determined person in the world than a toddler, and no one will ever change my mind. When a toddler sets their mind to something, you better stay out of their way. It's cute, even when it scares you. That kind of sheer determination can be inspiring, especially when it comes from a cute-as-a-button little one. Two-year-old Evie Brush definitely fits the bill.
In a short video posted by her mom Madison "Maddie" Brush on Instagram, we can see little Evie prepping to put on her prosthetic leg all by herself for the first time. "Miss independent," her mom captioned the post. As Evie slides the first piece over her leg with ease, she is beaming with pride. You can tell this is something she has been really excited to do and she pulls it off without a hitch!
The post has more than 5,000 comments on Instagram and it's clear that her mom's followers are just as excited as she is about her accomplishment.
"Precious Evie 💝 You are a great mom, Madison!" one person wrote.
"She’s so proud of herself!! Love it," wrote another.
"She is just absolutely adorable! Her sweet smile is so infectious! What a brave, strong little girl!"
"A warrior! Sunshine! May you be blessed and happy always!"
The post was recently shared by Good News Movement, which brought in some new and equally wonderful comments.
"my husband lost his limb 2 yrs ago in a accident. I sent him this and he said “wow, now that’s some motivation for me!” Thank u for sharing ur story. She’s so brave!"
Evie was born with a limb difference, and Madison has the hashtag #limbdifferenceawareness in her bio on Instagram. According to PEOPLE, Evie was diagnosed with a congenital abnormality called oligodactyly before birth. While in utero, it was discovered that Evie would be missing a finger and some of her other limbs were affected as well. When she was born, she was missing a thumb and a toe, one of her legs was missing a calf bone (fibula) and she had a bowed shin bone (tibia), hence the need for the prosthetic. The reason seems to be fibular aplasia, tibial campomelia and oligosyndactyly (FATCO) syndrome.
Looking through the rest of Madison's Instagram, you can see that Evie doesn't let her limb differences slow her down. The little girl is seen playing in the snow with her brother, on a family vacation to Disney World, baking cookies and just being a really typical 2-year-old.
Last year, mom Madison shared another insight into life with a young child with a limb difference. One night Evie wanted her toenails painted, and that's exactly what she got!
"I put this on my stories, but I also felt it needed to be shared on my main feed!" Madison began the caption. "This is our life! It's normal, but not normal. I found myself asking if it was even ok to paint the toes of her prosthetic. So weird that I felt I needed to ask.... But I guess it's somewhat normal. How do you navigate, how do you make her feel normal, but also not invalidated. Anyway... I digress. WE PAINTED THE TOES! That is all."
It's clear that Madison isn't letting anything stand in the way of her little girl living life to the fullest, and that's amazing.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."