You Don’t Need Fixing: Coaching for Neurodivergent Minds

If you’re living with ADHD or/and ASD and thinking about coaching, you may wonder whether you’ll be understood and will it really make a difference?

Important questions and as a neurotypical coach, I don’t try to position myself as someone who knows your lived experience of ADHD or autism. What I do bring is a commitment to understand you, and to work alongside you in a way that is supportive, practical and grounded.

My approach is calm, practical and respectful, ensuring a confidential space where we work together to find what fits and works for you, not what you “should” be doing. I will check with you right at the beginning how can I best support you, the whole you. Maybe I'll be more direct and honest, if that's what you find helpful.

You don’t need fixing. I don’t see you as broken; I understand there are diverse ways people process, focus, organise and respond, each with their own strengths and challenges. For example some people struggle with starting a project or a plan - task intiation, but the its the direction they want to go.

My role is to help you make sense of what’s going on, reduce the overwhelm and the shame. My work is person centered and that means the focus is you and your unique ways of being. Its not about forcing you into my system or a processes that was never designed for you. It’s about creating ways of working that the for you are realistic, doable without the assumptions, labels or stereotypes.

If you’ve felt misunderstood, judged or labelled as inconsistent, disorganised or not trying hard enough, coaching can feel like a risk. I understand that. In our sessions, there’s no pressure, I listen carefully, ask questions that help bring clarity, and adjust my approach around you. You will not be overwhelmed, I aim to create space to think, build confidence and move forward with practical support.

The outcomes my clients notice aren’t about becoming a completely different person or changing their personality. They talk about feeling more in control and at ease with who they are with outcomes like: -

• Clearer priorities

• Reduced overwhelm

• More confidence in decision making

• Making progress without burning out

If you’ve been unsure whether working with a neurotypical coach could work for you, remember you don’t need or want your coach to think exactly like you, but you do need them to work with you, not against you. They need to have experience of the neurodiverse community and understanding that neurodiverse issues are systemic and environmental/societal challenges, not personal moral failures or flaws.