We support adults who experience the world differently
AuDHD has additional and complex traits compared to Autism and ADHD separately.
The overlap intensifies shared traits like sensory processing differences, executive dysfunction, and hyperfocus while creating internal conflicts between contradictory traits, such as a need for sameness versus a craving for novelty.
These push-pull dynamics are key to understanding and supporting AuDHD individuals.
This unique combination of traits creates a distinctive way of experiencing and interacting with the world that can lead to extraordinary creativity, problem-solving abilities, and depth of focus. When properly understood and supported, these seeming contradictions can become complementary strengths – the desire for both structure and novelty can drive innovation within frameworks, while intense focus combined with divergent thinking often leads to breakthrough insights that others might miss.
The intersection of complex trauma, chronic health conditions and neurodivergence creates unique perspectives and resilient problem-solving abilities that bring tremendous value to the workplace. Through specialised career coaching that honors this complexity, individuals discover how their experiences have developed heightened adaptability, deep empathy, and innovative approaches to challenges. While some trauma responses may present similarly to neurodivergent traits, this understanding allows for more nuanced self-discovery and authentic expression of strengths.
We support people in identifying their unique energy patterns, processing needs, and optimal working styles. This personalised approach helps people harness their natural abilities while honoring health and wellbeing. When organisations create space for these diverse ways of working and thinking, they gain access to valuable perspectives shaped by lived experience – including pattern recognition abilities, creative problem-solving, and deep insight into complex human systems. This intersection of experiences, while often challenging, cultivates profound strengths that enhance workplace diversity and drive innovation.
For many neurodivergent women, late diagnosis isn’t just a revelation—it’s a reckoning. Years of unrecognised struggles, relentless masking, and the silent toll of gender bias create a complex web of challenges. Expected to maintain social harmony while managing unseen sensory and processing needs, many push through exhaustion, adapting to systems that were never built for them. Hormonal shifts can further intensify traits, disrupting already fragile coping mechanisms, yet these impacts remain largely ignored. The cost? Careers derailed by burnout, opportunities lost to self-doubt, and a lifetime of internalising difference as personal failure. The weight of these intersecting forces—gender expectations, biological shifts, and neurotypical workplace norms—translates into chronic health issues, mental strain, and financial instability.
Traditional career coaching doesn’t account for this complexity—but we do. Weaving together identity, family, life stage, and tailored career and workplace strategies, from recognition of strengths to negotiating higher pay to securing workplace accommodations. The resilience forged through years of navigating these challenges isn’t a weakness—it’s an asset. When properly recognised and supported, it becomes a source of strength, unlocking new pathways to stability, self-acceptance, and meaningful life success.
People who identify as both neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ often face unique challenges due to the intersectionality of these identities. Here are some of the key issues they may experience:
1. Higher Rates of Mental Health Issues
Discrimination and Marginalization: Experiencing stigma for both neurodivergence and LGBTQIA+ identities increases the likelihood of depression, anxiety, and trauma.
Cumulative Minority Stress: The dual experience of societal bias can exacerbate stress and mental health challenges.
2. Social Isolation and Rejection
Family Rejection: Both LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent individuals may face rejection or lack of understanding from family members, leading to isolation.
Community Exclusion: LGBTQIA+ individuals may find neurodivergence misunderstood in queer spaces, while neurodivergent communities may overlook or exclude LGBTQIA+ identities.
3. Increased Vulnerability
Bullying and Harassment: Discrimination and bullying are more common for those who embody multiple marginalized identities, particularly in schools or workplaces.
Higher Rates of Abuse: LGBTQIA+ neurodivergent individuals may face increased risks of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse.
4. Identity Misunderstanding and Invalidations
Misinterpreted Behaviors: Neurodivergent traits like directness or social difficulties may be misunderstood in LGBTQIA+ spaces as rudeness or insensitivity.
Dismissal of Queerness: LGBTQIA+ identities in neurodivergent individuals are sometimes invalidated, with others attributing their identity to their neurodivergence rather than genuine feelings.
5. Barriers to Healthcare Access
Inaccessible Services: Many mental health and healthcare services are not designed to be inclusive of both neurodivergence and LGBTQIA+ needs.
Provider Bias: A lack of knowledge about the intersection of these identities may result in inappropriate or inadequate care.
6. Challenges in Relationships
Communication Difficulties: Neurodivergent traits like difficulty reading social cues can create misunderstandings in romantic or platonic LGBTQIA+ relationships.
Prejudice in Dating: Some individuals face discrimination within LGBTQIA+ dating spaces due to stereotypes about neurodivergent people.
7. Lack of Research and Representation
Limited Data: There is a lack of comprehensive studies focusing on the intersection of neurodivergence and LGBTQIA+ identities.
Minimal Representation: Media and advocacy groups often neglect individuals at this intersection, limiting visibility and understanding.
8. Struggles with Identity Formation
Complicated Coming Out: Neurodivergent individuals may take longer to explore and understand their LGBTQIA+ identity due to differences in social and self-awareness.
Masking and Authenticity: The pressure to “mask” neurodivergent traits can compound with the pressure to conform to cisgender or heterosexual norms, making authenticity challenging.
9. Employment and Workplace Discrimination
Double Discrimination: Facing bias for being neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ can create significant barriers in professional environments.
Inadequate Accommodations: Workplaces may lack policies or understanding to support individuals at this intersection.
10. Higher Risks of Homelessness
Family Rejection: Both neurodivergence and LGBTQIA+ identities are linked to higher rates of homelessness, particularly for youth.
Economic Challenges: Employment discrimination and lack of accommodations can exacerbate financial insecurity.Living with trauma isn’t just about past experiences – it’s about how your brain and body navigate the present moment. Trauma can influence brain function, behavior, and emotional regulation leading to responses that can look very similar to traits of autism and ADHD.
Many late-identified neurodivergent adults face significant barriers after years of being misinterpreted, underemployed, and experiencing financial instability.
The core of our coaching is addressing the real-world effects of late diagnosis. We help our clients adjust their work to align with their unique skills and advocate for accommodations and compensation appropriate to their skill level and value.
Autistic traits are usually highly specialised and when organisations embrace and support autistic cognitive styles, teams discover unique strengths that transform workplace effectiveness. Autistic thinking patterns bring precision and innovation through direct communication, systematic analysis, and concrete thinking that naturally enhances quality control. Pattern recognition and methodical problem-solving often reveal solutions that others might miss, particularly when examining established processes. This careful attention to detail drives improvements across technical and operational domains.
A strong commitment to fairness and logic-based decision-making helps maintain high standards and promotes workplace equity. While direct communication styles may differ from typical social conventions, they contribute valuable clarity in an environment often clouded by indirect communication. Autistic perspectives frequently identify systemic inefficiencies and generate innovative solutions by approaching challenges through a precise analytical lens, creating more effective processes and outcomes for everyone involved.
Our clients often come to us when they are…
allowing for flexible schedules, multiple roles, or freelance work. ADHD/ASD/AuDHD coaching explores alternative career paths that accommodate these preferences rather than following traditional, linear career trajectories.
Our coaching places a strong emphasis on negotiation skills and self-advocacy, building skills to communicate needs for accommodations and promote value for compensation and workplace success.
Intersections with aspects of daily life management, such as balancing personal commitments, routines, and work, acknowledging the interconnectedness of career, health, and life.
What Our Clients Say
Abbey’s commitment to creating a psychologically safe space allowed me to openly share my vulnerabilities, leading to profound insights and breakthroughs. I wholeheartedly recommend Abbey’s services to anyone seeking transformation and holistic healing. – L.S.
Trauma-Informed Coaching