DOES MY ADHD MAKE ME A BETTER NEURODIVERSITY COACH?

From ‘The Neurodiva Dossier’

There’s a moment I remember vividly from before my ADHD diagnosis in 2018. I was sitting in yet another meeting, wondering why everyone else could apparently absorb information effortlessly, take organised notes, and follow a linear agenda, while my brain was simultaneously in three different conversations, two creative tangents, and a mild existential crisis. I felt a failure. Turns out I’m not, I’m just wired differently. I just didn’t know it then.

Getting my diagnosis at 56 was, in equal measure, a relief and a reckoning. A relief because so much of my life suddenly made sense. A reckoning because I had to look back at decades of strategies I’d developed: some brilliant, some exhausting: some frankly self-destructive, just to survive in a world that wasn’t designed for my brain. That experience is the foundation of everything I do as a neurodiversity coach.

What neurodiversity coaching is and isn’t

Neurodiversity coaching is not therapy. It’s not about ‘fixing’ you or helping you become ersatz neurotypical. It starts from a fundamentally different premise: that a neurodivergent brain: whether that’s ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, or any combination: comes with genuine strengths alongside genuine challenges. The job of a neurodiversity coach is to help you understand your own brain, work with it rather than against it, and craft a life and a career that actually fits you, rather than contorting yourself to fit a system designed by and for neurotypical people. To carve a square hole for your square peg to slot into.

Why qualifications matter

Becoming an effective neurodiversity coach is tough, and so it should be. There are lots of coaches who include some form of neurodiversity coaching in their list of services. Fewer have specialist training in it, so if you are looking for a specialist coach, please make sure you check out their credentials.

My specific qualifications

I am one of only 35 people in the UK to have completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Neurodiversity Coaching from Birkbeck, University of London. Next year, funding permitting, there will hopefully be another 17 of us.

The Birkbeck PGC course is led by one of the most respected neurodiversity researchers in the country, Professor Almuth McDowall who, with the founder of “Genius Within” Professor Nancy Doyle, literally wrote the academic textbook ‘Neurodiversity Coaching’. This isn’t a weekend, multiple choice assessment, certificate. It is year long, rigorous, evidence-based, master’s level training.

Combined with my ILM Level 7 qualification as an Executive Coach and Mentor, and 25 years of working with individuals and major organisations, I bring both specialist knowledge and real-world experience to every client I work with.

The thing no qualification can teach you

Here’s what I also bring: I know what it feels like to sit in that meeting. To lose your keys for the fourth time this week. To have a brilliant idea and then completely forget it thirty seconds later. To be told you’re “so creative” in a tone that clearly also means “and so disorganised.”

I know what it feels like to mask: to spend huge amounts of energy performing neurotypicality, and how exhausting that is over decades. Lived experience isn’t a substitute for professional training. But when it sits alongside it, something shifts in the coaching room. Clients don’t have to explain themselves from scratch. We can get to the work faster.

Who I work with

I work with diagnosed and undiagnosed neurodivergent adults, those who have the hallmarks of ADHD, AuDHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia, and who are navigating work, leadership, relationships, and the general business of being human. I can also work with the people around them: partners, parents, colleagues, and the exceptional managers who want to offer better support.

My background is in the creative arts and the corporate world in equal measure, which means I’m equally at home working with a senior executive at a FTSE 100 company and a freelance artist who can’t get their invoices sent on time. (Both struggles are real. Both deserve support.)

If any of this sounds familiar…

You don’t have to have a formal diagnosis to work with me. Many of my clients are in the process of seeking diagnosis or simply recognise something of themselves in the descriptions of neurodivergent brains and want support.

If you’re curious about whether my ADHD experience enhances my ability as a neurodiversity coach, the best first step is a conversation. No pressure, no sales pitch, no fee! Just an opportunity to discuss where you are and see if coaching might be helpful, so you can decide if I might be the right fit for you.

Find out more and contact me on my website – https://haywardcoaching.co.uk/tailored-coaching/

For more information on ADHD, specifically check out https://adhduk.co.uk

About the author

Beth Hayward is an executive coach and neurodiversity specialist with 25 years’ experience working with senior leaders across major organisations including Pfizer, BP, BMS, Coca Cola, Boots and the NHS. She holds an ILM Level 7 Executive Coaching qualification and a Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Neurodiversity Coaching (Merit) from Birkbeck, University of London. She identifies as female, late diagnosed neurodivergent