Hi, I’m Louisa. I was diagnosed with ADHD at 58, which still feels surreal to say out loud. For years, when people gently suggested I might have ADHD, I brushed it off. Like so many women, I’d been taught to see my struggles as personal failings rather than signs of neurodivergence.

Things shifted when a close friend and her child were diagnosed. Watching them make sense of their lives with this new understanding made something click for me. When I finally got my own diagnosis, it felt like someone had handed me a map. Suddenly my behaviours, time blindness, procrastination, anxiety etc. made sense; I could be kinder to myself. It also opened up conversations in my family too; one of my posts even encouraged a relative to seek their own assessment. It also meant better understanding from them. I was once asked by my daughter “How do you get through life” when she was just seven years old.

Looking back, I realise I’ve been managing my ADHD my whole life without knowing it. Piano playing has always been my tool, my therapy before I had the language for it. Music gave me structure, release, and a sense of calm I couldn’t find anywhere else. Now I use that same insight to support others, especially children and older women, through creative, inclusive teaching that honours different ways of learning.

Since being diagnosed, I’ve also become more aware of how race and neurodivergence overlap. As a Black woman, I’ve spent years code switching without realising how much of it was tangled up with trying to fit in. Sometimes it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. It is simply exhausting trying to change behaviour to be accepted in neuro, racial and age typical spaces. Naming that complexity matters, because when we don’t have language for our experiences, they stay invisible.

What I want most is for people to know that it’s never too late to understand yourself. A diagnosis at any age can bring clarity, dignity, and the chance to thrive. I am still trying to figure out what works best.

As an ADHD UK Ambassador, I’d bring lived experience, intersectional advocacy, and a genuine commitment to making support more inclusive, especially for those voices that are not usually heard, Black women, older adults, and anyone navigating overlapping identities and health challenges. I believe deeply in the power of storytelling, and I’m ready to use mine to help others feel seen, understood, and empowered.