Hi. I’m Desi Sunshine. I’m late-diagnosed ADHD and self-realized autistic, or AUDHD (autistic and ADHD). I became a coach because I needed a coach. Through most of my life, I managed undetected (and unsupported), by coming up with my own coping skills and strategies. Was my life always a mess? Yes. Could I have used some help? 100% Did my impulsivity and poor emotional regulation get me into trouble? Again and again.

As a late-diagnosed ADHDer, I ravenously consumed as much information about ADHD (and autism) as I possibly could. Now I’m here to share what I’ve learned with you.

I’m still learning.

Before becoming a coach, I was an adjunct professor of Humanities at Austin Community College. (You can find more about my professor life by searching for Desiree Leistiko.) While that was a fantastic job for my neurodivergent brain, it was a dead-end job with no way to advance. I wasn’t reaching my potential. The pandemic brought with it the added role of emotional support to my students. I found myself falling into that role with all my heart. The lack of benefits, support, and living wage drove me to burnout.

Walking away from academia was a big decision, and it changed my life. It allowed me to heal and discover what my deepest wishes and desires. I want to help people like me. I want to be of service. I also want to work with rescue animals, write, and make art.

Working as a coach is similar and different to being a professor. I bring education to my coaching, teaching you about our beautiful, chaotic, complicated brains. Our relationship is central to my coaching practice. I will hear you, see you, and honor you. We will work together to help you shine your brightest and - in moments of darkness - harness self-compassion to get through it and find joy.

ADHD Coaching is

“ADHD coaching is an ongoing collaborative partnership between a person with ADHD traits, including persons impacted by ADHD, and a professional coach who brings current ADHD knowledge, best practices, understanding, and ADHD-friendly skills and tools to facilitate positive personal and professional change for the client.

The ADHD coaching partnership is an appreciative and creative inquiry process that empowers clients to learn about themselves and their unique brain processing so they 15 can make choices and take action to create the lives they choose to live. The ADHD coach listens with an appreciation and working experience of how ADHD may be impacting the client. ADHD coaches create a safe, non-judgmental environment, listen with an understanding, observe what is preventing the client from reaching specific goals, explore ways in which the client can maximize strengths, talents, and passion, and enlist strategies and behaviors congruent with the ADHD client’s learning, processing, and organization styles. ADHD coaches regard their clients as naturally creative, resourceful, and incredible human beings.”