Why Coach Aandi Exists
Coach Aandi didn't start as a product idea. It started as a growing discomfort, a feeling I couldn't ignore, that too many children are being asked to survive learning systems that were never designed for how they think, feel, or learn.
The Background
For years, I've worked at the intersection of behaviour, accessibility and communication. Through my work in neuromarketing, inclusive design and brand strategy, I've partnered closely with educators, organisations and leadership teams who are trying to support people inside complex systems.
What I saw, again and again, was this:
I understood this intellectually long before it became personal.
When it became impossible to look away
When my own son began struggling at school, everything I knew collided with everything I felt. I could see his intelligence, creativity and depth. I could also see how repeated friction, instructions that didn't land, expectations that didn't flex, lessons that moved too fast or not at all, was slowly eroding his confidence.
He wasn't failing. The system simply wasn't built for him.
But it was he who began to feel stupid. This once confident little boy, who had walked into prep excited by what lay ahead, gradually became discouraged by school. By Year 5, he had lost all confidence in his ability and was saying things no child should ever believe about themselves, that he was "too dumb," and that there was no point in trying anymore.
That was the moment everything shifted for me.
I realised something important: I knew too much about how brains work from years working in neuromarketing, how language shapes identity and how accessible communication can change outcomes, I couldn't just walk past this problem.
So I stood up, took action, and started to define Coach Aandi.
A Different Way of Thinking About Learning
Coach Aandi is built on a simple but radical starting point:
What if learning didn't begin with fixing children but with understanding them?
Not through labels. Not through pressure. Not through forcing kids to adapt faster, sit longer, or try harder. But through:
Strengths-based understanding
Starting with what children can do, not what they can't
Emotional safety
Creating space where children feel safe to learn and grow
Curiosity and play
Making learning engaging and joyful again
Adaptive experiences
Learning that adapts to the child, not the other way around
Coach Aandi isn't about "catching kids up". It's about helping children feel capable, confident and curious, as they are.
The Bigger Vision I'm Building Toward
My long-term vision for Coach Aandi is simple (and quietly ambitious).
I imagine classrooms where teachers do what only humans can do best: build relationships, set context, guide discussion and hold the emotional and social fabric of the room.
Alongside them, Coach Aandi supports each student to learn in the way their brain works best adapting pace, language, structure and delivery so no child has to constantly translate themselves just to keep up.
Children still learn together. They still belong. They still benefit from the social richness of being in a classroom with peers and a trusted teacher.
But the learning itself becomes flexible enough to meet each child where they are.
This is something that has never truly been possible at scale before and it's why Coach Aandi is being built slowly, ethically, and with families involved from the very beginning.
Built With Families, Not Behind Closed Doors
From the outset, I knew this couldn't be built in isolation.
Parents of neurodiverse kids already carry so much: advocacy fatigue, decision fatigue, and the emotional weight of watching their child struggle in systems that weren't designed for them.
So Coach Aandi is being built with families, through small, carefully supported Founders Circles.
Listen deeply to real experiences
Test learning in safe, supported ways
Integrate feedback thoughtfully
Build something that truly deserves to exist
Why We're Starting With ADHD And What Comes Next
Our first Founders Circle is focused on ADHD learners, because the need is immediate and the misunderstandings are widespread.
But this is only the beginning.
Coach Aandi is being designed to support a wide range of neurodiverse learners including autistic children using the same strengths-based, respectful philosophy.
Future Founders Circles will be shaped around different neurodivergent experiences, always in partnership with families and always led by lived experience.
A Small Role in Something Much Bigger
The Founders Circle is a small step toward a much bigger goal.
Parents who join aren't just helping their own child they're helping shape a model of learning that could make school feel safer, more human and more inclusive for millions of neurodiverse children.
- One child at a time.
- One classroom at a time.
- One learning experience that finally fits.
That's how meaningful change actually happens.
An Invitation (No Pressure)
Coach Aandi is being designed to support a wide range of neurodiverse learners including autistic children using the same strengths-based, respectful philosophy.
Future Founders Circles will be shaped around different neurodivergent experiences, always in partnership with families and always led by lived experience.
If you're a parent of an autistic child and would like to be part of a future Founders Circle, you're warmly invited to register your interest.
A Final Note
Coach Aandi is being created for the people it's intended to help.
Not for growth at all costs.
Not for flashy promises.
Not for systems that value speed over care.