Triumph over challenge: Turning neurodiversity into a strength

The impact of dealing with undiagnosed Autism and ADHD emerged starkly, early in Jeremy’s career.

“I struggled with emotional regulation and executive dysfunction which made it difficult to plan and pay attention to detail – so my early career was challenging,” Jeremy said.

Despite graduating with first-class honors, he was fired from his first five jobs.

It wasn’t until he received his diagnoses – autism first in 2017 and ADHD in 2022 – that Jeremy was able to harness a newfound self-understanding to build a successful career in software development.

Lived experience drove Jeremy to create and launch Focus Bear, a productivity app that has so far attracted more than 7000 users and a 4.9-star app store rating.

Focus Bear is for people with ADHD, autism, and anyone who struggles to stay on track.

“Even after years of therapy and coaching, I still found it brutally hard to consistently work on tasks that I didn't find interesting, stick to routines, and avoid distractions,” Jeremy said.

“I wanted something that would gently guide me, not just shame me with endless unfinished to-do lists. Focus Bear was my way of building the tool I couldn’t find anywhere else.”

“It helps users build healthy routines, avoid distractions, and get started on important tasks — without feeling overwhelmed, like a personal trainer for your brain.”

Focus Bear uses a four-step method to help users get things done without burning out. 

The method, dubbed ‘B.E.A.R’, focuses on making tasks bite-sized, enjoyable, introduces AI-blocks to remove distractions, and helps users to recharge to manage burnout.

“It provides the structure, support and, importantly, encouragement users need to want to work and have the energy to do it”, Jeremy said.

Bringing lived experience into research

Now a PhD candidate at RMIT University, Jeremy is framing his research around rigorously evaluating the effectiveness of Focus Bear, and tools like it, for others.

Through his research he hopes to more deeply understand the work and study patterns of neurodiverse brains to enable developers to build more neuroinclusive apps.

“I’m researching how we can build tech that actually works for ADHD and autistic brains — rather than frustrating them," he said. 

“For example, can we tell when someone’s losing focus just by looking at how fast they switch between tabs — and how many tabs they’ve got open at once? And can we then gently nudge them to go take a break to recharge their brain without irritating them?”

The future of Focus Bear

In the meantime, he intends to continue refining and expanding Focus Bear, which has recently received NDIA funding to provide free access for up to 400 university students.

“We’re building smarter AI tools and rolling out gamification features to make deep work more fun," Jeremy said.

“And we’re expanding into more universities and workplaces across Australia and internationally – translating the app into multiple languages.” 

“Research shows that around 17 per cent of Australian university students exceed the clinical cutoff for ADHD — much higher than in the general adult population — so students are a key group we’re passionate about supporting.”