Dr Paul D Fretwell | Different Keys | ADHD/AuDHD Coach

🔑 Different Keys ADHD / AuDHD Coaching 🔑

Before founding Different Keys, I worked for three decades as a music and creative arts specialist in higher education. As well as teaching and supervising students, I worked in senior management roles. But everything changed when, in my late 40s, I was diagnosed with ADHD — and shortly after a close family member was diagnosed with autism.

The diagnosis was a turning point. It brought relief, but also grief for the unnecessary struggles and missed opportunities that had eroded my confidence and impacted many areas of my life.

The specialist ADHD Coaching I received during this time was the key to moving forward when I felt overwhelmed, burnt out and stuck. I started Different Keys because I know first-hand how powerful the right kind of support can be.

So, if your life is harder than it should be, if you’re looking to make a change — or even if you’re just curious about coaching — please get in touch. I’d love to help!

Coaching Specialisms

I work with adults from a wide range of backgrounds across the UK and internationally, including:

• Adults newly diagnosed or exploring ADHD / AuDHD later in life

• Creative professionals, artists, writers and musicians

• Academics, teachers and education professionals

• People navigating burnout, career change or transition

• Individuals rebuilding confidence or direction after feeling stuck

• LGBTQ+ clients seeking neurodiversity-affirming support

Fees and Availability

Daytime and evening sessions available

✅ Free — Consultation Call (30 minutes): a relaxed chat to find out how coaching can help.

✅ £25 — Taster Session (1 hour): a focused introduction to coaching.

✅ £120 — Full Rate (per hour): funded by an employer or sponsor.

✅ £100 — Personal Rate (per hour): for individuals paying privately — discounts available.

✅ £25 — Affordable Rate (per hour): for those on low incomes (limited availability; waiting list).

Qualifications and Experience

• ICF-Certified ADHD Life Coach

• Co-host, ADHD UK Support Group for LGBTQ+ Adults

• Member of the International Coaching Federation

• Mental Health First Aider

• Over 30 years’ experience in teaching and leadership roles in Higher Education

• Experienced creative practitioner with internationally recognised research outputs

• BMus, MA, PhD in music-related subjects

🔑 Further information 🔑

My website, https://www.differentkeys.online/, contains a lot of useful information about ADHD and neurodiversity, coaching and LGBTQ+ related issues, which I make freely available to the public.

My blog has new content every month, and I’ve just started a new series called ‘Coaching Language, Explained’. This series demystifies the most common coaching terms and makes them genuinely accessible, not by dumbing them down, but by explaining them in plain language that honours both their sophistication and their practical value:

Coaching Language, Explained: What Do Coaches Mean by 'Strategy'? 

I’ve also written a post that cuts through all the misinformation and challenges the oversimplified narrative around ADHD/AuDHD support. Drawing on years of practice, personal experience, and dialogue with other professionals, I explore what specialist coaching really helps with — and why it matters:

It’s not about Planners, Life Hacks or Pomodoro! The real purpose of ADHD/AuDHD coaching

✅ Get in touch!

You don’t need to have it all figured out before taking the first step. As a trained Mental Health First Aider and a member of the International Coaching Federation, my job is to answer your questions and help you find the right support for you — no-pressure, no hard sell.

You can get in touch via my website, https://www.differentkeys.online/contact, where you can also book your free 30-minute online consultation. also book your free 30-minute online consultation.

— or you can just send me a message on the form below.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Dr Paul D Fretwell

Different Keys