Turning Passion Into Focus and Career Growth

Overview

Ben struggled with ADHD and had minimal coding knowledge when we met. By channeling his passion for chess into building his own chess variant, he learned to maintain focus, deployed and hosted his game, integrated AI features, and continues iterating on new projects. He recently landed his first coding internship.

The Challenge

Ben came to me with barely any coding knowledge and struggled significantly with ADHD, making traditional learning approaches ineffective. He had difficulty maintaining focus on abstract tutorials and needed a different path into software development.

The Approach

• 1

  Identified his deep passion for chess as the foundation for learning

• 2

  Structured mentorship around building his own chess variant rather than generic projects

• 3

  Used his interest to create natural focus and motivation despite ADHD challenges

• 4

  Taught deployment and hosting through the practical need to share his game

• 5

  Introduced AI integration as a way to enhance his project and learn cutting-edge technologies

• 6

  Encouraged continuous iteration to build sustainable learning habits

• 7

  Supported exploration of other project ideas as his confidence grew

The Results

• Successfully built, deployed, and hosted his own chess variant from scratch

• Integrated AI features, demonstrating ability to work with modern technologies

• Developed consistent coding practice despite ADHD through passion-driven focus

• Began building additional projects, showing growing independence and creativity

• Landed first coding internship, validating his skills and growth

• Discovered effective learning strategies that work with his ADHD rather than against it

• Built genuine confidence in his ability to learn and create