At NeuroImprove, we strive to share knowledge about ADHD, its consequences, and management strategies. However, nothing compares to the richness of a personal story like Luísa's, which reflects the daily challenges and victories of living and thriving with this complex condition.
Luísa Cabral, founder of Alanja Handmade, shares her life experience with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and the impact of a late diagnosis.
Passionate about manual activities, she found in crochet and amigurumi a way to express herself and build her own business.
Today, Luísa not only inspires the artisan community but also seeks to raise greater awareness about ADHD in Portugal.
🧠 NeuroImprove: To start, Luísa, can you tell us a bit about your story and your journey up to this point?
🧶 Luísa: I completed my degree in Audiovisual and Multimedia in Lisbon. I was always an average student—never had failing grades, but I wasn’t the best in the class either. I grew up in an environment where academic performance was seen as essential, which created immense pressure. However, I always felt I had to work twice or three times as hard as others, and even then, I ended up in the middle of the pack.
When I finished my degree, I found a bleak job market. At that time, my partner and I decided to start a video production company, Shortfuse. It wasn’t easy. What ended up working was the combination of my impulsive side with his organization. We often joke that I’m the chaos he needs, and he’s the calm I need.
Manual crafts have always been a part of my life. Like many people with ADHD, I’ve had lots of hobbies: cross-stitch, embroidery, painting with acrylics, crochet, beadwork, clay, sewing... But crochet has always held a special place for me—when I was 7 years old, my grandmother taught me.
"I never stopped fidgeting, and since both my mother and grandmother noticed that crochet helped me focus, they always encouraged me to continue."
Later on, at school, crocheting wasn’t considered 'cool,' so I did it a bit in secret. Only in college did I pick it up again, learning more advanced techniques online and creating my first amigurumi pieces.
When the pandemic began, I felt a lot of anxiety and uncertainty and returned to making amigurumi as a way to relax and pass the time at home. I spent hours trying to improve. Encouraged by my husband and friends, I created the Alanja Handmade page, where I started sharing my creations and connecting with the crochet community.
My mind was completely focused on this interest, and I found it very difficult to concentrate on my job. I realized that perhaps the best path was to follow my interest in crochet and turn it into a business. So, since January 2023, I’ve been fully dedicated to Alanja.
Today, in addition to creating my own models and selling tutorials, I work with several brands, teach children, run workshops, participate in craft fairs, and even provide consulting and content creation services. It’s a challenge because I need several sources of income simultaneously. But for someone like me, whose brain constantly craves new and different things, I couldn’t have chosen a better career!
🧠 NeuroImprove: How was it to receive an ADHD diagnosis in adulthood?
🧶 Luísa: The process was very isolating for me. In elementary school, my teacher already suspected something was wrong with me. I couldn’t sit still in my chair, wouldn’t pay attention in class, and would get up to sit on the teacher’s lap, and so on…
My mom eventually took me for psychological tests, but in the 1990s, little was known about ADHD. She was told I was hyperactive and advised to enroll me in sports (which I never enjoyed) and manual activities. Years later, my mom confessed that in primary school, they even asked for permission to tie me to the desk and chair to prevent me from distracting other students.
"Distraction, lack of sense of time, disorganization, and procrastination" were always part of my life. But I thought it was a personality issue, that I was always failing and would never be good enough.
In 2018, when my daughter was born, I experienced one of the happiest yet most challenging moments of my life. I went through postpartum depression, and sleep deprivation affected me so much that I felt like a zombie. I was completely apathetic.
In 2020, during the lockdown, things got worse. I felt myself sinking deeper and deeper. That’s when I started therapy. I improved a lot, but at the end of two years, I still felt something was wrong. I began to take an interest in mental health and entered hyperfocus, researching everything about mental illnesses. It was then that I came across social media posts about ADHD and identified with the experiences of others. However, I was hesitant to tell a doctor: ‘I think I have this because I saw some videos.’ So, I sought out scientific content, and things started to become clearer.
I gathered the courage to tell my psychologist that I thought I had ADHD. Although they weren’t familiar with the topic, they researched it, tested me, and referred me to a psychiatrist. I think the fact that I appeared 'functional' in society’s eyes—having a degree, a business, a child, and a stable relationship—masked the suffering and effort I put into trying to be like everyone else.
When the psychiatrist confirmed the diagnosis, it validated everything I had been feeling. I remember taking medication for the first time while at home with my daughter and starting to cry... It felt like, for the first time, I could really hear what she was telling me. That moment was transformative for me.
"Realizing that I wasn’t a bad person or a bad mother, but that my brain just didn’t work like others’—and that’s okay!"
🧠 NeuroImprove: What are the main difficulties you face daily due to ADHD?
🧶 Luísa: My biggest difficulty is staying organized and managing so many things at once. Additionally, my thoughts are often much faster than my speech. This used to make me feel disconnected from what I was saying or thinking. Today, with medication, that doesn’t happen as much, but before, I would think I had said something in a conversation when, in reality, I had only thought it and never communicated it to the other person.
🧠 NeuroImprove: What strategies or tools do you currently use to manage your business and keep your personal life organized?
🧶 Luísa: One of my biggest challenges is, without a doubt, organization. I still feel I don’t have all the strategies I need to 'function' as I’d like, but here are a few things I use:
🧠 NeuroImprove: Your business revolves around manual activities like crochet and amigurumi. How have these activities helped improve your mental health?
🧶 Luísa: Manual activities have helped me improve concentration and focus because they require attention to detail and repetitive movements that calm the mind—what we now know as mindfulness.
Additionally, these creative moments act as a form of active meditation, which has greatly contributed to reducing stress and improving my mental health. They’ve always helped me regulate my ADHD symptoms and made me appear as a "functional" adult, even before my diagnosis.
🧠 NeuroImprove: Would you recommend manual activities to others with ADHD? What benefits have you noticed in your routine and well-being?
🧶 Luísa: I highly recommend manual activities to anyone with ADHD. They’re an excellent way to express creativity (and, in general, we are very creative people!) and help to calm the mind.
When I’m working on an amigurumi or a clothing piece in crochet, seeing the piece grow and take shape helps me stay focused and motivated to continue the project, as I can see the progress right in front of me. Additionally, both knitting and crochet are highly portable, making it easy to always have a project in my bag and work on it anytime throughout the day.
🧠 NeuroImprove: In Portugal, there’s still little information and awareness about ADHD, especially among women. Did you feel a lack of resources and support when you were diagnosed? How did you deal with it?
🧶 Luísa: I feel that in Portugal, we’re just beginning to talk more about this issue! When I conducted my research to try to understand what ADHD was, I could only find information in English or from Brazilian sources. I realized that many adults diagnosed late are women because in childhood, our symptoms tend to differ from those of men.
"I lacked a lot of support to discover I had ADHD; it was a solitary journey. To society, I was 'normal.' If I hadn’t relentlessly searched for answers, I probably would never have found out what I had."
I also noticed that there’s still little discussion about the connection between female hormonal cycles and their influence on medication, as well as a lack of studies on the impact of pregnancy and postpartum on women with ADHD.
I believe it’s very important to share this information in European Portuguese. I hope it helps others, like me, realize that perhaps there is something that doesn’t feel quite right—and that it’s not our fault!
🧠 NeuroImprove: What advice would you give, especially to those trying to balance personal and professional life?
🧶 Luísa: Always seek more information and ensure it comes from credible sources. ADHD can present differently in each person, so even if your symptoms differ from others, that doesn’t mean you don’t have the condition.
Professionally, I believe working in an area that brings us joy and motivation, beyond just financial gain, helps us achieve better results. Additionally, when we partner with people whose skills complement ours, we can create incredible things and find even better solutions!
🧠 NeuroImprove: How do you balance motherhood with your diagnosis and your business? Have you found a way to use this diagnosis to connect better with your daughter?
🧶 Luísa: Getting my diagnosis was essential because it greatly improved my relationship with my daughter. I’ve become much more present for her, understanding her better, and now that she’s starting her first year of school, I notice she has traits very similar to mine (she probably has ADHD, although she hasn’t been diagnosed yet). This has helped me find strategies to support her in achieving better performance at school and creating routines that give her the structure she needs—something I often felt was missing in my own life.
🧠 NeuroImprove: Do you have any advice for others, especially those going through a similar situation, whether with their diagnosis or their children’s?
🧶 Luísa: If you feel something isn’t quite right, don’t stop seeking answers or asking for more. Even if doctors say, “You’re too smart,” or “It’s just a phase,” don’t give up. It took me many years to find what I was missing to feel at peace with myself, and it’s never too late to change. Whether you’re 20, 30, 60, or 80 years old, we have the right and the responsibility to feel good so we can help those around us.
If it’s about your children, and you feel something is wrong, try to understand why—even if it means consulting more than one healthcare professional.
"An early diagnosis can make a huge difference, avoiding associated disorders and preventing your children from feeling, as I did, that they are less than others."
They depend on us during this phase, and if we can help them early and find tools to manage ADHD, they will be better prepared for a bright future, becoming functional and healthy adults in society.
🧠 NeuroImprove: Lastly, what are your hopes for the future? How do you see the growth of Alanja, and its role as a voice for people with ADHD in Portugal?
🧶 Luísa: I hope my project inspires other people, especially women, to work with crafts, become independent in their professional careers, create beautiful pieces, and practice mindfulness. I believe it’s essential to learn more about ADHD and see that, despite facing difficulties, we can lead full and happy lives!
For me, Alanja is a manifestation of my creativity and the dreams I carry. If I can inspire someone to learn crochet, create their own amigurumi, or not give up on their goals, my mission will have been fulfilled! 😊
We thank Luísa for sharing her authentic and inspiring experience with us. Her journey is a valuable example for everyone seeking to better understand and live with ADHD!
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