When Amanda Luu, Founder of Studio Mondine (you’ve probably seen her floral designs in Vogue or in the background of glamorous wedding photos), first received her AuDHD diagnosis as an adult, it didn't change who she was—it gave her the language to better understand the way she'd always experienced the world. It’s a newfound perspective that has deepened everything from how she designs immersive spaces to how she thinks about creativity, accessibility, and the quiet realities that often go unseen.
In honor of Disability Pride Month, we sat down with Amanda to talk about living with an invisible disability and how a late in life diagnosis has transformed the way she moves through the world.
You were recently diagnosed with AuDHD as an adult. What did receiving that diagnosis help you understand about yourself?
Receiving the diagnosis didn't change who I was—it gave me a language for patterns I'd experienced my entire life. It helped me understand why I can spend hours completely immersed in learning or making, but struggle to transition out of that state. Why I crave structure, yet can also resist it. Why I experience environments so intensely. Why periods of incredible creative energy are often followed by a real need for recovery. More than anything, it shifted me away from self-judgment and toward curiosity. Instead of asking, "Why am I this way?" I started asking, "What is this trying to teach me?" That has been an incredibly generous reframe.
What do you wish more people understood about living with AuDHD?
I think many people, with or without invisible disabilities, are misunderstood because we often evaluate people by what they produce or what we choose to show, rather than what it costs them to produce it. From the outside, life can appear seamless, especially in a culture where so much is carefully curated. What often remains invisible is the energy, adaptation, and effort behind that appearance. I hope we're moving toward conversations that make more room for those unseen realities—not just around neurodiversity, but around the many ways people quietly navigate the world.
Studio Mondine is known for creating immersive, intentional experiences. Has your perspective on sensory environments—lighting, sound, pacing, or physical space—changed the way you approach your work?
I think it has always shaped my work; I just didn’t realize it before. Design has never been only visual for me. I’ve always paid attention to the way light moves through a room, where people naturally settle their gaze, how sound and scent carries, how materials absorb or reflect light, how someone moves through a space. Receiving my diagnosis helped me recognize that this way of observing is actually one of my biggest strengths and the reason I design the way I do.
What has self-acceptance looked like for you, and what advice would you offer someone who's just beginning that journey?
For me, it has looked
