Base camp for adults navigating ADHD in the real world.
A purpose-built Discord community for adults with ADHD. Six custom bots provide structured daily support, accountability, co-working, community engagement, and resource access — plus a book club and Patreon integration as server-level features.
Not a general ADHD server. Every channel and every bot exists for a specific reason. Everything here is designed around how ADHD brains actually work.
The server is intentionally separate from Cate Osborn's existing communities. Its own space, its own identity, its own purpose.
Built around your book. Yours to say yes or no.
Three principles that define the server.
Every feature has a job. Before anything ships, it must answer: what specific action does a member come here to do? If you can't name that in one sentence, it's not a channel.
ADHD working memory research shows ADHD brains hold 3–4 items at a time versus 4–7 for neurotypical brains. Hick's Law confirms decision time increases logarithmically with choices. Every visible channel is a navigation decision. Fewer decisions means more engagement.
Communities without governance mechanisms tend to get away from their creators — too many channels, no way to stop the growth. This server has governance built into its identity from the start.
A design philosophy, not a decorative theme.
Cate Osborn — Camp Director (our recommendation)
The camp metaphor solves a specific problem: how do you create structure for ADHD brains without it feeling clinical or restrictive? A camp has a daily rhythm, a recognisable layout, and implicit permission to rest. It sets up governance naturally — activities are on the schedule or they're not.
Working memory. ADHD brains hold 3–4 items in working memory. Research shows chunking into groups of three improves recall by 63% for people with WM challenges. Six areas, max five channels each, is built directly around this limit.
Camp Director is a tone-setter, not an admin role. The camp director defines the culture, shows up occasionally, and lends their voice to the community. It doesn't require daily presence.
The Trailhead answers one question as fast as possible: what do I do first? Three channels only.
#welcome-to-camp — short, scannable, ADHD-friendly. Rules framed as shared values, not enforcement.
#camp-map — visual overview of the whole server. Members should understand it in under 60 seconds.
#roll-call — prompted introduction (name / one struggle / one win). The prompt does the work; the member fills it in.
Every additional channel here is another decision before a member can do the thing they came to do. This section doesn't grow. If onboarding ever feels insufficient, the solution is better content in these three channels — not more channels.
The five-question test applies to any proposed new channel anywhere in the server: (1) What specific action does a member come here to do? (2) Why can't that happen in an existing channel? (3) Who owns moderating it? (4) What's the success metric? (5) When does it get archived if inactive?
The daily rhythm section. Each channel has a specific bot with a specific job, on a specific schedule. The rhythm is the feature.
#camp-pulse — Trail Guide's home. Morning state check-in via buttons and modal, evening reflection.
#the-buddy-system — Trail Buddy's home. Body doubling activates accountability systems ADHD brains struggle to self-generate.
#the-patch-wall — Herald's home. Wins of any size, no streak pressure. Getting out of bed earns a patch.
#counselor-cabin — Compass's home. One question at a time. Always routes to a human mod.
External structure and rhythmic prompts help ADHD brains regulate attention and reduce executive function burden. This is the core of what the server does — not the strategies or the bots individually, but the rhythm they create collectively. These four channels are permanent fixtures. No new channels added to the Parade Ground without a formal proposal.
The Lodge is for things you do together, not things you look up. Gathering activities only.
#around-the-table — async book club discussion. No requirement to attend live.
#the-program — upcoming Lodge sessions, Discord Events, RSVPs.
#campfire-notes — session summaries after every meeting. Async participation is a first-class experience.
#weekly-spark — Activities Director's weekly prompt. A reflection activity that belongs here, not in the Trading Post.
The weekly spark moved here from Resources because it has a reflection and discussion quality that matches the Lodge's gathering purpose. The distinction from the Trading Post is precise: the Trading Post is a resource you consult; the Lodge is a place you gather. Every channel placement is a job-to-be-done decision.
Named for the scout camp supply store — you come here for what you need to do the work. Two channels only.
#field-notes — Camp Elder's home. ADHD strategies, definitions, grounding exercises. No book content until licensing is signed.
#the-outfitter — community-shared tool and app recommendations. What actually works for real ADHD adults, peer-to-peer.
Two channels, one decision: strategies or tools. The Trading Post earns its place by being low-friction. If #the-outfitter ever overflows, that's the signal to consider subcategories — not a reason to add channels speculatively at launch.
Discord's native Patreon integration — automatic role assignment and removal, no custom bot, no manual management.
#fireside-chat — direct conversation with Cate. Periodic drop-ins and AMAs.
#first-light — spark and book club prompts posted a day early.
#director's-cabin — what Cate is working on, reading, thinking about.
#fire-keepers — Patreon supporters connecting with each other.
Intimacy, not exclusivity. The rest of the camp is fully open to everyone. Patreon supporters don't get better ADHD support; they get closer access to Cate. That's the right kind of differentiation.
What not to put here: ADHD strategies unavailable to free members, bot commands non-supporters can't use, anything that makes the free server feel lesser.
Cate's presence is the value proposition. A monthly drop-in is enough — but it needs to be real. If she never appears, the tier loses its meaning.
Deliberately minimal. Two channels, one function each.
#camp-news — mod-only posting. When something is posted here, it matters.
#suggestion-box — open to all. Where the community shapes what gets built, and where the channel governance process starts.
Any proposed new channel must answer all five before it ships:
The first thing every camper reads. Short, warm, and done.
Rules framed as shared values, not a list of prohibitions. Members with ADHD are more likely to read and retain a short paragraph than a numbered policy doc. The goal is belonging within 60 seconds.
The whole server in one glance. Understand it in under 60 seconds.
A pinned overview of every area and what it's for. Updated when the server changes. Pinned — not a living thread.
Name, one struggle, one win. The prompt does the work.
Structured intro template removes the blank-page paralysis of "say something about yourself." Everyone can answer these three things. The format also signals from the first post that this community holds wins and struggles equally.
Trail Guide's home. Two posts a day. Nothing else.
The channel stays clean so the rhythm feels like a ritual, not a feed. No conversation thread. Members check in; the tally updates in-place on the morning post. The evening post references what each member said that morning.
Trail Buddy's home. The visible co-working feed of the camp.
Body doubling activates the accountability system ADHD brains struggle to self-generate. Another person's presence — even silent, even virtual — creates enough social structure to initiate and sustain work.
What you see in this channel is the community working. Session announcements, partner pairings, time check-ins, completions. The Activities Director may also wander through once or twice during the week — a casual note connecting what's happening here to whatever the week's spark is.
Herald's home. One patch per win. The wall fills fast.
The name comes from physical patch walls in scout camps — every badge represents something earned. The threshold here is deliberately low. Getting out of bed on a bad day earns a patch. Sending the email you've avoided for a week earns a patch. What you see in this channel is the wall building up.
The Activities Director also monitors this channel. When a win connects to the week's spark theme, it may gently flag the connection — giving the member the option to cross-post to #weekly-spark.
Compass's home. When you're stuck, this is where you land.
This channel looks quiet. That's intentional.
Compass conversations are ephemeral — only visible to the member using the bot. Nobody else sees your struggle. Nobody else sees your questions. The channel stays clean so it never feels like a wall of someone else's hard moments.
What you might occasionally see: a mod checking in with someone publicly, or a community note from Camp Staff. Otherwise — quiet. Safe by design.
Async book club discussion. No requirement to attend live.
Each Lodge session has a dedicated thread here for members who couldn't attend. Async participation is a first-class experience — not a consolation prize. The thread opens before the live session and stays open after.
When the week's spark theme overlaps with what the Lodge is discussing, the Activities Director may drop a note connecting the two. Once, mid-week, no more than that.
Upcoming Lodge sessions, Discord Events, and RSVPs.
This is where Lodge scheduling lives. Discord Events handle RSVP and reminders automatically. Trail Guide posts discussion questions here in advance — or in #first-light a day early for Fireside members.
What happened at the Lodge, for everyone who wasn't there.
Posted after every Lodge session by a mod or designated note-taker. Not a transcript — a useful summary with key themes, specific moments worth preserving, and what's coming next.
Activities Director's home base. Monday drop, Saturday nudge, Sunday summary.
The Monday spark is the only announcement. The rest of the week, the Activities Director mostly wanders — showing up in other channels where work is already happening, drawing quiet connections. Saturday it comes back here with a low-pressure check-in. Sunday it posts the anonymized summary and closes the week.
What members do with the spark — whether they respond, cross-post from another channel, or let it go — stays between them and the bot.
Camp Elder's home. A quiet reference resource.
Camp Elder's responses are ephemeral — the tip or grounding exercise goes only to the person who asked. Nobody else's session is visible. The channel stays clean between uses.
What you'd see: mostly nothing. Occasionally a member will share a tip they got here to the channel directly, but that's their choice. The channel is intentionally low-noise. A place you come to when you need it, not a feed you scroll.
Community-shared tools and apps. What actually works for ADHD adults, peer-to-peer.
No bot required. Peer recommendations only — what community members have actually tried, with honest assessments. Mods can pin high-signal threads. Keeps the Trading Post useful without Camp Elder needing to become a product database.
Mod-only posting. When something appears here, it matters.
The scarcity of this channel is the feature. Members don't mute it because it's quiet. When something is posted, it's signal, not noise.
Open to everyone. Where the community shapes what gets built.
Suggestions are welcomed and taken seriously. Responses follow the five-question channel test — not as a gatekeeping exercise but as honest engagement with what a new channel would actually do. No suggestion is dismissed; all get a real response.
Sets the daily rhythm of camp life.
Buttons and modal instead of slash commands: Buttons require one click. For ADHD brains, friction is the enemy of participation. Lower friction means more check-ins and stronger community rhythm.
Four named states instead of a 1–5 scale: The four states (Clear / Light fog / Heavy fog / Rough day) are immediately intuitive, create consistent cross-member data, and feel human. Tentative — may be refined with Cate's input.
Bot edits the original post: Individual replies would flood #camp-pulse. Editing a live tally keeps the channel clean — members see the community's collective morning state in one glance.
No DMs ever: Some members have DMs disabled. Everything in-channel so the community can see the rhythm and feel the momentum. Universal rule across all bots.
The buddy system — no one works alone.
One command, no parameters: /buddy summons the bot. Buttons handle the branching. Members who are procrastinating or overwhelmed should not have to remember syntax.
The research behind body doubling: Executive dysfunction in ADHD affects task initiation and sustained attention. The presence of another person creates social accountability that helps regulate these functions — even when neither person is watching the other. Consistent with the WFADHD Consensus Statement.
Why session history is opt-in: Session pairing data is not retained after a session ends. Opt-in keeps the data footprint small and consent explicit.
Why celebration messages must vary: Novelty activates dopamine. The bot tracks its last message and never repeats it immediately.
Accessible knowledge — never clinical, never condescending.
Future Feature — AI Integration Candidate
Open-ended term lookup (/define) is descoped from v1 — programmed lists can't handle arbitrary input safely. Strong candidate for a future AI layer: a constrained LLM call grounded in the WFADHD Consensus Statement, with hard blocks on clinical claims. Do not implement without that guardrail in place.
Programmed lists, not dynamic generation: Tips and grounding exercises are curated content pulled from Supabase. This keeps responses predictable, reviewable, and grounded in the WFADHD Consensus Statement. No hallucinations, no scope creep.
No book content until licensing is signed. All content is independently written until a signed agreement with Cate and Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books) is in place. Hard line, doesn't move.
Points true north when members lose their way.
Mod availability check, not a hard ping: When a member needs a person, Compass queries the mod_duty table first. If someone is on, they get notified. If no one is on, the member isn't left with nothing — they can leave a note for mod follow-up and get external resources immediately. No empty "a mod will be with you" when there's no one there.
One question at a time: When someone is overwhelmed enough to type /stuck, they're at or near capacity. A wall of options makes it worse. One button, a pause, the next question.
No clinical language anywhere: ADHD is a medical diagnosis. The counselor's cabin is a safe space to land — not a substitute for professional support. Zero exceptions, zero automated clinical responses.
Hard requirement before launch: The mod duty system must be operational and mods must be trained before Compass goes live. The bot creates the handoff; the mod team has to be ready to receive it.
Announces wins — every size earns a place on the wall.
Streak shown on /win confirmation: The most common reason to want your streak is right after logging a win. Showing it automatically removes the need for a separate lookup in the flow that already has the dopamine hit.
Modal removes blank-line pressure: Typing a win inline requires knowing what to say before hitting enter. The modal gives a dedicated field with no format requirements — lower friction, higher completion.
Why no streak pressure: Streaks work for neurotypical brains by creating anxiety about breaking them. For ADHD brains, that same anxiety becomes shame — and when the streak breaks, it often triggers abandonment of the behaviour entirely. Herald tracks streaks as positive recognition only. Missing days never penalises.
Why getting out of bed is valid: Adults with ADHD frequently struggle with basic executive function tasks that neurotypical adults take for granted. A wins tracker that implicitly requires impressive accomplishments recreates the shame dynamic this server exists to counter.
Weekly sparks — and a wandering presence across camp all week long.
theme_keywords[], the bot rolls a 40% chance of drawing the connection. The dice roll keeps it organic — predictable is a bot, occasional is a personality.Rate limiting
Why wander at all: A Monday post and a Sunday summary means the spark lives for two moments in the week. A wandering presence keeps it gently in the background — not as a reminder (no shame mechanics) but as something that's still there when a member is already doing something relevant. Low-interrupt, high-relevance.
Why the 40% dice roll: A bot that fires on every keyword match becomes predictable and starts feeling like a notification. 40% means members occasionally think "oh, that was good timing" rather than "there's the bot again."
Why pattern-reactive uses keywords in v1: Building the theme_keywords list per spark is content work, not engineering work. It ships in v1. The semantic matching upgrade (Layer 3) is better but requires AI infrastructure. Start simple, upgrade when the infrastructure exists.
The no-shame commitment carries through to wandering posts: "Still open" not "don't forget." "If it's been sitting in the back of your head" not "last chance." "Just an option" not "here's what you should do today." Tone is everything.
Where the community gathers to think together.
Format: Discord Stage for live discussion plus a text thread for async members.
Scheduling: Discord Events — members RSVP and get automatic reminders. Trail Guide posts the discussion question in advance.
Missed it? Campfire notes in #campfire-notes after every session. Async participation is a first-class experience.
Frequency: Weekly or biweekly — TBD with Cate. Biweekly is lower pressure; weekly creates more momentum. The structure supports either.
The book club lives in The Lodge rather than the Trading Post because it's a gathering activity, not a reference tool. Every channel placement is a job-to-be-done decision.
Intimacy, not exclusivity — an addition, never a gate.
Discord's native Patreon integration handles everything automatically. No custom bot. Supporters receive a role when they connect; the role is removed if they cancel. Zero manual management.
What not to put here: ADHD strategies unavailable to free members, bot commands non-supporters can't use, anything that makes the free server feel lesser.
Cate's presence is the value proposition. A monthly drop-in is enough — but it needs to be real. If she never appears, the tier loses its meaning.
A safe space to land — not a substitute for professional support.
Zero automated clinical advice. All logs anonymised and mod-only. ADHD is a medical diagnosis — treated accordingly at every level of the system.
What Compass is: a calm, structured bot that asks focused questions and routes to a human when needed — checking whether one is actually available first.
What Compass is not: a mental health tool, a crisis line, or a substitute for professional support. Any response that sounds like medical advice violates this bot's design intent. Zero exceptions.
The mod duty system: When a member asks for a person, Compass checks the mod_duty table before routing. If a mod is on duty, they're notified. If not, the member is told honestly, their note is logged, and they're offered external resources. No empty promises.
Compass creates the handoff — but who receives it? The mod team needs to exist, have clear authority, cover active server hours, and have a documented protocol before the server opens.
When a member asks for a person, Compass checks for an on-duty mod. That mod needs to know what to do next — when to engage, when to escalate beyond the server, and what resources to offer. The /on-duty and /off-duty system is part of Compass, not an afterthought. Mods must be onboarded on it before go-live.
Cate's input on the escalation path is required before launch.
No real book content until licensing is signed.
All Camp Elder content during development is independently written. No chapters, tips, or glossary from Cate's book until a signed agreement with Cate and Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books) is in place. This is a hard line that doesn't move.
All independently written content is grounded in the World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement (Faraone et al., 2021) — 208 evidence-based conclusions from 80 researchers across 27 countries. Source: adhdevidence.org/evidence. No pop psychology. No contradicting established science.
No shame mechanics — anywhere, ever.
No penalty streaks. No public failure states. No leaderboards. No you're-behind messaging. Participation is celebrated, absence is not punished.
Missing a week is explicitly framed as fine — in the bot's own language, not just in the rules.
Adults with ADHD carry disproportionate shame about their condition. Community features that introduce more shame are actively harmful for this population, even when they work for neurotypical communities. Shame reduces engagement. This bot is designed in the opposite direction.
Minimum data. Maximum utility.
Session pairing data is not retained after the session ends. Members who opt in to session history give consent for their own data only — pairing data between members is never retained.
We collect only what is needed to make the bot work. Some members will be sensitive about their ADHD status and daily patterns. Trail Buddy is designed to be useful without building a profile. This principle applies across all bots.
This entire camp is SFW — by design, not by default.
A policy that says no NSFW content can be violated. A server architecture that has no NSFW channels cannot. When something doesn't exist, it can't be used.
On the future server: ADHD has a documented relationship with hypersexuality, impulsivity, and sexual health challenges. These are legitimate topics for Cate's community. The answer isn't suppression — it's the right container. A dedicated, age-gated server serves that audience better than accommodating it within a server that needs to be a comfortable entry point for everyone.
Total at launch: $0/yr. Scales to ~$25/mo only at meaningful community size.
| Resource | Details | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Bot Hosting | Oracle Cloud Free Tier (4 OCPU, 24GB ARM VM) | $0 / mo |
| Database | Supabase — free tier until ~500 DAU | $0 / mo |
| Database at scale | Supabase Pro | ~$25 / mo |
| Patreon integration | Discord native — no custom bot, no monthly fee | $0 / mo |
| Fallback hosting | Railway (if Oracle signup fails) | $5 / mo |
Discord bots maintain a persistent WebSocket connection — they cannot be serverless or sleep on inactivity. Oracle's Always Free tier provides a 4 OCPU / 24GB ARM instance at $0/mo indefinitely. All six bots run as always-on Node processes on a single VM.
Six questions only you can answer. Click any card for the full detail.
Base camp for adults navigating ADHD in the real world.
Built around your book. Yours to say yes or no.
Built with care.