Re: They DO NOT GET IT….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

I think in most workplaces it’s a mistake to disclose your ADHD. I haven’t been able to come up with any “reasonable accomodations” that I could ask for and expect to receive.

1. In general, we Americans are wary of people coming up with excuses to underperform. Most people who do not have ADHD or a close friend or family member with it do NOT understand that it is a neurological deficiency. As a result, they see it as just an excuse (Even a lot of people who HAVE it refuse to acknowledge it is a neurological deficiency, and prefer to see it as a variation.)

2. What would be most helpful to me in the workplace would be to have an analyst who did the tedious parts of my job. I could then be more productive at the challenging parts. However, no company would consider that a “reasonable accomodation” as it would require them to pay an additional salary. In my 20+ years career I’ve gone from sharing an admin assistant with one other person, to having none. In my business there is now typically an office manager who coordinates repairs of copiers, printers and scanners, orders office supplies, schedules conference rooms, etc. Only the head of the dept gets any personal support from the admin assistant. We execs are expected to be proficient at word processing and spreadsheets and any in-house software.

Here are the things I am doing to try to manage my ADHD at work:

1 – take my meds EVERY day

2 – in any meeting volunteer to take notes, type them, and distribute them to attendees for any thing they want to add to them – this forces me to stay focused and shows I’m a “team player”. Distributing them for comments/additions shows I respect others’ opinions.

3 – if the person who called the meeting doesn’t think it’s necessary for anyone to take notes, then I take notes for myself and when things get slow/repetitive, I flip my top page over and start making grocery lists, weekend to-do lists, etc. so that I don’t feel rising impatience.

4 – force myself to maintain eye contact with whoever I am talking with. My ADD has caused me to notice everything going on around me, and if I don’t maintain eye contact and nod occasionally the person I am speaking with feels disrespected.

5 – slow myself down when I am excited about something I have achieved or figured out and am sharing it with someone. My excitement causes me to talk very fast and many people can’t absorb the information if I do that. When I recognize the excitement in myself I remind myself to a) not talk to fast and b) pause occasionally so the other person can comment or ask a question. I’ve alienated several bosses by talking too fast and their then feeling that I was smarter than they were. The resentment of that cannot be undone.

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