A Formal survey of difficulties and easy things with various job types

Dear Colleagues, I am seeking to create a collection of information that might be helpful to many, as well as myself.
Quick background I am fairly new to my diagnosis and as my nickname implies... I am trying to find something that works. I was recently fired and cannot see how to make my career choice work for me, so I am exploring carefully. I believe I did not put enough effort into my career plans and did not have the necessary information. For me paperwork is deadly. Now that I know that I think that I can plan better.

My OBJECTIVE with this thread is:
* to discover and log the inter-relationship between ADD and various job types.
* to create a log of reasons why an ADD - er might have trouble with a chosen profession, so that a NEW person can check this trouble with his own inventory of strengths and weaknesses.

QUESTIONS:
* What is your profession?
* What difficulties did you have? ( paperwork, politics, etc..) How specifically did your ADD contribute to this problem.
* What has been easy for you because of your ADD? please be specific.
* What Illusions did you have about your profession. Was this related to your ADD? if so, how? ( this could also include how you discovered it to be an illusion.
*(if you are willing) What ADD type are you?
* if you are considering a New Carreer(s) what are they and what do you expect the positive interaction to be?

REQUESTS: (directions)
*please use the above format, preferably with labels: Profession, Difficulties, Easies, Illusions, ADD type and New Careers.
* If you would like to list more than one career simply repeat the format


My Own entry
PROFESSION: I wanted to be a counselor. I tried to get the clinical license by working as a casemanager and tried to be a addictions counselor as well.
Difficulties: Paperwork: I have difficulty staying focused long enough to fill out papers. I get bored. I am unable to fill papers correctly without missing things. I had just started medicine, but it gave me a head ache. I was fired, I was told that it was the paperwork but I suspect strongly and with good evidence that it was due to a complaint. I am on new medicine but do not know if it will correct the problem.
Reading: I can fall asleep reading a favorite magazine due to my ADD. imagine reading stuff at work.
Social: I found that my sense of humor was not appreciated. I am a bit compulsive/impulsive about sharing my puns despite the fact that they are not appreciated. I also seem to have difficulty in picking up on social ques. This I believe resulted in a complaint from an outside agency to the administration. After that I was getting frequent evaluations in the form of "COACHING". While others seemed to be getting this the onset of this seems to coincidental to me.
Anxiety: I tend to freeze up when anxious. I have no idea what to do about it. I believe that it is related to my ADD in that I have what I call "thought blocking" an inability to think. In the above situation or others I did not take adequate action , resulting in reprimands. In addition, I have then not slept well contributing to my low energy mode. I fall asleep or become too bored to pay attention.
EASIES: talking with clients about their psychological problems energizes me (keeps me focused). Coming up with Ideas; because my brain interupts me ( the same reason I find puns) I make connections between things that others might not even consider or notice.
TYPE: inattentive type
NEW CARREERS: I am considering mechanical engineering, computer tech, teaching, and inventing. I have tried cooking and other manual labor, but it is either too low a pay or is too uninteresting to stay there.
I am interested in mechanical engineering, I have taken aptitude tests that indicate I am best at logic, mechanical and then numerical. I get ideas all the time and have looked up my ideas to find some of them with patents, just as I had designed them or very similar. I hope that this will have less paperwork, but am concerned about losing a detail.
teaching: I like being in front of people; standing and instructing is exciting. concerns: grading papers, going back to school to get a high enough degree to teach adults. I couldn't write papers in the past. I don't think at this point that medicine will do the trick.
computer tech: may be a good field, may be lacking in the use of logic to create new or to solve problems.

Thankyou for responding, Bill

Hi Bill...

Any luck on the job front?

PROFESSION: I am a Civil Engineer Technician.

DIFFERCULTIES: To doing my CAD duties but able to break away to answer Engineer questions and to answer the phone. I have trouble with these tasks due to my hyper focusing. Also understanding the office social stuff is kinda hard. To me there is no rhyme or reason to teasing, talking, or socializing. Often I'm dismayed at the personal stuff but then puzzled why we don't talk about how we feel to each other.

EASIES: I can create 40 sheets of cross sections in a third time than the other CAD people. I find being consistant with what's shown on each sheet easy and fast as well. The math is also easy as well as remember where drawings are on the computer.

ILLUSIONS: That I'm not a good CAD person. Everyone compliments me but I think they are wrong. I just feel I could do better.

TYPE: hyperactive type

CAREERS: I love being a drafter, every project I do is exciting and fun. I draw for a living, what could be better. I do wish I could learn some new things for I have pretty much learned all I can here. Some possible career changes I would be interested in is either Mechanical Engineering, Evironmental Engineering, or just a Civil Engineer. I want to go back to school :)

Profession: still in search of the perfect (if it exists) profession. Currently I am a camp counselor, working with 8 year old children. It is exciting and fun. I enjoy this job the most. I also work in a college computer lab assisting students. This is ok. I enjoy the social part of the job but find computer work to be frustrating at times or boring... I was studying elem. education but found it to hard to focus in on details. The kids also made it hard to stay on track with lessons. I am also studing to become a nursing assistant. I love the medical feild but am nervous about the details involved in it...
Difficulties: DETAILS!! I tend to overlook a lot of obviouse stuff! If something is not interesting I will drift off in a matter of minutes... The slightest thing will trigger another thought and I'm no longer focusing on what is being said during a class etc. The same problem with reading. I find myself re-reading everything! Also, remembering things like order adn steps.... even wording (as you can probably tell).
Easies: the ability to visualize anything. Visual and hands on learning work best for me.
Type: inattentive
Social: Depending on my company, I can be relaxed in a social gathering. If I am not familiar with the scene, I will freeze right up and most will see me as a "snob" and antisocial... I can also say the stupidest of things! It makes perfect sense to me but no one else gets it. I can also blurt out whatever comes to mind without realizing it until it is to late.. other times I will just come out with the best "puns" or jokes.
I think that about covers it. Hope it helps!

PROFESSION: Computer programmer - web developer - self employed.

DIFFICULTIES: I have discovered that I do not work in groups well - self asteem issues. Therefore I need work alone or may with one other trusted person. I always
think that I am wrong - when in fact I am sometime brilliant - but I never notice this.
I have NO self evaluation instinct - always in a panic.

EASIES: I can work on multiple project at the same time as long as they are defined
in my head.

ILLUSIONS: ? A vexing question ?

TYPE: hyperfocusing - introvert

CAREERS: I like the work - but it is so detail oriented "Easy to make mistakes" I have to check and recheck everything I do - including every piece of correspondence.