my boss knows i have ad/hd but he has no idea what it really means to have it.should i let him read some of the stuff i printed off the internet that explains in detail about the full affects that ad/hd can have on a person?the reason i ask is there is protection under the americans with disabilities act of 1990.i have not been discriminated against but i dont know if i should have this on my medical record at work so they are fully aware of my ad/hd.does my company need to know this:confused: thanks doogie

That a very tough question and I have heard it asked so many times. I think each person needs to weigh the pros and cons about telling his or her boss. Maybe you should actually write out a list of pros and cons.

Will you be asking for job accomodations because of AD/HD?

Do you think letting your boss know will benefit you?

Do you think your boss wil accept what AD/HD is?

Because it does fall under the Americans with Disabilities act, I think it's to our advantage to tell your managers that you have ADD-ADHD. It's not to give us extra accomidations, but to alert them as to what type of asignments might be best withing the job. Also, I would ask for extra time or help when it comes to doing the paper work. Unfortunately, the "normies" out there really can't identify with this problem. They think we are either using it as a crutch, or they don't even believe that this problem exsists. For the benefit of utilizing the Americans with Disabilities act, I think it's important to have this in your record.

I've had experience with this... I think it is almost NEVER a good idea to share this info with your boss. I did... and things got BAD fast. The HR department immediately sent me a letter stating that "accomodation" did not give anyone an excuse for poor job performance, and things just went downhill from there. He basically started looking for *other* ways to make life rough on me, and he didn't buy the whole ADD thing.

SO... my thought is, if you value your job and like what you do, and are maintaining or excelling at it... DON'T tell. If, however, you either work for the government (they are more willing to listen to thoughts about disabilities and reasonable accomodations) or if you are currently at high risk of being fired (it may buy you some much-needed time, at least) then go ahead and tell them. <begin rant> But in hindsight, I would never, ever, EVER tell any other employer I work with or will work with again. I don't think much good can come of it... you're either going to be thought of as lazy or stupid or "faulty", or as a liability they have to now find a legal way to get rid of, or they're going to pass you over for promotion and raises. I don't think it's a good idea. </rant>

Okay, I'm listening to this advice REAL well here....and frankly I'm kind of scared....as I start to deal with the job market in terms of looking for health care jobs in hospitals, what do you and others think about "telling" about my ADD when getting a job working in a hospital? One would think that a hospital would be a little more tolerant of an ADD person given the very nature of it being a "hospital" environment, right? Or should I just go into the job and give it my all and take my meds and shut up about my ADD and focus well, etc. etc.???? Any input from anyone here????

I don't think a hospital would be predisposed to being tolerant of ADD at all... in fact, they might determine that it is a disability that disqualifies you from taking the job in the first place.

Consider this: A guy goes to take a job as a truck driver, but he has a bad back. He alerts them to this. One of the requirements of the job is to do some heavy lifting. They figure he can't do it, so they do not hire him, but hire someone else instead who does NOT have a bad back. They haven't violated any law, since they can choose who to pick for a job based on whether they can do the mechanics of the job. In the case you mention, you might be disqualified from getting the job because they figure you'd forget to give someone their meds, or some other critical task. So they would be within their rights to NOT hire you if you disclose your ADD.

My thought is still on this: Don't tell. Ever. At least not your employer, unless you're going to lose your job and want to desperately keep it. And even then, consider the consequences.

I know... I've done it, and been burned badly.

okay, ihear you....thanks....!!!

Originally posted by livingwithadd
That a very tough question and I have heard it asked so many times. I think each person needs to weigh the pros and cons about telling his or her boss. Maybe you should actually write out a list of pros and cons.

Will you be asking for job accomodations because of AD/HD?

Do you think letting your boss know will benefit you?

Do you think your boss wil accept what AD/HD is?

I think the other question you need to ask, too, is "Will my boss look down on me, and/or find *another* way to get me fired or make me resign because of revealing this?" Keep in mind, most people are "at will" employees, which means they can fire you for any or no reason. (Except for disabilities, etc.... but they can fire you for not doing your paperwork on time! Or mouthing off! etc.)

yes, and technichally you can't be fired for having AD/HD or they can't not hire you because you have AD/HD. But...many companies can work around the law. They can claim oher reasons for not hiring you ro firing you.

Of course I think there are people who should tell and who are willing to fight for themselves (and the rest of us) but they need to be prepared for a battle....

Right...but who wants to do the battles...I don't know...sometimes I think that if I JUST take my meds, take good care of myself, pray a lot, stick around my support (like here and the other resources you give out Tara), prepare each night beforehand what I need to do, then why can't I just NOT say anything about my ADD (like unreal says) and go into work each day, and DO THE FREAKING BEST I CAN???? and pay attention...and take it one minute at a time....and realize it will be hard at first...but also realize I DO like what I'm doing...patient care in dietitics...and realize some of it will be boring like charting..(and set up systems for myself that will work) and some of it that I will like....I just can't imagine it NOT working out after all this time and hard work of school and preparation....I mean it would be devastating for it not to work out...but I want to be talking about this NOW...and glad you all have brought this up.....I don't want them to NOT hire me and/or FIRE me for other reasons than ADD when in fact it WAS ADD....that sucks...There is paperwork with this profession....it's called charting/documentation....we have to document what we do with patient..and if we don't, it wasn't done, so to speak!! Well thanks for letting me "mouth off" here Tara and Unreal. :)

Joan

I've thought about telling my boss I have ADHD, but I'm concerned it would give him the excuse he's looking for to get rid of me.

But then again, maybe he would have some insight into why I struggle with deadlines, etc. Why I need a good support person instead of the parade of people who can't type, don't know the alphabet, and can't file. In short, I need someone whose organized to support me. Maybe if I tell the boss I could get that, but he has done alot of bad things to me this past year and I don't trust him. He's new. I've been with my job for 15 years, hes been the boss for less than 2. He's under alot of pressure to perform and he's made a couple of mistakes. I think he's realizing that now. It is very hard to know what to do. Some people react ok when you talk about ADHD and others don't think it is real. They think you are making excuses.

Wish I was self-disciplined enough to be self-employed. Friends tell me I should start my own company, I don't know how to tell them why I can't.

If you don't think you can trust your boss 150%, I wouldn't even *consider* telling him. It'd be the perfect back-of-the-mind excuse to start finding lots of other *legal* ways to get rid of you. It's the whole "Pariah Syndrome". You tell someone something (say, for example, you have Leprosy... which is totally curable and totally non-infectious in modern society as long as one is on medications)... and even if YOU know it's not a problem, people view you differently; with less respect, and more contempt. And before you know it, they find some other reason to give you the boot. Plus, then every time you make a mistake, it's chalked up to your ADD, rather than to normal HUMAN mistakes that everyone else is entitled to. Believe me, I have been there.

okay good point there...feels like I could get scapegoated alot...not human mistakes, but blamed on ADD....that would suck...oh there's her ADD again...yuck...now THAT I could picture...

well, this is good advice...never thought about it like this...perhapss the answer really IS take it a day at time...and THINK before I DO anything...brings LOTS of notepaper whereever I am...and document everything I do..and use all my support systems....there has to be a way tomake it work WITHOUT telling, right?

Okay, because of this thread...and another one.....I have NOT told my new employer about my ADD and do not plan to...and I KNOW it will be okay.....I am three weeks into the job and it's going okay.....thank God.....I think I will be okay without any accomodations....My learning process will be just be slower than that of my "normal" co-worker who started two days after me....in the same job as me.....

They do not need to know....Let them see I'm a bit slow (because I AM).....but let them think I'm slow due to my "age" -- NOT my ADD....I KNOW they would think I'm "strange" or "different"....because of my ADD....and who needs that?

I DON'T need the negative attention.....I really don't....I used to love attention....ANY attention....negative or positive....but not anymore.....

I told my supervisor (the office's administrative assistant) today about my add. I'd gone off my meds for a month (kept forgetting to call for a refill) and it really affected my work.

I told her that I don't want to use this as an excuse, just an explanation. She was incredibly supportive and told me that my mistakes have been little things - and the reason that they have such high expectations of me is that they know (and have seen) what I'm capable of. They're even sending me to Time Management and Project Management classes.

I think it went VERY positively and, so far, I'm VERY glad I talked to her.

Kelly -

Nice to hear a good experience! I hope you continue to nurture that supportive feedback by learning at the seminars what you can, and continuing to grow at work and live up to your capabilities.

For most people, I would suggest its a dangerous roll of the dice. I see little to be gained in many scenarios, and much to possibly be lost. The scales are heavily weighted against getting any REAL accomodations that make any difference in ones performance. What can an employer really do to help, beside show some empathy and be emotionally supportive? Hire someone to be at one's side to take notes and so on, all day, rather than hire someone capable of doing the job themselves? Reduce your job responsibilites, virtually eliminating the chance for company growth in your career?

On the other hand, they can start keeping keen records of every error made, watch how many minutes late you are, check how organized your desk is, check how behind you are on tasks....and start convincing themselves they ahve a problem on their hands. They might or might not fire you, but they might eliminate your options to be happy at work.

I think its a good idea to do everything possible to get support on the outside, and leave work alone. Be the professional worker you can be, at work.

My opinion

Jon

Thank you for this thread.

I was planning on telling the Director that I report to about my ADD once I had seen some results from treatment.
Kind of a "here is why my desk was always a mess, but look, I am fixing it, so the same things that come up in my review EVERY year will no longer come up" thing.

I am thinking that this would not be beneficial anymore.

I think I was just looking for quick gratification.

I don't know about others real life experience, but i have NEVER seen anyone with that fundamental a change without also involving "other people." Not from drugs alone, not from behavior mod alone, not from any one sided thing alone, not in my experience or those i am privy to.

See, I don't see the changes I need to make as anything really involving other people - unless it's for emotional support/reassurance/ideas and/or opinions.

Atleast in my job, there are strategies I can find to accomplish what I need to - for example, I started a rolling to-do list yesterday. Each afternoon, I take whatever hasn't been accomplished and write it on the next day's to-do list and so on. My boss has even noticed and reminded me to grab it when she tells me to do stuff ;)

there have been some changes where i work,first after i told my boss about my condition he stopped me before i could fully explain my condition and told me to contact our medical dept,i did that and explained the condition.at first the person that i spoke to in medical said that they could not make any accomidations for me (which is not what i was asking them to do),i just wanted them to know when things get very busy i sometimes get confused and they made it clear that they could not make any accomidations for me.so now i tell them that i would like them to have it on my medical record because it is considered a disabilaty and we are protected under the americans with disabilaties act (of 1990 i believe)and now all of a sudden he would like to see some confirmation that i have ADD.after i told them of the protection act that we are covered under they changed thier minds real quick,seems strange but i think they do not know too much about AD/HD or ADD.well 2 weeks ago we had a new person start that has a physical disabilaty (cerebal palsy)and they are going out of there way to accomidate them by hooking up special computer equipment,and making us do the things that he cant do himself such as lifting and moving things ect..,which i find strange how we can help this person with a physical disabilaty (which i dont mind doing) but they dont want to hear about someone with a "mental" disabilaty.now this person with a physical disabilaty will never be able to move as quick as we can so how come they get special accomidations and will never have to do the same things i have to do at a fast pace,but me with ADD can not have any accomidations or considerations because of a "mental" disability.things are really picking up at work and we are getting very busy and thing move at a fast pace and we have to make quick decesions and this is where i may run into a problem,making quick decesions correctly.i am unable to be treated with medications because i am sensitive to stimmulants and have even tried meds without stimmulants but have had no luck.all i know is if we get busy and i make a couple of mistakes and for some "reason" i get fired i will contact a laywer,i am not going to let a large worldwide company fire me for a disabilaty when they can go out of there way to accomidate someone else with a physical disabilaty and someone with ADD they wont even listen to.as far as i am concerned they do not want to know about it,but my boss and most of my coworkers know that i have ADD (i told them,i am not ashamed to have it)but i will not let them discriminate against me because of it.i will not back down on this and IF something happens i will take legal action and let it be known in the buissness community that they can not dicriminate against us,people with AD/HD and ADD!!!!