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Comment by hoorayimhelping | Hacker News Reader

>I have been diagnosed with ADHD this year. How do I best tell prospective employers I might need some accommodation in this process?

As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD a decade-and-a-half ago in my 20s: You don't. You don't even think about using your diagnosis as an excuse or a shield for behavior that is unacceptable. You never consider thinking that you deserve special treatment because you were diagnosed with ADHD. You accept that there are tradeoffs that come with it, some positive, some negative, and that you will have advantages in some areas and disadvantages in other areas and you don't let it define you or your behavior.

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Would you give the same advice to someone who was blind or in a wheelchair and asking for reasonable accommodations at work? ADHD is a legally recognized disability in the US, just like other, more visible disabilities. There are a number of accommodations that OP could ask for that an employer would be obligated to provide.

In pragmatic terms, disclosure is probably best kept until after you've been hired somewhere, since discrimination during hiring is commonplace.

Parent is giving a report from experience and that perspective is worth noting even if it may not be considered kosher by some standards. As such, it should not be dismissed as a bad advice as it deals with the reality of workplaces and not 'world as it should be'.

No, because those visible disabilities win the favor of juries and get punitive damages. ADHD doesn’t so no lawyer worth anything is even going to take a hard look at the case.

    Would you give the same advice to someone who was blind or in a wheelchair

No, I wouldn't. But as fellow ADHD sufferer (who has struggled greatly at times) I would vouch for the parent poster's advice.

ADHD ultimately comes down to coping strategies. At the end of the day you are going to have to develop strategies to focus and accomplish your work.

In this sense it is different than e.g. blindness. A blind person (I'm partially blind, too! fun!) can't cope their way to sight. But an ADHD sufferer is going to have to figure out a way to focus and accomplish work.

I guess if I was already hired I might consider bringing up the disability thing if my employer was doing some weirdo, directly-hostile thing w.r.t. ADHD like banning headphones in an open office. That would be a plan of last resort.

I see ADHD as a trait. It's only a disability if it holds you back. It's akin to multi-threading; there's more complexity, and risk of thrashing, BUT when managed properly the parallel-processing can be a significant advantage compared to neurotypical minds.

Hmm, which advantages does ADHD give you in the workplace?

> BUT when managed properly the parallel-processing can be a significant advantage compared to neurotypical minds

Adderall lets you get into insanely deep "flow". It's like cheating for concentration. You can even use it if you don't ADHD. Just after I left university, it started to be a thing to take it, then do massive amounts of studying before mid-year and final exams.

That’s not an advantage of ADHD, it’s an advantage of off-label use of ADHD medication. For people who do have ADHD, Adderall brings them closer to the neurotypical baseline; in fact one of the common helpful effects is less concentration in certain circumstances, so they can direct their attention where needed more effectively.

I don't understand the downvotes. I'm speaking honestly from direct experience, and paraphrasing ideas I've encountered in various contexts over the years.

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