Your ADHD Co-Worker

They actually are trying

I was diagnosed with ADHD back in my early 20s. Growing up, I never thought I had ADHD because I was surrounded by the stereotypes — the kid who was constantly fidgeting at his desk or the kid who was constantly causing a scene in the classroom. I was the polar opposite of these typical “ADHD stereotypes”. I was the kid in the class who was quiet just trying to get my work done. This is because I was the classification known was “predominantly inattentive type”. It’s on the opposite end of the hyperactivity type when it comes to the ADHD/ADD end of spectrum of diagnosis. I was diagnosed by a forensic psychiatrist and as he explained it to my parents in the room — the only reason I didn’t flunk out of school was because my brain forced myself to come up with studying coping mechanisms to deal with the daily grind of school.

Now in the real world with work? I struggle. Constantly.

Not with my workload. I struggle with dealing with management. I’ve been fired from jobs (at least three) due to me butting heads with management because they simply refused to even try to understand where and how my ADHD brain managed my work load.

To help others (both in management and those who work under them) and to lead to less frustration with the daily nine to five, let’s…