6 ms·

If you have ADHD are you any kind of protected class? AFAIK the answer is no (regardless of what the answer _should_ be), so as long as this is the case I'm not

If you have ADHD are you any kind of protected class? AFAIK the answer is no (regardless of what the answer _should_ be), so as long as this is the case I'm not divulging s.h.i.t! me: I guess technically I have a disability imaginary boss: oh yeah is it one of <list of job-protected disabilities> me: no imaginary boss: well what are the impacts to your job? me: cant focus or complete tasks as good as my peers who dont have it imaginary boss: should be no problemo at all. especially when i'm in the big stack-ranking-by-another-name meeting later this year me: cool that's what i figured

cjbgkagh 5y ago
My ADHD has a clear genetic cause. I did note that a recent unsolicited Facebook job application request listed accommodations for neurodiversity. I think ADHD helped me become a crazy good programmer, but I seem to have a harder time noticing or caring about other peoples feelings.
- willhinsa 5y ago
  Not noticing/caring about other people's feelings might be some kind of autism-spectrum disorder comorbidity (from what I understand, ADD/ADHD and autism spectrum disorder occur together pretty frequently[0]) Not a psychiatrist, just wanted to mention it as something you might consider, that you or other people reading this might not be aware of. [0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4010758/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4010758/
  - cjbgkagh 5y ago
    I think people tend to get too attached to the medical taxonomy which has some clear problems. In my case I think the rationalization of emotions and the dismissal of irrational emotions is a coping mechanism that was brought about by hypersensitivity. Later on I had brain inflammation (CFS/ME) which inhibits emotional response as well a a host of other hormones. I now have effective medication, but I’d still rather not deal with other people’s feelings.
  - throwaway2331 5y ago
    I think it's separate from autism. In my experience, it's not that you don't understand or can't comprehend how other people are feeling: it's that you just miss it a lot of times, because you're not paying attention. We can understand how people feel, but it's usually not something that pops into our heads, because we're distracted/occupied with something else. In cases when we're not (rare, and as assholish as it is), we can care about and work with other people's emotions.
    - jkhdigital 5y ago
      Agreed, what we have is often simply dismissed as selfishness or self-centeredness. It’s hard to keep tabs on others’ emotional state when there is so much going on upstairs all the damn time.
least 5y ago
In the US it is considered a disability under certain conditions per the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- noduerme 5y ago
  What a surprise that within my lifetime, having a short attention span has gone from a personal failing to a condition, to finally conferring the status of a protected class. This should really help equitably distribute jobs like, you know, maintaining nuclear power plants and putting people into space, that previously required concentration and focus that some people just weren't born with. /s
  - fsociety 5y ago
    ADHD does not mean having a short attention span. It means having difficulty regulating attention span. Big difference.
    - noduerme 5y ago
      People have difficulty regulating all sorts of things. Personally struggling with addiction or depression or attachment issues or trauma or physical pain or attention span is foundational to the human experience. You'd be wildly abnormal if you didn't have to deal with at least one of these things to get through the day. And sometimes pharmaceutical intervention can help. I just think the wild over diagnosis and medication of what is essentially a personal struggle that's completely normal (what else can we call something that a third of the population has?) encourages the pathologization of normal human functioning at the same time as it creates victim mentality and removes responsibility and agency from individuals. For the express purpose of putting agency in the hands of psychiatric experts. We're all apparently sick except for them.
      - giraffe_lady 5y ago
        I'm looking back on this thread and I really don't see what prompted you to go off on this rant. Which, while not like unhinged or anything, I just don't think is appropriate for the conversation that was taking place, or this audience. I'm stuck here because what I genuinely want to say is something like "this sounds like a conversation to have with your therapist" which is truly what I believe. But that seems unlikely for obvious reasons, and it's easy to read it as a joke. Anyway, it's not! This sounds like something you should explore with a focused, knowledgable third party that is invested in taking seriously why you feel so strongly about it. They have paid professionals for that but maybe a friend or a priest or something would work too.
hprotagonist 5y ago
> If you have ADHD are you any kind of protected class? yes, in some cases : https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/asking-for-workplace-accommodations/ https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/asking-for-workplace-accommoda... The ADA includes ADHD as a recognized disability. For an employee who has ADHD, the act can require the employer to provide reasonable accommodations, as long as it doesn’t create undue hardship for the business. Not everyone who has ADHD is a “qualified individual” according to the ADA, says Nancy O’Mara Ezold, an employment lawyer and partner in the Philadelphia-based Ezold Law Firm.

cjbgkagh 5y ago

My ADHD has a clear genetic cause. I did note that a recent unsolicited Facebook job application request listed accommodations for neurodiversity. I think ADHD helped me become a crazy good programmer, but I seem to have a harder time noticing or caring about other peoples feelings.

willhinsa 5y ago
Not noticing/caring about other people's feelings might be some kind of autism-spectrum disorder comorbidity (from what I understand, ADD/ADHD and autism spectrum disorder occur together pretty frequently[0]) Not a psychiatrist, just wanted to mention it as something you might consider, that you or other people reading this might not be aware of. [0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4010758/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4010758/
- cjbgkagh 5y ago
  I think people tend to get too attached to the medical taxonomy which has some clear problems. In my case I think the rationalization of emotions and the dismissal of irrational emotions is a coping mechanism that was brought about by hypersensitivity. Later on I had brain inflammation (CFS/ME) which inhibits emotional response as well a a host of other hormones. I now have effective medication, but I’d still rather not deal with other people’s feelings.
- throwaway2331 5y ago
  I think it's separate from autism. In my experience, it's not that you don't understand or can't comprehend how other people are feeling: it's that you just miss it a lot of times, because you're not paying attention. We can understand how people feel, but it's usually not something that pops into our heads, because we're distracted/occupied with something else. In cases when we're not (rare, and as assholish as it is), we can care about and work with other people's emotions.
  - jkhdigital 5y ago
    Agreed, what we have is often simply dismissed as selfishness or self-centeredness. It’s hard to keep tabs on others’ emotional state when there is so much going on upstairs all the damn time.

least 5y ago

In the US it is considered a disability under certain conditions per the Americans with Disabilities Act.

noduerme 5y ago
What a surprise that within my lifetime, having a short attention span has gone from a personal failing to a condition, to finally conferring the status of a protected class. This should really help equitably distribute jobs like, you know, maintaining nuclear power plants and putting people into space, that previously required concentration and focus that some people just weren't born with. /s
- fsociety 5y ago
  ADHD does not mean having a short attention span. It means having difficulty regulating attention span. Big difference.
  - noduerme 5y ago
    People have difficulty regulating all sorts of things. Personally struggling with addiction or depression or attachment issues or trauma or physical pain or attention span is foundational to the human experience. You'd be wildly abnormal if you didn't have to deal with at least one of these things to get through the day. And sometimes pharmaceutical intervention can help. I just think the wild over diagnosis and medication of what is essentially a personal struggle that's completely normal (what else can we call something that a third of the population has?) encourages the pathologization of normal human functioning at the same time as it creates victim mentality and removes responsibility and agency from individuals. For the express purpose of putting agency in the hands of psychiatric experts. We're all apparently sick except for them.
    - giraffe_lady 5y ago
      I'm looking back on this thread and I really don't see what prompted you to go off on this rant. Which, while not like unhinged or anything, I just don't think is appropriate for the conversation that was taking place, or this audience. I'm stuck here because what I genuinely want to say is something like "this sounds like a conversation to have with your therapist" which is truly what I believe. But that seems unlikely for obvious reasons, and it's easy to read it as a joke. Anyway, it's not! This sounds like something you should explore with a focused, knowledgable third party that is invested in taking seriously why you feel so strongly about it. They have paid professionals for that but maybe a friend or a priest or something would work too.

hprotagonist 5y ago

> If you have ADHD are you any kind of protected class? yes, in some cases : https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/asking-for-workplace-accommodations/ https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/asking-for-workplace-accommoda... The ADA includes ADHD as a recognized disability. For an employee who has ADHD, the act can require the employer to provide reasonable accommodations, as long as it doesn’t create undue hardship for the business. Not everyone who has ADHD is a “qualified individual” according to the ADA, says Nancy O’Mara Ezold, an employment lawyer and partner in the Philadelphia-based Ezold Law Firm.