How many working adults have ADHD? It’s impossible to know, partly because many people are never evaluated. It does seem unlikely that 9.4% of children magically morph to 2.8% of adults (see https://www.additudemag.com/statistics-of-adhd/.) The most important shift is seeing ADHD as a brain difference rather than a behavior problem or a lack of self-discipline. I recently completed this training by Tiffany Jameson on LinkedIn Learning, Understanding and Supporting ADHD Colleagues in the Workplace.
It is a training I wish was available 10 years ago. I haven’t always been a good manager or colleague to ADHDers. I am grateful to all my online Autistic mentors for changing and expanding my thinking and approach to this topic. Thinking back, I cringe at some of my thoughts and behaviors. I am trying to learn and do better.
We can all start by asking a simple question: How do you work best?
(ADHD and Autism are under-recognized in women and girls. Jump into Autism Twitter and you will realize that this often has terrible consequences. People struggle for decades without the appropriate supports.)
Resources to explore:
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ADHD in Girls: The Symptoms That Are Ignored in Females by Maureen Connolly (Additude)
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Webinar – Hiring Disabled People – What are we afraid of with grit & flow founder Tiffany Jameson
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We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation by Eric Garcia
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ADHD Simulator – What It Feels Like To Have ADHD a short video by Olivia Lutfallah
Photo by Soothy Spinner on Unsplash