Post by ChicagoRedwing2b on Dec 3, 2004 19:27:14 GMT -5
I want to share with everyone my personal experiences dealing with this difficult question.
You are ADD or ADHD, or have any of the other mental disabilities, do you tell your employer?
The answers will always vary from one person to the next, but the questions you need to ask yourself are the same, and will help you determine your own answers.
I ended up telling my employer about my ADHD condition, but only after I was in serious trouble, and literally about to lose my job of 3 years.
Let me give a little background info to help paint the picture.
I started working for them in August of 2000.
Right from day one I was having small issues, that would only continue to grow and become some major problems later on.
I had issues with tardiness, excessive sick days, and my performance was random at best.
During those 3 years it was not getting better, infact it was getting worse.
I was repeatedly written up for my tardiness.
I was written up for company policy infractions.
I was soon suspended for them and repeatedly.
I was threatened with being fired twice for them.
My performance was sparatic, inconsistent, and below my goals.
Meeting after meeting was held to try to make things better, but it always just returned to the same crap after a while.
During the 3rd year with them, I had finally had enough. I had just recieved my 3rd 7 day unpaid suspension in 1 year, and I was so depressed. I was instructed that this was the final time, and one more mistake, no matter what, and I would not be employed anymore. I was also told not to come back if I was not willing to perform to my expected goals and duties.
I was dx'ed about 6 months before all the most recent things happened, with ADHD. I started medication and therapy. Things quickly got much better, but I was still having trouble like I said and was now out of options.
So here I was, ADHD Adult, 3 year job on the edge of being lost, on medication, in therapy, and still having issue, what the hell do I do now?
Well after talking with my therapist, we made the choice that I needed to tell my employer.
My ADHD was directly effecting my abillity to perform in my duties at work. I was struggling and trying very hard but I was constantly finding myself makeing mistakes and not know why, or how to correct them.
My work enviornment was part of the problem, as well as the method my managers were using to manage me, and something needed to change in order to help me succeed.
Under the US Fair Disabilities Act, any employer must follow strict policy and rules when an employee informs them of a disability they may have that is effecting their job performance and duties.
Under the law the employer has the right to question and investigate your disability claim and determine if you are covered under the Disabilities Act and if they are required by law to accommodate you at work.
The law gives a lot of power to your employer and you need to understand that your employer will require you to provide evidence and medical professional writen documentation to prove your actually disabled.
They can then make the determination based on the documentation and evidence you provided them if your truely disabled and covered under the Disabilities Act, and if they have to accommodate your disabilities under the law.
This is not always an easy thing to do. Trust me in that the law is not in your favor. You will have to provide some serious documentation and evidence of your disability to your employer. In the end they have the power to deny you as disabled under the Act. You can always request another review and provide more documentation but its not easy.
Physical disabilities are much easier to handle, and this problem seems to be directly related to only mental disabilities.
Mental disabilities are the center of constant professional debate, and because of this the laws are to broad and give the employer the advantages under the law.
When I informed them of my ADHD diagnosis only 6 months before that time, I was presented with a question list to have my doctor answer and return.
I can not WARN you enough, about this part. You need to make sure your doctor that fills this out, answers the questions in detail, and explains each one in details.
One word answers and one sentence answers are not going to help you.
My doctor did just this, he answered all the question correctly, but becasue he did so in such quick one word and sentence answers, my employer ended up denying me as truely disabled under the ACT for lack of evidence.
The real problem was not the evidence, but that most all employers just do not understand or know about mental disabilities like they do with physical.
HR managers and staff are not knowledgable enough to understand what ADHD is or how it effects things. So they need to be educated. Your Dr has to take time to explain what disability you have, why you have it, how it effects your abillities to function inside and outside of work, and how long you will have it. Medications your taking and why, and how they help, side effects of the meds, therapy and how it helps, and finally how the employer should accommodate the employee with the disability, and why.
I was lucky in that my employer was willing to help me even though they did not find me disabled under the Act. I was allowed to file more documentation as needed and they would review it again, but they were going to help me anyways.
Why did they offer to help me? Well like I said I was lucky.
My department manager was the reason why they were going to help me and not fire me.
He explained to them that he was frustrated with me and did not understand why I did the things I did, and knew that something was just wrong. He explained that when I was at work, and on track, I had out performed the best in the department on any given day. I had so much potential and had the ability to perform very very well, but something was not right, and he had exhausted everything he knew to help me.
Because he was willing to question things, and explain his observations to HR, they were going to help me.
So we had a meeting and we discussed actions we were going to take, and the requirements of both sides, and the expectations, and consiquences if they were not met.
I was clearly still at a disadvantage because of all my past problems. Trust was something I had lost because of my issues, and it would have to be earned back in time.
I was given a new shift of 10:30am til 7:30pm from my normal 9-6 shift. This was to help with tardiness and any issues I would have with sleeping patterns and lack of sleep due to medications and my ADHD.
I was to report weekly to my supervisor my progress in the goals we set. My goals were strict and specific and something I was easily able to understand and track.
They would provide me with a weekly review to help redirct my focus to areas that may be starting to slip, and help me keep track of all the areas I needed to work on.
Monthly sit down meetings to help focus more directly on areas that showed improvments and areas that dropped. Tactics to handle areas needing work, and how to grow areas of success. Problems that may have come up, issues with medications, and moods, and how to setup the next month.
They would give me a more proactive feedback on a weekly and monthly basis. Exactly what I was not getting.
Because I was not able to properly keep track of all the things I was doing, and needing to do, I was unable to direct my efforts and focus to more then a few areas at a time.
As I did this, other areas would quietly drop and suffer, and only after it was a major issue did I notice and redirect my focus to them. But as I did this I would lose track of the other areas I was doing well in before, and it was a visious cycle.
They were going to help me correct and stop it.
That was 5 months ago, and although I am still struggling in some areas, I am no long late to work. I still take more sick days then I should but I am getting better with this issue.
Now my issues only stem form small goals related to my daily duties, but because I have been out performing my major goals, these are not causing me problems, but I am made aware of them and how to make small adjustments to help correct them.
So for my situation, telling my employer was a good thing, and was the right thing to do.
But your situation might not be the same, or a good thing to do.
You need to ask yourself a few questions to help figure it all out.
1. Does your employer have a policy to help handle mental disabilities and not just physical, and is it up to par with the laws?
2. How educated is your employer, managers, and supervisors about mental disabilities in the work place?
3. What exactly is your documented job title, and expected duties in that job as given by your employer?
4. Based on 4 above, how does your disability effect these expectations and duties?
5. Does your work enviornment caused more problems related to your disability and how?
6. Do you take medication for your disability, and if so what are the side effects, and direct effects of that mediation on your ability to meet your expectations in your job?
7. What outside facters can effect your ability to perform at work, sleep, depression, moods, meds, etc.
8. How often do they effect your job abilities?
Once you have run through these basic questions, you need to talk with a professional Psycologist. The doctors that provide therapy sessions, not the ones that give you the meds.
These professionals can help with therapy, and behaviorla therapy outside of the meds. I recommedn that treatment for ADD and ADHD be in 2 parts.
Medication from a professional Psychiatrist
Therapy from a professional Psycologist
Therapy will also show that your willing to seek outside help with your disability. Also these professionals can help provide documentation for your employer.
You are ADD or ADHD, or have any of the other mental disabilities, do you tell your employer?
The answers will always vary from one person to the next, but the questions you need to ask yourself are the same, and will help you determine your own answers.
I ended up telling my employer about my ADHD condition, but only after I was in serious trouble, and literally about to lose my job of 3 years.
Let me give a little background info to help paint the picture.
I started working for them in August of 2000.
Right from day one I was having small issues, that would only continue to grow and become some major problems later on.
I had issues with tardiness, excessive sick days, and my performance was random at best.
During those 3 years it was not getting better, infact it was getting worse.
I was repeatedly written up for my tardiness.
I was written up for company policy infractions.
I was soon suspended for them and repeatedly.
I was threatened with being fired twice for them.
My performance was sparatic, inconsistent, and below my goals.
Meeting after meeting was held to try to make things better, but it always just returned to the same crap after a while.
During the 3rd year with them, I had finally had enough. I had just recieved my 3rd 7 day unpaid suspension in 1 year, and I was so depressed. I was instructed that this was the final time, and one more mistake, no matter what, and I would not be employed anymore. I was also told not to come back if I was not willing to perform to my expected goals and duties.
I was dx'ed about 6 months before all the most recent things happened, with ADHD. I started medication and therapy. Things quickly got much better, but I was still having trouble like I said and was now out of options.
So here I was, ADHD Adult, 3 year job on the edge of being lost, on medication, in therapy, and still having issue, what the hell do I do now?
Well after talking with my therapist, we made the choice that I needed to tell my employer.
My ADHD was directly effecting my abillity to perform in my duties at work. I was struggling and trying very hard but I was constantly finding myself makeing mistakes and not know why, or how to correct them.
My work enviornment was part of the problem, as well as the method my managers were using to manage me, and something needed to change in order to help me succeed.
Under the US Fair Disabilities Act, any employer must follow strict policy and rules when an employee informs them of a disability they may have that is effecting their job performance and duties.
Under the law the employer has the right to question and investigate your disability claim and determine if you are covered under the Disabilities Act and if they are required by law to accommodate you at work.
The law gives a lot of power to your employer and you need to understand that your employer will require you to provide evidence and medical professional writen documentation to prove your actually disabled.
They can then make the determination based on the documentation and evidence you provided them if your truely disabled and covered under the Disabilities Act, and if they have to accommodate your disabilities under the law.
This is not always an easy thing to do. Trust me in that the law is not in your favor. You will have to provide some serious documentation and evidence of your disability to your employer. In the end they have the power to deny you as disabled under the Act. You can always request another review and provide more documentation but its not easy.
Physical disabilities are much easier to handle, and this problem seems to be directly related to only mental disabilities.
Mental disabilities are the center of constant professional debate, and because of this the laws are to broad and give the employer the advantages under the law.
When I informed them of my ADHD diagnosis only 6 months before that time, I was presented with a question list to have my doctor answer and return.
I can not WARN you enough, about this part. You need to make sure your doctor that fills this out, answers the questions in detail, and explains each one in details.
One word answers and one sentence answers are not going to help you.
My doctor did just this, he answered all the question correctly, but becasue he did so in such quick one word and sentence answers, my employer ended up denying me as truely disabled under the ACT for lack of evidence.
The real problem was not the evidence, but that most all employers just do not understand or know about mental disabilities like they do with physical.
HR managers and staff are not knowledgable enough to understand what ADHD is or how it effects things. So they need to be educated. Your Dr has to take time to explain what disability you have, why you have it, how it effects your abillities to function inside and outside of work, and how long you will have it. Medications your taking and why, and how they help, side effects of the meds, therapy and how it helps, and finally how the employer should accommodate the employee with the disability, and why.
I was lucky in that my employer was willing to help me even though they did not find me disabled under the Act. I was allowed to file more documentation as needed and they would review it again, but they were going to help me anyways.
Why did they offer to help me? Well like I said I was lucky.
My department manager was the reason why they were going to help me and not fire me.
He explained to them that he was frustrated with me and did not understand why I did the things I did, and knew that something was just wrong. He explained that when I was at work, and on track, I had out performed the best in the department on any given day. I had so much potential and had the ability to perform very very well, but something was not right, and he had exhausted everything he knew to help me.
Because he was willing to question things, and explain his observations to HR, they were going to help me.
So we had a meeting and we discussed actions we were going to take, and the requirements of both sides, and the expectations, and consiquences if they were not met.
I was clearly still at a disadvantage because of all my past problems. Trust was something I had lost because of my issues, and it would have to be earned back in time.
I was given a new shift of 10:30am til 7:30pm from my normal 9-6 shift. This was to help with tardiness and any issues I would have with sleeping patterns and lack of sleep due to medications and my ADHD.
I was to report weekly to my supervisor my progress in the goals we set. My goals were strict and specific and something I was easily able to understand and track.
They would provide me with a weekly review to help redirct my focus to areas that may be starting to slip, and help me keep track of all the areas I needed to work on.
Monthly sit down meetings to help focus more directly on areas that showed improvments and areas that dropped. Tactics to handle areas needing work, and how to grow areas of success. Problems that may have come up, issues with medications, and moods, and how to setup the next month.
They would give me a more proactive feedback on a weekly and monthly basis. Exactly what I was not getting.
Because I was not able to properly keep track of all the things I was doing, and needing to do, I was unable to direct my efforts and focus to more then a few areas at a time.
As I did this, other areas would quietly drop and suffer, and only after it was a major issue did I notice and redirect my focus to them. But as I did this I would lose track of the other areas I was doing well in before, and it was a visious cycle.
They were going to help me correct and stop it.
That was 5 months ago, and although I am still struggling in some areas, I am no long late to work. I still take more sick days then I should but I am getting better with this issue.
Now my issues only stem form small goals related to my daily duties, but because I have been out performing my major goals, these are not causing me problems, but I am made aware of them and how to make small adjustments to help correct them.
So for my situation, telling my employer was a good thing, and was the right thing to do.
But your situation might not be the same, or a good thing to do.
You need to ask yourself a few questions to help figure it all out.
1. Does your employer have a policy to help handle mental disabilities and not just physical, and is it up to par with the laws?
2. How educated is your employer, managers, and supervisors about mental disabilities in the work place?
3. What exactly is your documented job title, and expected duties in that job as given by your employer?
4. Based on 4 above, how does your disability effect these expectations and duties?
5. Does your work enviornment caused more problems related to your disability and how?
6. Do you take medication for your disability, and if so what are the side effects, and direct effects of that mediation on your ability to meet your expectations in your job?
7. What outside facters can effect your ability to perform at work, sleep, depression, moods, meds, etc.
8. How often do they effect your job abilities?
Once you have run through these basic questions, you need to talk with a professional Psycologist. The doctors that provide therapy sessions, not the ones that give you the meds.
These professionals can help with therapy, and behaviorla therapy outside of the meds. I recommedn that treatment for ADD and ADHD be in 2 parts.
Medication from a professional Psychiatrist
Therapy from a professional Psycologist
Therapy will also show that your willing to seek outside help with your disability. Also these professionals can help provide documentation for your employer.
