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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2010 20:07:22 GMT
When you make careless mistakes at work because of your condition and you keep getting critisized by your supervisor, how do you deal with it?
I mean if you haven't been officially diagnosed with ADHD yet or if you don't wanna tell your co-workers about your condition how do you deal with the constant criticism of making 'inattentive' errors at work?
Even if you tell yourself that it's not really your fault, it takes a mental toll in the end.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2010 23:19:30 GMT
Hi,
This is a really difficult situation to find yourself in, and lots of us have been there. I'm going to write quite a lot, partly because it's a complicated situation with lots of different angles to it, and partly because I've got ADD and don't know when to stop! So sorry if there is too much here.
I got fired from one job because of my ADHD and got out just before I was fired from a couple of others. And I can't say I blame my employers: I did screw things up. One has to get to grips with the reality: I kept making mistakes and procrastinating and causing problems for other people--and my employers rightly concluded that I couldn't do the job, whatever the reason. This was long before my diagnosis and treatment, before I'd even heard of ADHD.
At various times I've been an HR Director and other types of senior manager until I got found out as being a bit crap, and have had to deal with problems like this from both sides of the divide. Some thoughts that might help you analyse your position and decide what to do:
Are you actually making any more mistakes than colleagues doing a similar job? The way the job is set up may be at fault if everyone makes the same mistakes. Are the mistakes you are making being exaggerated by your supervisor, or are they really causing problems for your colleagues?
Very, very important question: are you in the type of job where inattention could put you, your colleagues, customers, or members of the public in physical, mental, legal or financial danger? It's tough, but you must be honest with yourself about this. If you could injure someone with a piece of equipment for example, or miss an important point on a form that could cost someone their insurance claim, or misread some critical test results, then you do need to decide if you want that on your conscience .
Have you always had the problem in this job, or has it set in recently?
Have you had a similar problem in other jobs?
If the answer to most of these is yes, then what's going on? It may be ADHD, but it may also be that the job is just too boring for you. If it is ADHD, then the right treatment may help you to do the job better: if you have started down the road to diagnosis then it's worth bringing it to the attention of GP, specialist etc that you are having problems at work and that this is worrying you a lot, maybe leading to stress and depression. If you haven't started, then ask here about what to do: there are lots of people with much more expertise than me who can guide you through the different steps and how to handle them.
It may be that you are doing the wrong kind of job for someone with ADHD, and that you could be better off changing to something that demands less attention to detail. However, realisitically that isn't possible for many of us: there may not be enough varied jobs where you live and "get on your bike" is lousy advice for someone with relationships, family, dependents that commit them to a certain place and earning a certain amount of money.
Next question: do you know if your employer is supportive of other people who have problems, or do they just want everyone to do the work, keep quiet and not cause problems? That's important in deciding what to do next. If they are supportive, then there may be a point to telling them and seeing if they are prepared to help with training or some form of support. If they are fairly hard-nosed, then to be realistic, the likely response to telling them is going to put you under more pressure rather than less: they will say something like "that's not my problem, shape up or ship out" or will put you on a performance review, or will be expecting you to make mistakes all the time.
Are you generally happy in the job, and is your employer generally happy with you apart from the mistakes? If so, they may be more willing to help.
Let's say it's the worst case, and you are really stuck in this job, and you are making mistakes that no-one else does, and they are not particularly supportive. I'd be very careful about trying to tell them you've got ADHD before you have a formal diagnosis: you've nothing to back up your claim, and they may just accuse you of pulling a fast one. Go canny until you know yourself that's what the problem is. Similarly with colleagues, unless there is someone you have known for a long time and can really really trust. Not everyone believes that ADHD is real, and you may get some funny reactions. Only you can make the judgement about how sympathetic they are likely to be.
Some short-term options:
If you agree with your supervisor that you are making more mistakes, but your work is generally OK and they want to keep you around, then perhaps you can find someone who can check your work in return for you doing something to help them. This may catch many errors before they get into the system.
Try to see if there is a pattern to the mistakes: is it one particular type of task that causes problems? If so, you might be able to work out ways of checking your own work. Or agree that you work longer hours to get it fixed, if really want to stay in this job.
If you have evidence that they can be supportive, then consider explaining that you think you may have ADHD, that you are trying to get a diagnosis and treatment, and ask if they can work with you to use the other skills you certainly have in the meantime. That way, you are not making a claim you can't support, and you are showing them that you are actively trying to get help and taking responsibility. But you have to be pretty sure of the reaction. The same with colleagues.
Once diagnosed and getting treatment, then it's a different position. The mistakes may stop, and if it doesn't affect your colleagues then there may well be no need to tell them about it. I made the decision to tell mine, as it did affect the people who work with me quite a lot, and I think they had a right to know what was going on. It's been a good thing, on the whole, and being open has helped us avoid some stupid mistakes that could have caused a lot of problems. As far as my employer is concerned, I get the work done and earn my pay: what they don't entirely realise is that it takes me a lot longer to do it than it would someone without ADHD. Treatment is helping slowly, but for me it didn't produce an instant result.
Last thing I want to say: my personal view is that the whole "it's my fault/it's not my fault" thing is a waste of time, and doesn't really matter. In the end, it's just a thing, and what matters is what you do about it. In other words, you don't need to either beat yourself up with guilt over the mistakes you make, or console yourself that ADHD proves you innocent: just focus on what you do next. Chop wood, carry water.
Looking at some of your other posts, you obviously are bright and have plenty of talents: you are starting much earlier than many of us on understanding what's going on, and that's a really good thing to have achieved. Really hopeful. And as you realise, ADHD has no relation to intelligence. There are many very bright people with ADHD.
Hope this is useful, and I will be hoping for the best for you and a good outcome for the honesty and courage you are showing. And if you can stand more maundering on, happy to clarify any of this or talk about anything else--as is everyone else here, many of whom know a lot more than I do.
Your servant aye.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2010 18:43:56 GMT
Thanks for your reply.
This was a temporary job that I will be finishing soon. It requires a lot of attention to detail which, as I have come to realise, I am not the best at because of my concentration problems. While everybody at the office does mistakes from time to time, mine are a bit more careless (at least to them, because from my standpoint I do care but I can't avoid these mistakes). Sometimes they find themselves having to do some of what they thought I would do because I couldn't handle all the workload or because I was too slow. Wish I could tell them why.
During an appraisal meeting, my line manager told me exactly what I thought: that I was very motivated and willing to learn but that I needed to start being more attentive and work faster.
I haven't had a lot of other jobs to comapre this to, but I always had concentration problems during my studies which I thought would go away but never did. So now I need to sort this out if I don't wanna get fired from every other job in the future.
Some of the positives I can take is that I learnt a bit more about my what kind of things I like to do and things I don't like to do. For a person with ADD I think it's important althought every job in the world will include some boring tasks whether we like it or not.
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Post by Mark in Greenwich on Mar 3, 2010 17:10:20 GMT
Get a diagnosis mate, makes it easy. Reality is you wont get much more attentive and even if you take treament youll still make mistakes but its Not your fault, Adhd'rs are quik to self blame, get a diagnosis and tell people from the start you have a disability. Dont be scared of singling yourself out, people will be much more helpfull than you think. I get my rota sheets printed off and highlighted because i keep going in at wrong times, I also often forget to put on a bill where and order is going (2 jobs, one student bar) and i dont get greif for it. Being open is the key and you will be more confident of doing it with a diagnosis =)
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