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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2009 9:21:26 GMT
Hi. Has anyone here managed to persevere and stick with a job for years? I have held a job for the last 7 or 8 years but moved depts to where I am after 3 years with the company. I think my psych was disappointed to hear that I have not been forced into frequent job changes. I commute 70 miles (50 mins each way) a day on my motorcycle, sounds crazy but I can't stand working too close to home, don't know why. I have a reputation for not working a full week 'cos I take half days off on a whim. I eat my dinner bit-by-bit during work time and go for a 40 min walk in the woods every dinner regardless of the weather (they think I'm weird walking in the rain in my shirt). I'll go for an occasional stroll around the business park if I need to 'get out' and spend much of my time doodling or daydreaming. I am a design engineer and love the problem solving aspect of the job but become very inattentive and make really stoopid mistakes when I get to the boring, non-problem solving part of the job. Fortunately, the jobs change frequently and I am usually able to jump from one job to another when I am bored of it. The managers don't challenge or push me but instead tend to leave me to it. I work directly for an engineer who is very sincere and patient. I've been made redundant twice and handed my notice in to one job after only a month 'cos I knew it was going to work. My responsibility to my family made me stay with my previous employer even though I was having problems and a strong desire to leave. Amongst other things I challenged and upset my manager a few times. I was aggressive and horrible to my family when I got home from work seemingly most days for 2 years (but I couldn't see the problem). I'm wondering if the psych would consider the fact that I have been able to stay in the same job as evidence that my ADHD is not a problem and decide not to treat it (assuming I get the diagnosis in the first place!). Does this make any sense in the wonderful world of ADHD?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2009 9:40:05 GMT
Giddy,
I think the trouble with the criteria the doctors are using to aid their dxs are all based on the notion that we are poor lost souls who jump out of our seats at meetings and start writing on the walls, no self control basically, and fail to take into account that ADHD can affect anyone from any background, any level of intelligence, and any type of personality.
We all know that some of us struggle with ADHD more than others, especially if we are in an unsuitable job and an unsupportive environment. What the doctors rarely think about is that when a square peg finds a square hole then they can stay quite happily in that place indefinitely.
You sound like you're in a good work environment, and it just goes to show that people with ADHD can be an asset to a company that's prepared to make accommodations for them. I've been in my current job for 2 years and have no urge to leave, fortunately i've managed to get on the first rung of the promotion ladder so i have a more involved job that gives me the freedom to do my own thing and despite the additional pressure i really enjoy the fact that i can do whatever i want now, go for a wander, talk to the staff, another manager etc.
Don't feel guilty or a fraud if you buck the trend according to the doctors, most of the members of this forum are doing pretty well coping with the real world, its the doctors who have an overly simplistic idea of who and what an ADHDer is.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2009 10:01:46 GMT
I have had sticking to my job for 8+ years used against me by a psychiatrist.
The fact that it was essentially unsupervised and, by turns, completely inactive and then mad mental/physical work (very ADHD friendly) didn't occur to her.
I've also been a driving instructor - a big no-no since, apparently, ADHDers can't be one since their head would explode. Coming from someone who would only have had summer jobs before becoming a psych I was pretty outraged by the lack of worldliness and insight into how minds work.
I've also done classic ADHD work - industrial temping, delivery, roadie etc and been fired, walked out, huge fights with management, long periods of sickness (mainly stress), conflict with co-workers...just about everything you'd expect.
So it's all up to the psych - some are smart and some have all the sensitivity of an air raid.
If you manage to tell them what you told us you should do fine.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2009 11:25:27 GMT
I have had 17 jobs with 3 of them where i walked out 2 or 3 times but my last job i have had for 7 years although i do struggle it does suit me very well as i am unsupervised and proberly do only 20 hrs a week.
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Post by andy12345 on Jul 5, 2009 12:19:00 GMT
There's a leaflet on this site somewhere I think..... about high IQ and adhd. However, I am started to wonder if there is anyone with adhd who actually has a LOW IQ.......
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Post by andy12345 on Jul 5, 2009 12:21:36 GMT
Oops, also,
I worked 13 years in a petrol station doing the basic tasks of serving, counting oil tobacco each night, doing shift change paperwork. I just see it as a blur of my life. Gone forever now.. When I was there, I was late most times or just on the last minute etc. I can't explain how wrong a job it was for me to deal with about 700 people per week. I should just be put in a box somewhere, given shiny objects and things to assemble I suppose. That's about my limit currently.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2009 13:28:37 GMT
hi giddy,
Psychiatrists like you to demonstrate impairment in 2 seperate areas of your life,
-The fact that you've managed to keep a job isn't a problem, you'll just be asked to give an example of how ADHD affects you when you're at work.
-Lateness, procrastination, failing to complete tasks through being distracted, forgetting/losing things which are important for your job e.g. tools. are all good examples,
then the same for your social life, home life etc.
so your doc should not take the fact that you've managed to keep a job, as evidence against you having ADHD.
-matt
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Post by redneck on Jul 5, 2009 13:43:15 GMT
I was working since 1974 and I think the longest I had one job was 4 years. Just needed to change. Mostly it was the people I worked with and when I couldnt take any more crap odff them I looked for something else.
The best job I ever had was 3 years - juyst left there last year cos I moved but this was a charity and I was the only paid worker everybody else was volunteers - I LOVED these people and they were always saying out great I was at doing stuff.
I too needed to be left alone to get on with it and i prided myself on delivering in time and meeting deadlines.
I always said my ideal job was to be locked into a cupoard with a PC and a phone and no distractions - LOL
rr
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Post by andy12345 on Jul 5, 2009 13:44:48 GMT
Hehe,
The only trouble with the cupboard, of course, is the tendency for one's mind to wander and maybe even start a full blown redecoration of the cupboard instead of work.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2009 20:35:06 GMT
Thanks guys, I'm feeling much more comfortable. Dunno about the whole high IQ thing. If you ask anyone at work they'd probably say I was dopy and just plain weird ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2009 20:43:19 GMT
well giddy, maybe you are dopey & weird!
-but given that you're a design engineer you're probably smarter than the average bear! ;D
-Matt
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2009 21:11:50 GMT
Been out with my wee lassie all day Giddy i have had about 20 jobs, moved house about 20 times and Im still only 28 years old. I dont think I have ever been fired from any. Ive always just upped sticks and went on my own accord, through boredom or something. Currently I am doing the best ever, 18 months (how bad is that lol). Hope the psych sees your view mate, good luck.
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Post by Mouse on Jul 5, 2009 21:51:57 GMT
I worked for 9 years in one job and have also been employed/ re-employed 3 times by another company - which liked my work style - a very busy role with no 2 days the same.
I think in the right type of job with a good job fit then there is no reason why a person with ADHD couldn't have longevity. The thing is to find the right job.
Alos had several jobs of abut 18 months duration and several of 4 months - 3 months + 1 month notice period. Reviewing my life post-dx I can see that all these jobs were wrong for me and not suited to my ADHD brain. Medical secretary (4 months) springs to mind as the worst ever. I hated it so much I sat in the hospital car park one morning waiting for a parking space - couldn't care less whether I was late for work - and ended up reading article in magazine about an adult with ADHD and had that lightbulb moment.
Luckily external factors and timely events meant I left most of the wrong job fits at the point where I would have handed my notice in anyway. (I was always at the point of feeling I was about to be found out - either that or I was going to be running out out of the office screaming with boredom and frustration.
The 9 year job was extremely varied (except during recession when I was bored witless) and had so many aspects to it - plus no two days were ever the same. Also my employer understood the boredom factor.
I now work in a customer service centre and as long as the phones are busy I'm fine. I need to work in a busy environment surrounded by people . I cannot go off and work by myself. Last week i was given an hour to go off and sit in a room by myself to read one of the manuals. At 20 minutes my mind was wandering like nothing on earth at thirty minutes I was back at my desk. Just too quiet - the quiet was distracting - but try explaining that to a non-adhder..
So after all that, what I meant to say was that just as you can show how some jobs are not right for you there are also jobs that are right.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2009 18:07:01 GMT
HI, I was self employed -ran my own business for 7 years plenty of variety and distraction but not much clear aim fo rthe business adn we went bust! I now work for my previous main competitor -working from home with an open remit- this was great until my review when I found that I hadnt been doing what was required!! I think a bit of management responsibility here as well as personal responsibility - this is when I discovered my ADHD- as I am so disorganised and was tryign really hard!!! oneof the directors of the company is probably ADHD too so maybe the boss has noticed and is trying to help me.. or maybe not- of course I don't feel too secure about the while thing. but to the point working form home is bad news for me as very little interaction, busyness or feedback. I end up workign for the customers -who I meet from day to day rathter tha my employer who is on the end of the phone, very busy, and who I see at head office one a fortnight.
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garys233
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Rules to live your Life by If you dont eat you dont Sh** If you dont SH** you die
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Post by garys233 on Jul 7, 2009 20:23:25 GMT
Hi Giddy the longest job i kept was a store detective i kept that for about 8years but in hind sight i now no why it was becos i was being paid for fighting and thats why i kept that job for so long i have had loads of jobs hoever i have never bean sacked from any of them i have always quit when i have got board
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