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Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

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Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#141

Post by brailsafe »

You might enjoy reading through similar question I asked a few years ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21716306 Lots of thoughtful responses.

Though people seem to have decent feedback, I'd be somewhat skeptical of any advice that hasn't been tested for at least a year and seems very confident. My problem is basically that I can last (for the exact same reasons as you) for about 6 months on any given project, before being burnt out or let go because my productivity grinds to untenable levels with a sufficiently unstimulating or untenable task list. I've been on medication for 3 years. It helps to a point to get through those patches, but you have to be consistent, and if you fuck up your sleep or can't get enough exercise, it can all go south. In my experience, I've only really been successful with a lot of autonomy and heterogeneous problems to solve.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#142

Post by maybeadhd »

halkony wrote: post #116
pdrbrtt wrote: post #78

Hello There! Former ADHD bro here. I was diagnosed with ADHD 10 months ago. At that time my life was a BIG BLOB of MESS and CHAOS. I started attending therapy sessions with a really good Therapist once a week since then. After 6 months, I had sense of every way ADHD was affecting my life, but couldn't figure out how to overcome the symptoms by myself. My therapist recommended a psychiatrist, which prescribed Vyvanse…

I got an ADHD diagnosis at 25. Didn't really surprise me, but I went to see a physician with the intent purpose of getting meds to help me. I told the truth and was able to get a Vyvanse script pretty easily. Interestingly, I didn't take the meds for very long, despite their more addictive qualities. About a year later, I had an emotional epiphany at a friend's wedding that cured the leftovers of my depression. It re…

I'd be really interested in hearing about the epiphany you experienced, if it's something you're comfortable sharing.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#143

Post by sjg007 »

halkony wrote: post #115
thebigspacefuck wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your vyvanse like $300 a month? I was taking it and it helped with a lot of things but I stopped because it was so expensive. Therapy was expensive too

There's no generic alternative for Vyvanse, so w/o insurance it's going to be costly. I have ADHD. I've tried both Adderall and Vyvanse, and IMO Vyvanse is the much cleaner feeling drug. Kinda glad the price point kept me out of it because it compelled me to find strategies that dont involve meds.

Wellbutrin can help too.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#144

Post by fsociety »

IMO find companies that are remote friendly, even if you go into the office, and do not value ass in chair time. They are more likely to not care if you show up late one day, or don’t get much done one day.

I see a lot of comments on medication here, but you should know it is not the most effective treatment. Rephrased, medication alone will not be enough to overcome ADHD. The advice I received was that, it will help me do the things which will help my ADHD. For example, breaking large tasks into smaller ones, bullet journaling, etc.

Lastly read “Driven to Distraction”.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#145

Post by dijit »

gkop wrote: post #119
dijit wrote: post #61

I'm not sure if we fit your description but our "core hours" are 10-16, which is a bit different from other companies in the industry: and there's a lot more focus on getting tasks done vs being in the office with your arse in the seat (though how much of that is COVID? unsure, but the company culture is affected a lot by how we worked during the pandemic as this is when most people got onboarded- we more than quadru…

Aside, every Bay Area software team I’ve been on has core hours beginning at 10am.

No, that's completely fair, I think in general Swedes prefer the working day to be earlier, so my core hours before this have been 9-16 (yes, one hour longer).

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#146

Post by sjg007 »

Since you have a diagnosis you should find some cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medications specific for ADHD. The meds will help you focus in the short term and the CBT will help you develop cognitive and behavioral tools to help you manage your ADHD for the long term.

One cognitive approach is to become mindful and curious about what triggers your ADHD. Are there any patterns or habits? What activities do you engage in when you feel bored with a task? ADHD is executive brain dysfunction so what you really need to do is engage/train your executive function skillset and build up your resilience for longer term rewards or to devalue the reward of task switching. Some people try to build structure into their environments so that they don't have to think about it.

So learn about ADHD and learn about what you can do to help yourself. That's the ultimate reward. Your ADHD makes you naturally creative etc... which is a valued skill.

In some sense ADHDers live in the future which is great but you still have to get things done. And accomplishment is the ultimate reward.

https://www.additudemag.com/brain-stimulation-and-adhd-cravi...

https://www.additudemag.com/what-is-executive-function-disor...

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#147

Post by anonymoushn »

newaccount74 wrote: post #42

I wonder why ADHD gets singled out so much. If I look at the suggestions that would help people with ADHD, then I see suggestions that would help lots of people. Eg. not being reprimanded for being late when it has no consequences would help everyone. Good calendar software also helps everyone. There are lots of people who are struggling with the demands of the workplace -- in fact, I'm not sure I know anyone who doe…

At an exit interview with my favorite employer so far, the HR person asked "What would you change about $company?" and I asked for walls. Walls are especially great for ADHD people compared to open-plan offices in which one must debug nginx internals while listening to sales-related conversations, but the literature suggests that the benefits of walls accrue to everyone.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#148

Post by hazmazlaz »

jstrodd wrote: post #96
pdrbrtt wrote: post #78

Hello There! Former ADHD bro here. I was diagnosed with ADHD 10 months ago. At that time my life was a BIG BLOB of MESS and CHAOS. I started attending therapy sessions with a really good Therapist once a week since then. After 6 months, I had sense of every way ADHD was affecting my life, but couldn't figure out how to overcome the symptoms by myself. My therapist recommended a psychiatrist, which prescribed Vyvanse…

Reading your comment makes me so nervous. I could have written it myself when I was in college. Back then, ADHD meds transformed my life for the better, at least during the first couple years. It was great! A pill solved all of my problems. But then, very slowly, over the course of years, I developed a much worse set of problems. Now, ten years later, I'm struggling with an addiction that affects every aspect of my l…

First of all, let me say as someone who has struggled with dependency in the past that you have my deepest sympathies. I hope you find the support you need to overcome the issues you are dealing with.

I do have to object to one statement you made:

>Very little research has been done on the long-term effects of prescription stimulant use.

This is objectively untrue. There has been a great deal of research done on the long term effects of prescription stimulant treatments. The preponderance of the evidence shows that long term use of stimulant medications has limited negative consequences and is generally safe. Here is one such study, and you can explore the citations/related articles to find more:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11322742/

Speaking as someone who was also diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, the consequences for me personally being unmedicated are far greater than the anticipated long term consequences, and on the whole the treatment is an acceptable risk.

If anyone is out there who is suffering but is afraid of taking medication, don't be. Talk to a medical professional, and learn for yourself the pros/cons. Treatment with prescriptions has the potential to reduce your suffering.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#149

Post by anonymoushn »

alasdair_ wrote: post #68
vkk8 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD isn't a discrete trait, it simply means that "you are in the lower x percentile of the population in the ability to concentrate". Even people whose concentration skills are close to the mean of the population can feel like they "have ADHD" and be diagnosed with one if they eg. work a job that requires more than average amounts of concentration which they don't have. For a good layman's discussion on this, see: h…

> ADHD isn't a discrete trait, it simply means that "you are in the lower x percentile of the population in the ability to concentrate". This is an oversimplification to the point of being misleading. Scott links to several sources to support his claims and most of them are quite clear that ADHD is a whole bunch of symptoms, a lack of concentration being just one of them. For example: “DSM-IV field trials used a C-GA…

I think this is a problem with GP's comment, not with the original SSC article. It really does seem like ADHD is just "lowest x percent of the population by conscientiousness" which isn't exactly what GP wrote, and a bunch of people replied to GP explaining the differences between conscientiousness and what he wrote.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#150

Post by anonymoushn »

pdrbrtt wrote: post #78

Hello There! Former ADHD bro here. I was diagnosed with ADHD 10 months ago. At that time my life was a BIG BLOB of MESS and CHAOS. I started attending therapy sessions with a really good Therapist once a week since then. After 6 months, I had sense of every way ADHD was affecting my life, but couldn't figure out how to overcome the symptoms by myself. My therapist recommended a psychiatrist, which prescribed Vyvanse…

Eating stimulants should be the first thing on the list, given that the condition is likely to prevent people from progressing through lists.
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