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Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

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Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#211

Post by staticelf »

tgaj wrote: post #209
staticelf wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, I recognize that there may be people with more severe issues. I have two childhood friends that had diagnosed severe ADHD but at the same time they both had other issues as well which I personally think hindered them more in life than their ADHD ever did. I never tried to convince anyone that it is their fault for whatever problems they encountered in life and sadly one of them died by an overdose in an early a…

So you are not interested in any research and you have only anecdotes (and one ADHD friend who died of overdosing) and still have very strong opinion about something you say you don't really care about. You are like a living example of people that make ADHD folks live harder.

I could read research papers about neurological studies but honestly I don't think I would understand it even if I tried. To be completely honest I don't believe you would either since most research papers are pretty hard to understand if you're not involved in the subject matter. One study doesn't make a thing proven science, so to have a good understanding of the matter you would pretty much have read upon it a lot. I don't have any very strong opinions on the subject though so you're simply attacking a straw man.

Please explain how I made the lives of my friends harder. By being their friend? You know nothing about me or my life. Being unfriendly doesn't convince anyone, you're just as much of an example of it as I am.

I just shared my thoughts since I at least have experience of it and if you disagree that's completely fine by me. I don't understand the sentiment today that you're not allowed to have opinions on stuff unless you're a scientist. It is imho impossible to be well read upon all things in life, sometimes all you have is anecdotes and experience.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#212

Post by staticelf »

user-the-name wrote: post #210
staticelf wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you could create tests that describe tests that describe a pretty large amount of people in many ways. In the future we maybe have tests that show if you're a morning bird or a night owl. The society is structured in a way that makes it easier for some types of people to succeed but it doesn't mean that people who doesn't fit that model can't or that it's something wrong with them. That is what I meant by my…

Or, you could trust the lived experience of millions of real, suffering people, and the medical expertise of all the doctors in the world working on helping those people, and shut the fuck up about something you know nothing about.

Please stop with the straw man shit. I do trust lived experience of people that have an ADHD diagnosis. Why would you think otherwise? I do trust people with medical expertise. I do at least have a little experience with people that have ADHD diagnosed so I know some things about it but I never claimed I was an expert. I explicitly wrote that I was not a doctor.

Fuck you too, though.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#213

Post by chownie »

galoisgirl wrote: post #155
krono wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD brains are physically incapable of doing these things without assistance on a neurological/biochemical level. It's not much different to elevators being pretty convenient for everyone, but an absolute necessity to the wheelchair-bound. Edit: better fitting analogy.

> ADHD brains are physically incapable of doing these things without assistance on a neurological/biochemical level. How do you think people with ADHD live in countries where adult ADHD is not known? It's hard, but we absolutely can.

Some can, a substantial number end up in prison or homeless. Note that this is also the case for countries where ADHD is measured.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#214

Post by halkony »

maybeadhd wrote: post #142
halkony wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sure, I'm really open about my experience.

I've always been a sensitive person, but at 25, I found myself acting callously because of a history of being neglected. It was a reasonable choice for my life. Effective. I escaped poverty with that worldview and it was reinforced.

I went to a wedding last spring, and the powerful feelings that day made me more sensitive than usual. Something happened that really really made me feel like shit. I brought a date, and for a number of reasons, she acted very cold and distant with me. At times she was disgusted (which I empathized with, but had trouble dealing with). She ended up spending the night with another man. That made me feel awful.

Then something happened that really really made me feel good. This wedding was in my hometown. I had a friend I'd known during 6th grade, but we quickly grew apart because of my volatile domestic circumstances. I shared a lot with this friend about enjoying Actionscript3, even showing him code demonstrations on my laptop at school. The night of that wedding I learned from his mother that, though our friendship was brief, I deeply inspired him to start a successful business programming car engine computers. She told me directly, "I don't think you know how much you affected him." He was at that wedding with his wife and 4 year old daughter. And I thought "Damn, I'm such an amazing person that I inspired this man to start a business to provide for his family. So why do I feel like shit?"

I was on Adderall at the time, and I entered a state of mania. No model for my understanding of other people could reconcile the two feelings. It's simultaneously the most painful and wonderful thing that's ever happened to me. I ended up driving home at 3am after I sobered up. On that 3 hour drive I got to process all the feelings that didn't make sense to me. At some point, I looked into the darkness of the highway and a Jackson Pollock painting was staring back at me. It was surreal.

After struggling to find the words that morning, I found what I was looking for: We all build pillars of personality, and they are not as strong as we think they are. The moment those words popped into my head, I felt an immediate relief in my chest, around my heart. I used to feel like my mind had to consult my chest before I did anything. I leaned so much on my primal, animal responses without realizing it. And it destroyed my mental health. Now I could willingly feel any part of my body without agitating it. It was beautiful. For the next week I'd wake up in the morning and think "My body is so loose. Do I really feel this good?". Unbelievable.

Since then I stopped taking the Adderall, quit alcohol and quit drugs. That journey has been messy and it's taken time, but I'm proud of it. I learned that being proud of myself meant I had to be proud of the moments I've hurt people just as much as I'm proud of the moments I inspire people. Because that's what it means to be me -- not to live for what's right or what's wrong, but to live and simply be.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#215

Post by krono »

krono wrote: post #203
throwaway6532 wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. People fundamentally misunderstand it in this very common way and it's such a shame. It's really the difficult in ability to regulate attention which includes both keeping your attention on something (i.e concentration) and your ability to take your attention off something and shift it to something else (i.e hyperfocus).

I do not fundamentally misunderstand this. That would be weird considering my own ADHD combined type diagnosis in the severe range. Just saying.

Hah wrote that on mobile, looks like it's missing a part.

ADHD Is on a spectrum, which is what I wish people would understand. My diagnosis is in the severe range, and I'm 100% useless without medication. Unable to concentrate or be on time even if my life depended on it.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#216

Post by Ancapistani »

novok wrote: post #192
Ancapistani wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> an extra management structure Not necessarily - it could be as simple as a change to the existing structure that benefits everyone to some degree (or at least doesn’t harm others).

If the change of the management structure requires more active hours of management labor, for everyone or for people with ADHD, it's still more total work and labor which costs more money and is limited by hiring constraints.

I agree with you, but only if the additional burden on management is not offset by increased productivity of every employee.

I don’t know to what degree - or if - that would be the case, but I strongly suspect it would be.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#217

Post by Irongirl1 »

This one is fully remote: https://www.fastcompany.com/90339945/75-of-staff-at-this-suc...

This one is not and is based in California, but I'd still keep an eye on them in case they decide to add remote positions: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/21/magazine/auti...

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#218

Post by user-the-name »

staticelf wrote: post #212
user-the-name wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, you could trust the lived experience of millions of real, suffering people, and the medical expertise of all the doctors in the world working on helping those people, and shut the fuck up about something you know nothing about.

Please stop with the straw man shit. I do trust lived experience of people that have an ADHD diagnosis. Why would you think otherwise? I do trust people with medical expertise. I do at least have a little experience with people that have ADHD diagnosed so I know some things about it but I never claimed I was an expert. I explicitly wrote that I was not a doctor. Fuck you too, though.

> Why would you think otherwise?

Because you keep using language like "maybe it exists and is a real disorder".

There's no "maybe".

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#219

Post by hnhamdani2 »

Mockapapella wrote: post #162
jacek wrote: post #43

I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult in my thirties and I have been taking medication for the last two years. I am also in EU. I would recommend two things (YMMV). First, use ADHD to your advantage. People with ADHD have tendency to be inquisitive, but easily bored. Because of this I have become a jack of all trades. Although I have my specialty (ML), employers really appreciate that I also able to do Linux administ…

> First, use ADHD to your advantage. Agree with this 100%. While I've never been formally diagnosed (and have no intention to be), I definitely have some tendencies that align with people who have been formally diagnosed with ADHD. The way I see it, this is a part of me anyways, so I might as well lean into it and milk it for all it's worth, which has led to me being in a similar "jack-of-all-trades" position. If any…

Interesting, do you do one gig at a time or multiple gigs in parallel?

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#220

Post by dgellow »

mobiuscog wrote: post #200
dgellow wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But have you tried creating a list?! /s

Which list software/paper/pen should I use ? (Semi-serious question even though /s because topic)

A physical journal, using the bullet journal method is what works for me. It is hard to stick to it the first few months and require a good amount of effort but that's what I've been the most persistent with.

The book "The bullet journal method" from Ryder Carroll was a good introduction to understand how the method works (try to ignore the preachy tone): https://bulletjournal.com/pages/book.

I now have >6 months of journaling, with only a few missing weeks and I can say it has been very helpful to organize my time and mind.

Regarding the type of notebook or pen, it really does not matter, you just need something you enjoy using. I personally use Faber-Castell pens I got for a few cents each (in €) because I like their feeling in my hand, and an idena notebook because they have a lot of pages and I already had a few of them around my house (~6€ each).

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