Job accomodations,and or do something else? - ADD / ADHD Message Board

nightowl2 · 06-13-2003, 02:37 PM

I just lost my job due to MY own stupidity(I showed up late for work after being warned not to...but, my bosses said that if I was late again I was outta my job, (we had that agreement) but, nest to this...it is job evaluation time and then they added that (after being there for five years) that I wasn't doing my job correctly....I am a preshool teacher who "can't see" according to them the "parts of what is happening in front of me and what will happen or occur next" and rather than take any chances, they want me to "bail" out...but, I am going to ask them to "lay me off" so I can get the unemployment.....but, the other problem is I worked sooo hard for years to get "it" right at my job, and I literally struggled...should I get some help from the american disablilities act..would it help? or should I just not bother and quit while I am ahead...because I keep having the same old pattern, of not seeing things like everyone else...what should I do? nightowl2

dlove273 · 06-16-2003, 11:17 AM

Do you enjoy your work? If so, what do you have to lose by continuing to try? Maybe you should tell your employer about your ADD, and ask them to work with you. Perhaps they can get you an assistant to see the things you don't notice.

I'd also recommend a book called "ADD on the Job" by Lynn Weiss, PhD. It discusses the best types of bosses and workplaces for people with ADD. It made my cry because it explained so many things I have struggled with for a long time myself. But it is also very informative. Good luck.

nightowl2 · 06-16-2003, 05:12 PM

My boss knew about my A.D.D., her own sons have it!!
I had mentioned getting help with the a.d.a. and she looked at me kind of stunned (I do not think that she knew that I even knew about them!, I had actually just found out about it!!) But, she said to me right away, that there was really nothing that they could do.....that It was basically too late for me.A lot of people have been telling me that if there was no respect at that job and (there really wasn't...they kept telling me that they wanted a "stronger staff"(whatever THAT means!!!) and also my boss used to make me feel "small" or maybe I just felt slightly intimadated by her, but nevertheless, she said things to me that I would NEVER say to someone if I had been their boss....i.e. "I do not see you as I musical person and you are more of a storyteller type(she began to "type" me or "paint me into a corner" already by putting a label of her own on me...which I totally resented.I am a VERY musical person...I CAN sing on pitch, but the day that she happened to hear me, I felt intimidated because she sat across from me with her arms folded, facial expression... saying, :"I really do not want to have to be out of the office doing this "watching" the teacher job I would rather be in my office where I can hide!"So it just unnerved me to say the least!! So hence,(I should have ignored her,but didn't, and then other teachers used to try to change what I had been doing to suit their "feelings" at my circle time and THAT didn't help either. So, my confidence went to almost an all time low.....Well, I really basically felt that I wasn't being "supported"...in gneral, and that is why people say that I should just leave, that if they weren't AS supportive, than it wasn't the place for me to be.....anyone else out there with a similar experience...P.S. thanks for the book idea..I have seen that book... I will have to look at it again! Nightowl2
P.P.S.
Many people that I have worked for always say the same old thing...that I should work more "one on one" and not with "groups" of kids or people...because they can see that I don't "see" it "ALL".

genius · 06-16-2003, 11:04 PM

had a hard time reading your note, but have these thoughts for you. If you told your employer that you were ADHD then you were covered by the ADA. If you mentioned the ADA and then were fired, then you may have a case against that because they feared that you would become a problem and got rid of you first before you could get 'accomodations'. This is against the law. If you are disabled and they are aware, then they have an obligation to work with you on it, rather than rid themselves of a problem. I would seek counsel on it so that at least you can get unemployment.