What's the hardest thing you had to come to terms with?
What's the hardest thing you had to come to terms with?
For me it was the fact that I would always be slower than everyone else and I would have to put in twice the effort.
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I relate to your situation OP.
I have ADHD and I think the hardest part about living with it is coming to terms to the fact that I'll have to constantly put in more effort to meet the neurotypical standards for school and work. It's exhausting to have to mange my symptoms in a world where every task throughout my day is designed to be preformed within a set time frame and getting off-track, even for a little while, even if it's unintentional is seen as incompetence. I struggle to be able to let myself relax especially when I'm overstimulated due to this. Luckily, my country is pretty progressive and workplaces are schools are required to provide accommodations but unfortunately, that doesn't mean that everyone will take my needs seriously.
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Let me tell you a short story about Kevin.
He had the same realization, so he went to trade school to avoid the parts of education that involved a lot of studying in the traditional sense. So he ended up as a decent welder.
Fast forward a few "normal" jobs where he couldn't quite fit because of the everyday drudgery of working either as a maintenance man or a factory worker, doing the same things over and over: He ended up applying to a job where the tag line was basically "no days are the same"
He started working with sea fastening. You know those ships with a large superstructure in front of a completely flat back deck? His employer was in charge of all sorts of fittings and welds onboard ships so that containerized systems could be easily mounted in a secure manner.
And said company was usually contracted by my former AND current employer to do the sea fastening aspect of mobilization.
And yes, Kevin is a real person. And as soon as I see his name on the personnel list, I know it's all going to go well and be a lot of fun while we're at it. Kevin and I have been drunk on all continents together. (Well, except from Antarctica... so far). Be it occupying a Texas BBQ joint for an entire day while doing the layout planning from there, or chilling (literally) in a Singapore pool after a long days work.
Oh yes, ADHD.... he mentioned that he probably wouldn't have ended up where he was without it. I'm not saying his situation is universally transferable, but it's all about finding ones element.
His only ADHD-related failing that I've noticed is that he usually struggles with airports. But that's fine - we usually park our asses in a quiet airport lounge anyway.
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I'm looking into doing something similar to Kevin, I want a job that's more flexible but I'm worried that jobs like that won't pay great. I settled on becoming an ultrasound tech because the college program incorporates a lot of hands on training, considering it's in the medical field it's a well paying and secure job. But, I do wonder if it's truly right more me sometimes...
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A flexible job is one thing. But a job that requires a flexible person is something else entirely. Kevin is paid quite handsomely for his willingness to pack his gear and fly halfway around the world to do his thing on short notice.
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I suspect that for every ADHD person like Kevin, there are a dozen struggling because they can't find the right job (probably not least because the act of job-hunting is itself terrible for people with ADHD).
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