I’m 44 and went to uni late (graduated as a primary school teacher when I was 38).
I kind of knew from 2nd year of uni that my lack of executive functioning caused me a fair bit of stress and the organisational tasks required for teaching really challenged me. But I carried on. I’m in my 6th year of teaching and can honestly say I’ve had only one term that I enjoyed. So I’m in search of a new direction.
What jobs do you have that work well alongside your Inattentive ADHD? Or what adaptions have you put in place to move things towards enjoyable?
I’m still awaiting an appointment for meds as I was diagnosed in October / so part of me wonders is it worth holding out.
Your experiences and views on this would be gratefully received! Thank you 🙏🏼
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ADDandMe
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Firstly…. Hang on for your meds - it could be lifechanging - or not - but please give yourself that opportunity.
Successful job/career … the heartbreak of my life and still as elusive now as it was at 18 (I’m 53 now).
I had masses of potential - still do. Intelligent, creative, switched on to new ideas, energetic …. blah blah blah. A degree in design (mature student also - graduated at 33). What’s my current job? I work two 4 hour shifts a week on a deli counter at a local supermarket. It doesn’t remotely reflect all that I have to offer - and it certainly isn’t a ‘career’. I’ve tried to make something of it because I try to be eternally positive but retail seems to be the graveyard of progression. I’ve given up.
Saying that, I love the sociability - lots of different customers - a lot of whom are lovely and like to chat. There’s always something to do so the time zips by and I’m physically on my feet and nipping back and forth around the counter non stop - which I realise for me is the element that’s been completely overlooked in my working life - spent age 17-28 in the corporate world - desk bound.
I get by financially by cutting my cloth. But as job, at my age with my experience, it’s not a great outcome and my wasted potential makes me sad everyday but …. you have to stay positive.
I do know some fellow ADHD’ers that have had fabulous and very fulfilling careers but they are RARE. Interestingly all men - and all in corporate/banking apart from one other who made a career in hospitality after being lucky enough (by his own admission) to have a boss that could see his potential and created a role for him where he was given his head and paid to do just exactly the thing he was brilliant at - other people were employed to do the other bits of the job that are normally non-negotiable. He ended up being joint CEO of that company and is now semi-retired happily with his millions. So it can happen.
My current strategy is to fill the remaining 2/3’ds of my week with another completely different job (one of my own making/self employed) and the last third will be left as downtime - because it’s essential I get a window to do ‘zero’.
I’d Deff stick with the teaching for now - you’ve worked so hard. Scale back your hours to part time if you can or maybe think about teaching elsewhere…. maybe an adult education college - change it up - become a trainer of something niche that you personally find interesting - your teaching qualifications and experience already have you 70% there. Just don’t throw it away completely - just scale it back, make room for something new and take it from there - would be my advice. Hope it helps.
Just my thoughts and experience. Hope it helps in some way. Good luck and keep your chin up.
Many thanks for your kind response, stories and encouragement.
I am already part time - initially because I had younger children but they’re now late teens . I’m contracted 19 hours but work about 34 hours per week. So my hourly rate is about minimum wage in real terms. I just feel a bit cheated out of half a salary as I can’t seem to do things as quickly as my counterparts.
I’m definitely more academic than practical - though I also find being desk bound wouldn’t suit me. Despite teaching, I’m better at expressing myself in the written word than speaking - although I have improved over the last number of years.
Thanks for the advice to hold on for meds. I hope they come quickly!! 🙏🏼
There are teaching jobs that work with ADHD inattentive or other versions. But it has to be a special job without a lot of paper work. And the students should be easy students to manage. Also depends on the subject you teach.
Ironically college professor jobs are great for people with ADHD. I teach college and I have zero paperwork to complete. I mean zero. This week I ran late for a class. I emailed my students and they waited. No problem. Nobody is checking on me for that. There is room to be quirky in many universities. If I were teaching in a public grade school, OMG running late is a crime. Also professors don't teach 5 classes a day. College classes meet 2 or 3 times, sometimes just one time a week ... My classes meet once a week and the rest is online--they are "hybrid" classes.
There are schools--often advanced or just themed school with offbeat populations--that would appreciate a highly creative teacher.
Basically you want to identify your strengths ... there are principles out there who want teachers who can deeply connect with students ... and don't emphasize paperwork as much ... again often these are private schools, which unfortunately pay less.
Whatever the job, you have to learn to be forgiving. You will mess up some stuff with ADHD--you will!
Jobs that have some down time and then intensity can be good--like a paramedic. Lots of jobs can work with the right boss who understands you are not great with details but who loves your other skills.
A profession that we don't often think about is politics. Politics is great for people with ADHD. Why? Because politicians have staffs and they turn over the details to their staff! The staff even gets you to and from appointments and managements your calendar.
A friend of mine has a son who works with a city planning department. The son's job: to go out and meet with the public and take in their ideas and explain what the city's plans are. Meetings are lively. He does not do a lot of paperwork.
Sales jobs ... where you are on the road and going out a lot can be great for people with ADHD.
Counselors can work--though I had an ADHD counselor (she had ADHD and gave me lots of great tips) who struggled sometimes to not get distracted during a session.
You say you like writing more than interacting with people? Lots of companies have in-house writers. Companies and universities and even local governments and agencies are always trying to put out good information on what they are doing. They often hire in-house writers to report on what they are doing. Those publications don't come out everyday. And you get to go out and meet people.
And google this question: there are tons of ideas out there. Sometimes it pays (and requires pay) to just go to a job counselor. They are often up on the structure of jobs. Most of us develop inaccurate stereotypes about what a job entails. Job counselors know this quite well. So they can sit down with you, identify your strengths and weaknesses and your interests and passions ... and point you in the right direction.
A really valuable reply, thank you. Yes I’ve googled and completed questionnaires re my job suitability... it’s almost a hobby. Teacher always comes out top 😂 🤦🏻♀️
I used to work for an airline and I loved the variation, slower and faster periods, the excitement of the change and stimulation of meeting different people. Though the pay was poor and hadn’t reached the level of academic achievement I craved at the time. Now I’ve got that, perhaps I could take the drop. Though, at 44, I’m not sure it would suit my social needs.
I did comment to my husband that I should make use of the university career service to help me realise my strengths and how to navigate securing the job that’s going to best suit my skills … thanks for the prompt.
I'm a wedding florist. Love my work. Some say having your own business helps as it has for me. Maybe tutoring?
Now my son who is 22 loved working at Amazon- that is until he got fired. Boxes were piling up, no one answered his radio he got stressed and frustrated and that impulsivity kicked in and he walked past a filing cabinet and smacked it with his hand. They called that work place violence. Oh well..so he is off to looking for other warehouse jobs. He likes the constant moving sometimes 40,000 steps a day, and lifting heavy boxes. Even though he is ADHD inattentive.
The only thing I can suggest is whatever job you take on look into any accommadations that you can have. I'm assuming you are not in the US? Just from you saying "Uni"? Here ADHD is under the Americans with disability's act so we can get some type of work accommadations if needed. Too late for my son but even having an extra 15 minute break when he needed it might of helped him not get to the frustration level he got to and the result was being fired.
Thanks for this. Oh what a lovely job! I have mild hayfever … but floristry would appeal - I’d just need to dose myself with antihistamines. 😂
I agree, although I’m not physically hyperactive in terms of my ADD, I do find being able to walk around soothes my overthinking. I get very uneasy at a desk all day.
Yes I’m in the UK. We do have an ‘Access to Work’ scheme here to support employers in making and funding workplace accommodations. And ADHD should really be recognised under the Equality Act 2010, though it isn’t always recognised or supported or understood as well here. My own local authority don’t even have any psychologists who assess it.
Though I am biding my time in ‘going there’ as I’m unsure if my boss will begin to factor my ADHD into manipulating decisions to her advantage (she’s a bit calculating at times but on the whole easy enough to work with).
Maybe in a year. Unfortunatly the adderal he was on wasn't working. His doctor had him up to the max dose of 60mg. then anger issues started so he added abilify, then anxiety and added hydroxyzine and then gaufacine, until one day he had a manic episode and talked of killing the dog and himself. I had to call the police- told then to watch their guns. They took him to the hospital. He was locked in a room for 20 hrs, no food, no meds and kept asking to see a doctor which he was told to sit down and shut up. Nice huh? So he got more angry and got the bed frame and started to ram the door with it to get out. Security and a cop came and took him down in a choke hold, he fought, and ended up with aggravated assult charges. felony. Could of done some jail time but they put him in an ARD program since he was never in trouble before, where he just has to see a probation officer once a month for a year, and if he stays out of trouble, the charge will be expunged. What a mess and this should of never happened. But at least while at the hospital they got him off all his meds except one and we are slowy weaning him off that one. It's going to take me awhile before i trust a doctor again.
I think UPS or Fed ex would be great for him..But I think they do background checks. And I don't want him to apply and they see the charge, and somehow he is kept in their system so when he does apply after expungement he's still flagged. 22 and his life is a mess from this.
That would be a good idea because I do believe exercise helps ADHD but he has gained about 50lbs since July when this all happened. Wouldn't make a good example. But he recently joined a gym so that will help. :). Thanks!
He should definitely get active. I'd say at least 1 hour per day and get outside as much as possible plus lift weights. As a younger man he has tons of testosterone amplifying his frustrations, anger, miscommunication etc and he needs places to burn it off.
1. There might be a "desk job" that you could do at a stan-up desk.
2. Would you consider writing children's books? As a teacher, you have a better sense of your audience than some.
3. I'm 60, & still wondering what I should be doing! I consider myself to be an "educator" but less of a "teacher" (lack of training in that)
That said, I'm on the payroll of a retail clothing store - I was seasonal help - & I loved the interaction with associates and customers, the moving around, etc.
And I just took over as the art teacher at the local Christian school as that lady left suddenly over Christmas break. I don't need a teaching certificate there, & its been a project - getting to figure out what's on hand, what to order, creating lessons, etc. It's just one period a day, so it's not gonna pay many bills.
But I'm already wondering if I would even be interested in doing it next year.
When I got laid off from a sort of engineering position in 1995, I was making $50,000; now I feel like I'd be lucky to clear $30,000.
BUT in loving the art & waiting to see where this might lead.
thanks for this… your reply makes me realise that as long as we are happy in what we do, it doesn’t need to be forever. Variety is definitely the spice of life for us ADDers ❤️
Yes, keep enjoying the art… it might not make your pocket rich, but hopefully it will your soul.
No idea. I leave that to the neurotypicals ;^)But if you google equality and diversity advisor or EDI officer jobs it takes you where you need to be. They seem to like educational background.
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And I don't want him to apply and they see the charge, and somehow he is kept in their system so when he does apply after expungement he's still flagged. 22 and his life is a mess from this.
A book recommendation for people living with ADHD/ADD 
Finally opening up about my ADHD and Autism
Just a little pick me up
ADD and work
Angry with the world
