ABLEnews Extra
  
                         ADD Meets ADA            

          [The following file may be freq'd as ADD40627.* from
          1:109/909 and other BBS's that carry the ABLEFiles
          Distribution Network (AFDN). Please allow a few days
          for processing.]

Although Mari Kennedy scored at the genius level on intelligence tests,
she had problems concentrating on her job as a secretary when her work
was interrupted with yet another project. Then, in December, Ms. Kennedy
was diagnosed with ADD, or attention deficit disorder. ADD is a syndrome
characterized by distractibility, short attention span, underachievement,
and poor impulse control.

Ms. Kennedy asked her employer, Legacy Health Care System in Portland, OR
to restructure her job to accommodate her under the requirements of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Failing that, she asked to be
reassigned to a position with longer term tasks and fewer odds and ends,
or to be given a severance package.

The human resources department told Ms. Kennedy that although Legacy had
6,000 employees, it had no other position for which it felt she was
qualified. She could stay in her current position but would have to
fulfill all aspects of her job description. If she couldn't, she would be
subject to corrective action. Legacy said it was her choice to leave and
offered her three weeks' pay. Now on unemployment, Ms. Kennedy is
starting a medical transcription business and consulting her lawyer. A
Legacy spokesman declined to comment.

ADD is not something many Americans are aware of--yet. But employers in
particular should pay attention. They will hear much more about ADD when
those who are diagnosed with it learn that they probably have some level
of protection under the disabilities act. Until recently people with ADD
were viewed as having character or moral problems; these are the kind of
people businesses love to fire. 

Those with ADD may have recourse,however, if they can show they have the
condition, let their employers know about it, and were fired instead of
accommodated. Employers could find themselves facing civil suits and
forced to restore the discharged people to their old positions, or even
given them promotions, as well as back pay or reasonable accommodation.
Employers may also be forced to pay the employees' legal fees. 

What makes this situation so worrisome is the ambiguity. No one knows how
many adults have the disorder, and no one knows how the disabilities act
requirements will be enforced. Moreover, an employer may suspect that an
employee with behavior problems has ADD, but he can neither ask the
employee about it nor make the employee take a test for it. 

Thus, unless the employee is diagnosed with ADD and tells his employer,
the company has no way of knowing whether that person is a goof-off or
legitimately disabled. Although it is the employee's responsibility to
tell the employer about the disability and ask for accommodation, this
situation is still potential quicksand for the unaware manager.

Carol Means is a consultant with the Jobs Accommodation Network, a
service of the President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities. An average of one to two ADD calls are now received each
day, compared with only 20 calls in the entire third quarter of 1993.

What are some of the signs of ADD? People with the disorder get into
power struggles, which they seem to prefer to negotiation; they have bad
judgment, shoot from the hip, act impulsively. They become irritable,
especially when interrupted or forced to make changes. They
procrastinate. Their desks are a mess; they can't find things in the
files. You can have what you think is a conversation with them and five
minutes later you realize they haven't heard a word you said. They forget
people's names. They don't like to go through established channels or
respect set procedure. They start projects with a flourish and get bored
or overwhelmed before they finish. They are always in a daze, getting
distracted from one thing to another.

It's no wonder employers want to fire such workers. But this may not be
so much a character problem as an impairment of the brain that can be
mitigated with medication such as Ritalin, or managed by modifications in
the workplace. Ms. Means advises that the larger the employer, the more
it will be expected to accommodate those with ADD. It may be in the
company's best interest to accommodate if ADD is only suspected.

It is possible that such employees can be helped at little or no cost.
Almost a third of ADD accommodations cost nothing, she says, and half
cost less than $50. More than two-thirds cost less than $500; 89% cost
less than $1,000. One publication gave a distractible journalist a sound-
reduction cubicle in which to work, and a tape recorder for interviews. A
designer working on a computer worked out a 'buddy system,' with co-
workers ready to check work and remind the employee of key functions.

Some other ADD accommodations:

* Playing white noise to cover distracting conversations.

* Moving the employee's desk away from high-traffic areas, such as the
  copy machine.

* Repeating and simplifying instructions, telling the employee what to do
  both orally and in writing.

* Keeping people organized and on task with software organizers, flow
  charts, and electronic desktop organizers.

* Color coding task files.

* Offering memory aids such as personal assistant devices, alarm clocks,
  stick-on notes, and cue cards.

The key for both employer and employee becomes documentation. Employees
who want accommodation should first make an oral request, then repeat the
request in writing, advises Ms. Means. She says the request must be
specific--for a tape recorder or a move to another desk, for example.
Employees should be prepared to show how their ADD significantly limits
or restricts a major life function. To learn more, they can ask for the
'ADA, Title I Technical Assistance Manual,' from the Job Accommodation
Network at 1-800-526-7234.

Employers, for their part, can't blow those requests off. If they are not
going to make the accommodation, they should state their reasons in a
note and file it. 'Leave a paper trail.' Ms. Means says. Information for
employers is available at the same number.

All these accommodations must be at the employer's expense, but don't
panic. The disabilities act requires only 'reasonable accommodation' that
neither alters the essential nature of the job nor results in
'significant difficulty or expense' to the employer. If an employee asks
for an accommodation that seems unreasonable, be prepared to offer
something else and have a good explanation why.

[Attention Deficit Disorder Can't Be Ignored, Gary Eisler, Wall Street
Journal, 6/27/94]

     A Fidonet-backbone echo featuring disability/medical news and
     information, ABLEnews is carried by more than 325 BBSs in the
     US, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Greece, New Zealand, and
     Sweden. The echo, available from Fidonet and Planet Connect, is
     gated to the ADANet, FamilyNet, and World Message Exchange
     networks. 

     ABLEnews text files--including our digests: Of Note and
     Mednotes (suitable for bulletin and file use) are disseminated
     via the ABLEfile Distribution Network, which is available from
     the filebone and Planet Connect.

...For further information, contact CURE, 812 Stephen Street, Berkeley
Springs, West Virginia 254511 (304-258-LIFE/5433).
