What developers with ADHD want you to know
Note: For this article, we spoke with two Stack Overflow software engineers who have been diagnosed with ADHD but who wish to remain anonymous.
A few months ago, we wrote about the overlap between people with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and people who code for a living. We noted the plethora of online advice by and for programmers with ADHD and the rise in ADHD diagnoses for both kids and adults. And we wondered whether there’s anything to the fairly widespread idea that coding is a particularly good career fit for a person with ADHD. (For our purposes, we’ll use “developer” and “programmer” more or less interchangeably to refer to people whose jobs involve a lot of coding.)
“Coding can give ADHD brains exactly the kind of stimulation they crave,” writes one full-stack developer. “Not only is coding a creative endeavor that involves constantly learning new things, but also once one problem is solved, there’s always a brand new one to try.”
Of course, when you’re talking about two things as complex as 1) the human brain and 2) computer programming, generalizations like “people with ADHD make great programmers” can only take you so far. Takes like that risk collapsing the experiences of people with ADHD, skimming over individual variations and nuances in favor of an appealing soundbite.
For this follow up post, we spoke with two Stack Overflow software engineers with ADHD about their experiences being diagnosed as adults, taking medication, and communicating about their ADHD at work. Here’s what developers with ADHD want you to understand.
It’s less superpower, more invisible disability
It can be frustrating for people with ADHD to hear a symptom like hyperfocus referred to as a “superpower,” when in reality hyperfocus has downsides—plus it exists in conjunction with other symptoms that can be much less empowering, like executive dysfunction.
As someone with an OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) diagnosis, I’ve heard similarly frustrating takes: I wish I had OCD so my house could be as clean as yours! (You do not wish this.) Oh, I’m super-OCD too; I color-code my bookshelves. (Not the same!)
In fact, ADHD is an invisible disability, which is exactly what it sounds like: “a physical, mental or neurological condition that is not visible from the outside, yet can limit or challenge a person’s movements, senses, or activities” (Invisible Disabilities Association). Plenty of forms of neurodivergence, including autism spectrum disorder, depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and learning differences can be considered invisible disabilities.
Sure, developers with conditions like ADHD might occasionally find that an output of their condition gives them an edge. In part one of this series, we recognized that the hyperfocus associated with ADHD—“a state of laser-like concentration in which distractions and even a sense of passing time seem to fade away,” as one developer put it—can help programmers access the sought-after flow state.
Other developers with ADHD say their thinking style lends itself to creative problem-solving. “One positive aspect of being a dev with ADHD,” explained one engineer we talked to, “is that my brain zooming around different ideas can help with inventiveness and creativity, and seeing things in a different light can really help with solving more difficult problems.” Intersectional thinking FTW.
Still, many developers want to be clear that it’s not all upside. “You get into flow, and you’re being really, really productive,” one software engineer explained, “but on the opposite end of that, time goes by really quickly, and you realize, ‘Oh, crap, I had three other things I promised somebody today, but I just lost a few hours.’” The engineer also pointed out that developers who progress past the senior level or switch tracks into management are no longer responsible for their individual productivity alone; their role is to multiply the productivity of their team. “That’s where executive dysfunction holds me back a lot,” they said.
It’s not the coding; it’s the accommodations
What if it’s not that people with ADHD make good developers; it’s that developers are more likely to have access to the accommodations that make ADHD manageable?
Companies that employ developers, particularly tech companies with flexible and hybrid schedules and robust healthcare coverage, are in a better position to accommodate people with ADHD (and other invisible disabilities) than employers in other industries.
For instance, when it comes to managing their ADHD at work, one of our engineers stressed the freedom of a job that can be largely asynchronous and remote: “It helps a lot that I have a job that supports flexible hours and isn’t babysitting me all day.” In tech and developer circles, the unfair stigma associated with ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence is beginning to dissipate, as we discussed on the Stack Overflow podcast last year. “I’ve been open about my diagnosis mostly,” said one interviewee. “I might not always refer to it by name, but I definitely bring up things that are relevant when I need to,” such as a need to establish a firm deadline to stay focused.
So a better way of putting the relationship between coding and ADHD might be that (some) coding jobs are likely to give (some) people with ADHD what they need to thrive professionally.
It’s also reasonable to assume that people with reliable, affordable healthcare are more likely to seek out and receive an ADHD diagnosis and the accommodations, including access to medication and therapy, that come with that diagnosis. That’s another reason why it might seem like there’s an overlap between people who code and people with ADHD—US-based developers tend to have good healthcare coverage through their employers.
A diagnosis might be life changing
Both software engineers we interviewed were diagnosed as adults, in both cases in their late 20s after they’d already embarked on their careers. “I was talking to a friend who mentioned she went to a doctor and was surprised to find that she had ADHD,” one of the engineers said. “She talked about the symptoms and I thought, ‘Hmm, that sounds familiar.’”
For both engineers, being diagnosed as adults cast their lifelong experiences in a new light. “I always just thought that I was lazy and had a tendency towards procrastination,” said one engineer. “But once I embraced [my diagnosis] and realized that a lot of stuff I thought was an ‘everyone problem’ was not actually a problem for neurotypical folks, I felt a lot better about myself and about the strategies I needed to cope.”
Being diagnosed as an adult, said the other interviewee, “is really interesting, because you all of a sudden understand where a lot of your weird traits come from. You realize, ‘OK, that’s why this is hard for me; that’s why I struggle with this or that.”
One interviewee called their ADHD medication “a life-changer.” The other called it “a complete game-changer for me in terms of focus and ability to get things done.” An official diagnosis is generally a necessary prerequisite for ADHD medication, so for many folks, getting a diagnosis is the first big step toward effectively managing their ADHD.
A diagnosis can also give people with ADHD the confidence to ask for accommodations at work or school—and even the awareness to know what kinds of accommodations are available and would benefit them. “A diagnosis definitely helped me at work,” said one engineer. “I haven’t ever asked for formal accommodations, but knowing more about how I personally work—for example, if I don’t have a deadline, it’s basically impossible for me to get it done—has helped me a lot in advocating for myself and my own working style.”
(Neuro)diversity is strength
As we said in part one, dispelling the stigma around neurodiversity requires an open dialogue about ADHD and other forms of neurodiversity or invisible disability. At Stack Overflow, we think everyone benefits when work and the hiring process are inclusive of neurodiverse people. An estimated 15-20% of the population is considered neurodiverse; that’s a lot of talent employers can miss out on if they’re not willing or able to offer certain accommodations. And you never know—the next person on your team to receive an ADHD diagnosis might be you.
Tags: adhd, invisible disability, neurodiversity
11 Comments
I am a programmer living with ADHD. I was diagnosed only two years ago at 33. ADHD destroyed my life. It made me commit so many mistakes, and I lost out on many life opportunities because of it. But as soon as I was diagnosed and placed on stimulant medication, my life did a complete 180. It was like being reborn. I can finally hold eye contact and conversation when speaking to people now. As a matter of fact, I feel like I have more focus and calmness than an average person without ADHD. And when it comes to programming, I can do 10-hour stints with ease and get so much work done. The downside is that I lose out on precious time with family. I often forget what day it is. I usually code all night and end up missing most of the next day because il be sleeping through most of it. I won’t be surprised if we ADHD developers average less than 6 hours of sleep a night.
Looking for freedom
I do not have ADHD but I have learning disabilities that make certain parts of coding incredibly difficult. Many companies — and even bootcamps — have no idea how to work with devs who have learning disabilities, and the same with interviewers. Because of my LDs I have trouble getting into schools that will help, because I can’t pass the coding tests — because of my LDs. So frustrating. I feel you guys.
If I may, look into speech to text. If you might make the leap to AI processing on the beginning of a task, you might find that it’s easy to overthink what you’re doing, but if you have a solid idea of your outline before you begin, being less sorting specific at first and more overall descriptive might be a great way to start. Good luck and happy coding.
As a programmer living with ADHD, the so called “superpower” is actually a product of years having to use internal techniques, having to study by myself at home after hours wasted in class because I couldn’t learn in a regular classroom. So when I was diagnosed an finally medicated, I felt like goku training in gravity 10 times higher for my entire life and finally being transported to a normal gravity….
I have ADHD. Please stop using this artstyle on your blog, small heads giant heads how horrifying
small heads, giant hands. they’re trying to portray perspective in this art piece… guess it didn’t work so great….
I can’t say that I’ve had any positive benefit from ADHD. I was diagnosed when I was 22, so ten years ago. At first ADHD was manageable by the regular prescribed drugs, but that effect has slowly declined to the point where I’m back to struggling to focus and dependent on a prescription to function at a base level. It’s a severe case compounded by depression.
I’ll admit that I haven’t told this to any employer and have suffered because of it. Even at some of the bigger, open-minded tech companies I’ve worked at, ADHD isn’t treated like an acceptable problem but viewed as an excuse for unproductive periods. I’m able to make up for it during the focused parts to mask it, but I’ve never thought it helped me do anything better.
If you have a severe case of ADHD and are going into development, make sure it’s a changing job where you go from Project A to Project B, etc. When you get stuck on Project C for a few years, it can put you in a very tough situation to pull out of.
It’s also the coding. Programming has short feedback loops, that gives a quick dopamine hit and keeps our attention. The accommodations help too, but I was a good programmer before I had the accommodations. The accommodations make life less stressful.
It should be noted that there are different levels of ADHD. It’s not full on or full off, black or white. There are grays as well. I have enough that I am constantly off on tangents when trying to absorb new information, and occasionally in the zone enough to be late for a meeting or two, but not so much that I’m either OCD or unable to function in other ways. As such, I find I do have a high degree of creativity, but learning new things requires more time to focus and absorb information. I’m convinced this is because with each sentence I read, my mind is exploring every angle, trying to fit the new piece of the information into my existing mental jigsaw puzzle, to make it more complete. When I push the learning speed too much, I totally lose the information altogether. But finding MY pace and not someone else’s has been key for me.
ADD/ADHD, Autistic, OCD, PSTD- all professionally diagnosed.
Coder, Data Engineer.
Asking for the most basic accommodations- clear expectations, clear directions, (exploratory data analysis, many unknowns, few knowns) reasonable deadlines, clear asks, re-evaluation of the deadline when the ask develops into something more complex or time consuming (lean/agile, scrum, sprint cycle based PM)
I simply get let go.
out of work now, going on 2.5 quarters… job market flooded with NT’s (seems like) and there’s just no room for us ND’s.
Sure, i’m good at what i do; typically accomplish 50-60 hrs of work in 35; but no one cares when you don’t have a portfolio (confidential/proprietary work), when you can’t get through a boot camp (instructor says “google it”, and i end up having to code review and correct both english and coding language for a boot camp where i went specifically to learn the [programming] language) and assignments, that from a developers perspective apply non of the data engineering or software development principles).
Meanwhile- google and 98% of all instruction sets are missing steps. Or it just assumes too much. Or my learning disability is keeping me from being able to get through the “sticky” parts.
Sticky brain… ya, that’s a thing.
Then there’s dealing with people. Sure, i’ve got 30+ years in customer service- but we’re not talking about the same customers from 30 years ago.
the english language has been commandeered and usurped by whatever and whomever feels like it.
there’s no rule book for what words are good to use, and what words are bad to use.
keeping it strictly professional doesn’t work either. it exposes the ND. makes us look rude, or cold, or un friendly. How to work on a team as an ND?
and how to deal with the small-talk-chit-chat-sports-weather asinine topics that don’t actually contribute to the diminishing of my work load?
All this to say…
while it’s “nice” to hear organizations are becoming more accommodating to the ND community, i won’t believe it till i see it.
and i’m not seeing it.
5 roles later, having been dropped for being an ND….
i’m not seeing it.