It Just Doesn’t Add Up: ADHD/ADD, The Workplace and Discrimination

Abstract

Standard workplace conditions that are commonly perceived as neutral and reasonable can discriminate against people who find conforming to them difficult or impossible because of innate differences in neuronal and cognitive functioning. We use the example of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to show that it is necessary for people with cognitive differences to seek legal protection from discrimination within a disability framework. This approach can be problematic because of the stigma that attaches to disability and because of the way that provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) are interpreted. An alternative approach is to treat cognitive and behavioural attributes within a framework that recognises different abilities, rather than starting from a presumptive provision of disability, in much the same way that gender or religious beliefs are treated.

Keywords: ADHD and Workplace, ADHD and Discrimination, ADHD and Reasonable Accommodation

JEL Classification: K00, I00, I10, J70, J71