Thanks so much for this article!  For me, the most valuable part was when you discussed deep experience with a task, or minimal-brainpower tasks, as being the situations in which you're best able to multitask.  For the past year, I've been very deliberately looking for where my personal "walls" are. 

For example, I can be very slow to ramp up in new situations and with new information or processes.  But I do a quantum leap into fast and accurate once I've finally experienced the "gestalt" moment -- when I have a clear understanding of the task in context and am familiar enough (for me) with both the fine details and the big picture.  Key is that I must be allowed to complete this process at my own, natural pace -- not under pressure to meet someone else's expectations of "long enough."

Another interesting "wall" is that until I achieve that 360-degree grasp of the task in context, I simply can't be put on the spot to wax prolific about it.  While I thrive on speed and external pressure to keep my mind engaged once I've gained expertise, my mind goes completely blank if I'm put on the spot to say something intelligent about the subject while I'm still in the process of ramping up.  There are simply too many UNRELATED details still swirling around in chaos in my brain.  I credit an insecure, manipulative project manager with using this technique to repeatedly demonstrate my incompetence, which directly led to my being included in a layoff over a year ago.

Since then, I've immersed in "my ADD."  I had a burning need to understand my inconsistencies in executive brain functioning.  (Of course, when I began this journey, I didn't even know what that was.)  I'm still developing and revising my list of "limitations" and "needs for accommodation." But I'm getting there.  As I said, I now know that job descriptions containing phrases like:  multi-task, hit the ground running, fast-paced environment, ambiguity, deadlines, under pressure, take-charge, etc., are as unsuitable for me as if they had said "must be expert in nuclear physics." 

When I do think I can do a job and I actually get an interview, I've begun being completely transparent about what I can do well and what I can't -- and what will simply take me more time.  I find that I'm quickly disqualified from jobs in which I would very likely either fail or reactivate ulcers from the stress.  And when someone does take a chance on me after this full disclosure -- like the guy in another state who throws me contract work now and then -- we get through the ramp up stage and any other bumps in the road (like my inability to estimate time) without damaging the relationship.  For example, one time I was late on a deadline for him, and was stressing because all the background information was still spinning in my head.  He was mad at first, but then relaxed and said, "You told me you have a bad sense of time.  Now I understand.  OK, let's figure out how I can help you, and we'll adjust the schedule."  This guy is a true blessing in an otherwise barren marketplace for me.

I'm getting too old and too tired to try and "pass" as neurotypical anymore.  I am who I am -- smart and capable and persistent and creative... and very ADD.  I'm no longer hunting for "a job."  I'm searching for "a suitable job."  Your article was very helpful in helping me clarify one more piece of my personal ADD-profile puzzle.  Thank you.