Hi, I’m 46 years old and have had a diagnosis since childhood ( was call add then). And without getting to much into it have had many challenges throughout my life. I’m in a good place now where my own Strahles coupled with therapy and medication help me manage things. Up until very recently i felt like this was something to overcome with willpower but now I’m more like this is a storm I just need to ride along with an do my best. I work in software development and in my current job I’m ramping up to take on a lot more responsibilities and leadership. I’ll be dealing with people alot more as a result and I basically am looking for advice on what to do in those moments when I recognize I’m being too “much” without just having to explain that I’m neurodivergent or that I have ADHD. i know I can meet the expectations set in front of me i’m just looking to see how to smooth over the rough patches.
I’m very successful in what I do in IT and interact with many business users. They just come to accept that when I go on a technical jargon tangent, I will rehash it for them in layman’s terms once I speak the incomprehensible version which gives me the opportunity to get my thoughts in order. I am slowly learning to do that part in my head and to know my audience. I found that reading books on philosophy, politics, communication, and time management have all helped me to make my discussions with other it’s a strategic game where I know that I have to say things properly to accomplish the goal. If you realize that why you are opening your mouth is to accomplish a specific objective, then you can target just that objective and bulletpoints you other thoughts in notes for later. I’ve gone as far as to state allowed what I needed to and sent my bulletpoints soon after as either meeting notes or in the meeting chat if on zoom.