A.D.D. on the job: for someone with attention deficit disorder, choosing the right career may take extra effort--but it's out there!

In grade school, Rob Surratt was the kid who wiggled, squirmed, and "kicked the legs of the desk. I always needed to move around." Today Surratt, 21, a communications major (and part-time surfer) at the University of Hawaii, knows one thing for sure: "I don't plan to get a job where I sit in a cubicle all day."

Surratt, like an estimated 5 percent or more of Americans, has attention deficit disorder (ADD), a condition that makes it hard for people to concentrate, sit still, get organized, or finish the tasks they start.

High school was a tough time for Surratt, but over the years--with help from parents, teachers, and an ADD coach--he has learned "what works" to help him stay focused and organized at school.

Now he's starting to think about his career. Surratt has worked at an auto body shop and for an inner-city youth program. What he's learned is that he would not last in a job in which he'd have to sit still and do the same thing all day. Instead, Surratt is at his best when he can "interact with people, be creative, move around to different places, and learn new things."

David Neeleman also found it hard to sit still and took off in a career that utilized his restless creative energy. Neeleman, 45, who was diagnosed with ADD about six years ago, was tired of getting to the airport and finding he'd lost his ticket. He channeled his creative energy into inventing Open Skies, the world's first "ticketless" system, and the forerunner of all the e-ticket systems used today. He went on to be the founder of the airline company JetBlue. Today, Neeleman often talks about his experience with ADD and links it to his success in business. "If I could take a magic pill that would get rid of it, I wouldn't," he told USA Today.

"Having a job that interests and engages you is important for everyone," says clinical psychologist Dr. Kathleen Nadeau, author of ADD in the Workplace. "But it is critical for people with ADD, because they have much less voluntary control over their attention." People with ADD have real trouble doing the work in a job that doesn't engage their interest. "But if they find something they really love," says Nadeau, "they bring an intense focus to the work and can become top employees."

In fact, says Nadeau, "many ADD traits that were problems in school can become assets on the job." Students who talked too much or couldn't sit still can, she says, find jobs where their "talkative, energetic, enthusiastic"personalities are just what the boss wants!

A LAWYER WITH ADD THINKS ON HIS FEET

New York lawyer Robert Tudisco, whose ADD wasn't identified until he was 34, says teens and young adults like Rob Surratt are lucky. Already aware of having ADD, they've got a head start at developing strategies that will help them succeed at work and in life. Tudisco wishes he'd been diagnosed before he "hit a brick wall" trying to handle the paperwork and billing of his law practice.

When he was diagnosed with ADD, Tudisco felt "relief" to know there was a reason why he'd always felt different. And while the challenges can be frustrating, he says ADD can be a gift--especially during a trial. "That's when I appreciate the advantages," he says. "I need the sharpness and flexibility ADD brings, that ability to respond quickly in a crisis. In court, those things are real assets to me."

WANTING TO BE LIKE CARLA 

In her California production studio, actress and commercial voice-over artist Lora Cain remembers struggling through school before she was diagnosed with ADD. "In fourth grade, all I wanted to be was like Carla, the other red-haired girl in my class," Cain says. "Carla could sit quietly, do her work, and not make the teacher mad. Even in 12th grade, I was still being put out in the hallway for talking in class!"

After studying journalism in college, Cain found a job writing commercials at a radio station. Once the station manager heard her throaty voice, he put her on the air. "I was very good at doing five things at once--that was the ADD--so working on-air was great," Cain remembers. She was happy that somebody would pay her "to talk all day--which is what I do easily and naturally."

Eventually, Cain opened her own production studio, where she does commercial voice-over work. She has been the "voice" of Subaru and Wrangler jeans. "I get to have a lot of choice in the work I do," she says. These days, she adds, when the paperwork starts stacking up, "I hire somebody to come help me sort it out!"

WORK WITH ME: STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS

If you have ADD, how can you find a career that will work for you? And how can you ensure success on the job? Career World asked the experts.

PLANNING A CAREER:

* Follow your interests, not someone else's. People with ADD too often try to live up to job expectations from their families or society by going after high-status jobs. "But if their heart isn't in it, it won't work," notes pioneering ADD therapist and writer Lynn Weiss.

* Sample your options. Young adults with ADD might consider taking time between high school and college to "poke around, work different jobs, and find out what interests them," suggests Weiss. Sampling, she says, often sparks a career interest.

* Look for hands-on training. Learning by doing works best, says ADD coach Jodi Sleeper-Triplett. Look for high school classes with a lab or workshop component and for colleges offering work-study or co-op programs that let you work for credit while you're in school. Volunteer work and internships can spark job ideas too. A summer internship in Washington, D.C., helped Surratt know he wanted to work with at-risk teens.

* Challenge yourself. Even if you've had a tough time in school, don't assume college or other high-powered training courses aren't for you. "College was actually easier for me than high school, and law school was better still, because it played to my strong points," notes Tudisco. "And in college, you are involved in a course of study that interests you."

ON THE JOB:

* Set up a system right away. "A new, empty work space often lets you feel it's OK to just collect papers for a while," says ADD coach Sandy Maynard. "It's important to get organized before you're in trouble." Surratt, for example, "color codes" materials for each class or project and uses a big wall calendar to give himself visual reminders of what he needs to do.

* Use coping strategies. Do whatever you need to do to get your job done. Tudisco wears earplugs when he has to concentrate on reading, and plays Mozart to block out distracting office noise.

* Ask for what you need. You don't have to tell an employer you have ADD, says Weiss. Instead, she suggests saying, "This is what I need to do my best work for you." If you have to share an office, ask to be paired with someone quiet who doesn't talk on the phone all day. If you need to come in early to have quiet time for paperwork, make that arrangement.

* Look for mentors, coaches, and other support people. Many people with ADD learn best when someone shows them how to do something. Try to create informal mentoring relationships at work, Weiss suggests. Paying for an ADD coach isn't cheap, but it can work for people who need extra support. "A good ADD coach should be your partner, helping you identify and build on your strengths," says ADD coach Nancy Ratey, coauthor of Tales From the Workplace. Look for someone with specific experience working with clients who have ADD. (For a list of ADD coaches, visit add.org.)

* If you mess up, learn from it. "Be resilient," says Ratey. "Learn from mistakes instead of blaming yourself." And keep a sense of humor. Tudisco says he tries to turn his goof-ups into "funny stories I can tell later."

* Keep your home life organized. "You are the CEO of your household," says Maynard. "Get organized about eating, exercising, paying bills, and filing papers you need to keep, and you won't have personal hassles that affect you at work."

* Don't be afraid to switch jobs. If a job brings out your weaknesses instead of your strengths, make a change. "Within one career field, there are many different kinds of jobs," Nadeau says. She recalls a young social worker who was spending all day helping people fill out forms. When he found a job where he could interact with teens in a psychiatric hospital, she says, "he became a star employee, because he was operating out of his strengths."

ADDING IT ALL UP

As a college junior, Rob Surratt thinking about ways to use his communication skills and his ADD "talents" in his future work.

"I used to see [ADD] as a disability," he says. "But now I see it as a gift. I'm creative and energetic. I come up with great ideas. I don't know where I'm going, but I know it's going to be about telling kids not to give up."

ADD Friendly Careers

People with ADD are found in every line of work--but our experts mentioned a number of career areas where many (but not all) jobs are ADD,friendly. The careers that were most frequently mentioned include:

* Sales

* Law and law enforcement

* Performing arts

* Visual arts and design

* Entrepreneurship (running your own business)

* Teaching

* Counseling and therapy

* Recreation, fitness, sports

* Communications (journalism, radio, TV, public relations)

* "Caring" professions (nursing, social work)

* Culinary field (chef, cook)

What makes a job "ADD-friendly"? In Thorn Hartmann's book ADD Success Stories, career counselor Sharon Levine says, "People with ADD require the stimulation of changing environments, multiple responsibilities, and the ability to be responsible for their own work." ADD-friendly jobs, she says, give a worker some chance to be creative, to move around during the day, and to work independently.

What's ADD?

Attention deficit disorder (ADD is a neurobiological condition (based in the brain) diagnosed by looking at how a person behaves. Many people with ADD have trouble paying attention, are easily distracted, daydream, and find it hard to organize and finish tasks.

About three to five times more males than females have been diagnosed with ADD. However, some researcher believe many girls who "daydream" or "drift away" in school have ADD that simply hasn't been noticed. ADD can make life harder. A recent Harvard study of adults with ADD found they are more likely to bounce from job to job, to suffer from depression, or to abuse drugs or alcohol, However, effective medications and behavior treatments are available.

Says lawyer Robert Tudisco, "There are a lot of very successful people who are where they are because they learned to use their ADO gifts."