“Since leaving that company, I have never again disclosed my diagnosis of ADHD to any employer or coworker.”
That’s a 35-year-old manager describing what happened after she told a previous employer about her ADHD. Her diagnosis was raised every time she made a small mistake or arrived late. One good day was met with a joke about her medication.
She isn’t unusual. Many adults with ADHD decide, often after one bad experience, that telling work is not worth the risk. For employers, that means the people who could most benefit from support are often the ones you never hear from.
This ADHD Awareness Month, it’s worth asking a different question. Not “how many of our people have ADHD?” but “would they feel safe telling us?”
The disclosure dilemma
ADHD is often called a concealable condition. Unlike some disabilities, nobody has to know unless the person chooses to say so. That choice carries real weight.
Telling a manager can open the door to support, flexibility and understanding. It can also lead to being seen as less capable, being watched more closely, or having every slip explained away as “the ADHD”.
So employees weigh it up. And when they’re unsure how the workplace will respond, many stay quiet.
A study of 20 working adults with ADHD in Sweden (Oscarsson et al., 2022) described this as a “great dilemma”. Participants spoke about stress, anxiety and exhaustion at work. Where support was missing, the job of working out adjustments usually fell back on them. As one participant put it: “The answer is always ‘what can you do to make it better?'”
What the research tells us about safety
A 2023 study by McIntosh and colleagues surveyed 166 working adults with ADHD in the United States. It looked at what makes people more or less likely to share their ADHD at work before any problems come up, which the researchers called proactive disclosure.
Three findings stand out for employers:
- Fear of stigma keeps people quiet. Employees who were more conscious of being judged were less likely to share their ADHD early.
- Psychological safety opens the door. Employees who felt it was safe to speak up and take interpersonal risks at work were more likely to share early.
- Sharing early is linked to thriving. Employees who disclosed proactively were more likely to report thriving at work, meaning they felt they were learning, growing and energised.
Source: McIntosh et al. (2023). US study; the findings show links, not cause and effect.
The researchers also suggest the best time for these conversations may be early, during onboarding, before any performance concerns have a chance to appear.
These findings show links, not cause and effect, and the study was done in the US. But the message for Australian workplaces is clear. Whether people tell you about their ADHD depends less on them and more on what your workplace has shown them it will do with the information.
Why this matters to your organisation
When employees with ADHD don’t feel safe to share, three things tend to happen.
Support arrives late, or not at all. Without a conversation, adjustments that could make a real difference are never discussed. People work around problems on their own, often by working longer hours.
Problems get mislabelled. Missed details or late arrivals are treated as attitude or performance issues, when a simple change in how work is organised might have prevented them.
People leave. Thriving at work is linked to lower intention to leave. When people can’t be open, the cost often shows up later in turnover.
The Swedish study found something hopeful too. Participants who had clear job descriptions, explicit routines and consistent ways of working described thriving. Many of the things that help people with ADHD are simply good management, and they help everyone else on the team as well.
Five things managers can do this month
You don’t need a new policy to start. You need a few habits that show people it’s safe to speak.
- Ask everyone, not just some.
“What helps you do your best work?” is a question for every person on your team, from day one. When everyone gets asked, nobody has to single themselves out.
- Respond well the first time.
How you react to one person’s disclosure is what the whole team learns. Thank them, listen, and ask what would help. Avoid jokes, assumptions and advice they didn’t ask for.
- Keep it confidential.
Agree together who needs to know and what will be shared. Disclosure is personal information, and trust is lost quickly if it travels.
- Offer support without a label.
Make flexible tools and routines available to anyone who wants them: written instructions after meetings, quiet spaces, headphones, clear priorities, regular check-ins. People shouldn’t need a diagnosis to work in a way that suits them.
- Follow up.
Check in again in a month. Needs change, and a second conversation shows the first one wasn’t just a box ticked.
Funding that can help
Australian employers don’t have to carry the cost of support alone. The Australian Government’s Employment Assistance Fund (EAF), managed through JobAccess, can help eligible employees and employers pay for workplace changes and support.
Under the June 2026 guidelines, this includes up to $1,770.44 (GST inclusive) per eligible employee every 12 months for workplace supports and training, such as neuro-inclusion training and coaching. Eligibility rules apply, so check with JobAccess for your situation.
Where to start
If no one on your team has ever mentioned ADHD, it may not mean no one has it. It may mean they haven’t yet seen that it’s safe to say so.
Disclosure can’t be demanded. It’s earned, through how a workplace responds to the first person who speaks up.
Xceptional Academy helps managers and teams build workplaces where people feel safe to share what they need. Our ADHD-Friendly Workplace session and tailored Managers & Teams workshops give leaders practical tools they can use straight away.
Talk to us about a session for your team →
Sources
- McIntosh, C.K., Hyde, S.A., Bell, M.P. & Yeatts, P.E. (2023). Thriving at work with ADHD: antecedents and outcomes of proactive disclosure. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 42(2), 228–247.
- Oscarsson, M., Nelson, M., Rozental, A., Ginsberg, Y., Carlbring, P. & Jönsson, F. (2022). Stress and work-related mental illness among working adults with ADHD: a qualitative study. BMC Psychiatry, 22, 751.
- JobAccess, Employment Assistance Fund guidelines (June 2026).
