21/12/2025
“Just use a calendar.”
“Try post-it notes.”
“Set a reminder.”
If those things worked, ADHD would not be a legally protected disability.
ADHD is not a motivation issue.
It is not a knowledge gap.
It is not a failure to “try harder.”
ADHD is an executive function disability - affecting task initiation, time perception, working memory, sequencing, emotional regulation and cognitive stamina.
A reminder going off does not magically create the neurological capacity to act.
Post-it notes do not override time blindness.
Calendars do not resolve initiation paralysis.
Medication does not manufacture executive function or erase burnout, trauma, menopause, autism or chronic illness.
When people say “I have ADHD and I manage fine”, what they are really saying is: “My access needs were met - so I’m comfortable ignoring yours.”
That is not empowerment.
That is internalised ableism.
Tools without environmental change don’t create access - they create blame.
And blame is exactly what disabled people have always been given instead of support.
The law is clear: Workplaces must make reasonable adjustments.
Dignity at work is not optional.
Disabled people are not required to perform productivity in a neurotypical way to earn respect.
At Glowsticks, we reject the idea that people must shrink, mask or exhaust themselves to be “acceptable.”
We don’t ask “Why can’t you do it like everyone else?”
We ask “What needs to change so you can do this safely, sustainably and well?”
That’s not special treatment.
That’s equality.
A PR worker with ADHD who was criticised for being “disorganised” has won a disability discrimination case.
Nicole Hogger was labelled disorganised by her manager after missing a meeting and, at times, calls because “she had been out for a massage, to Starbucks, or to the supermarket,” a tribunal heard.
A judge at Cambridge Employment Tribunal ruled that calling a co-worker “disorganised” can amount to disability discrimination under UK law, as it can “undermine” someone and even “violate their dignity.”
Judge Roger Tynan said Genesis PR failed to consider Miss Hogger’s ADHD and gave feedback she could not act on. “There was little, if anything, that [Miss Hogger] could usefully do with the feedback,” he added.
Miss Hogger joined Genesis PR in 2018 and was promoted in 2020. She was diagnosed with ADHD in 2021, noting “poor organisation, forgetfulness and difficulty getting started on tasks requiring significant mental effort.”
Despite support from her manager, she faced criticism for missed work. When a performance improvement plan was proposed in June 2023, she resigned the following day.
Judge Tynan concluded Genesis PR “discriminated against [Miss Hogger] by failing to make a reasonable adjustment” and upheld her claims of unfair constructive dismissal and disability discrimination.
