Getting your manager-level TDA (attention deficit disorder) recognised by the HR director and the occupational doctor, once and for all, without replaying it at every exchange
A file handed to the HR director, a profile the occupational doctor opens before the appointment, and the accommodations tied to the RQTH (official recognition of disabled worker status in France) are already in place: written instructions, an office where the door can be closed, one priority file at a time. The right settings arrive without an explanation session, and without having to plead the case again from one contact to the next.
This case concerns a 51-year-old manager with a TDA (attention deficit disorder), recognised by a recent RQTH. After years of career, she wants the HR department and the occupational doctor to have the right reference points from the start, rather than discovering over the months why constant interruptions cost her so much.
The moment that matters
A management floor in constant flux: open doors, requests coming one after another, three conversations crossing over the same file. For Nathalie, 51 years old, a manager for twenty-five years, the difficulty has never been competence, it is holding her attention when everything interrupts her. An in-depth report slips from one week to the next, not for lack of diligence, but because it has never had ten uninterrupted minutes. Her RQTH is recent, and she hesitates: at fifty, should she really make an issue of it?
Rather than waiting for the wrong reading, she slips a card with her QR into the file handed to the HR director, before the occupational medical appointment. The HR director and the occupational doctor open the profile beforehand. In a few lines, they read what Nathalie put into words herself: a TDA that scatters attention as soon as interruptions pile up, while experience and judgement remain intact, and a few settings that are enough, instructions in writing, a space to withdraw to for in-depth tasks, one demanding file at a time. No medical detail, just what makes the role manageable.
The occupational appointment gets straight to the point, the RQTH accommodations fall into place without her having to recount her history to every contact. The HR director did not need to call a meeting to "understand the request". What did not happen: the awkward explanation session, the fear of coming across as out of her depth, and the feeling, at fifty, of having to prove she is still on top of things because one oversight was misread.
- You write it
- The QR is in place
- The reader scans
- Understood, without explaining again
Where to place the QR for this case
At work, the QR does not have to be visible to everyone. It goes with the official documents and stays within reach of the people who decide on resources, so that they act at the right moment, ideally before the medical appointment.
- Card slipped into the file handed to the HR director, attached to the RQTH documents, to prepare the occupational doctor's appointment.
- Link sent as a direct message to the occupational doctor or the disability officer, shared before the meeting, viewable at their own pace.
- Label on the diary or the work folder, printed from an A4 sheet of labels (standard template), as a discreet reminder for oneself.
- Link in the internal email signature, that each contact can open without having to ask.
The rule here: at work, something set down in writing for the right contact saves you from pleading the same accommodation again at every step. The person decides what they share, and with whom.
Pre-written text templates
Three outlines to adjust to your situation. They cover what an HR department or an occupational doctor reads first: what a TDA is at work, what concretely helps, and what needlessly complicates things. Starting points, not sentences to copy as they are.
For the "Introduction" section
"My name is [first name], I work as a [role]. I have a TDA, an attention disorder recognised by an RQTH. In practical terms, my attention scatters as soon as interruptions and noise pile up, while experience and judgement are not in question. A few simple settings make me fully effective."
For the "How to help" section
"You can: pass instructions to me in writing, leave me a space where I can close the door for in-depth tasks, frame meetings with an agenda, avoid stacking urgent requests at the same time, and judge my work on results rather than on an isolated oversight."
For the "What to avoid" section
"To avoid: piling up spoken requests all at once, reading a distraction as a lack of interest, commenting on my RQTH in front of the team, forcing the permanent open-plan office on me for demanding files, or doubting my experience because of a one-off oversight."
Conditions relevant to this case
This case rests on TDA, the form of TDAH (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) where inattention dominates without visible restlessness. Attention aims poorly on command, especially in an environment that interrupts constantly, but intelligence and competence remain whole. At work, this is easily mistaken for carelessness. The linked page explains this way of functioning and the accommodations that restore balance.
Similar cases
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View the caseNo need to explain it to every new person.
Three texts (introduction, how to help, what to avoid), one shared QR code. When they scan it, the person reads what they need to know, in their own language.