Is a mental disability always a disability?

Not in the working world, says Donald Hantula, PhD, a social and organizational psychologist at Temple University. That?s because rather than define disability as a physical or mental limitation of an individual, Hantula sees it as a feature of the environment that is either disabling or enabling to an individual. And, as employers work to accommodate workers with mental disabilities, Hantula is promoting the idea of creating the most enabling environment for an individual so that what might have been viewed as a disability may now function as an asset.

Employees diagnosed with adult attention deficit disorder (ADD), for example, could be considered to have a disability if their job duties require lengthy concentration. On the other hand, adult ADD could be an asset if they were to work in jobs that require quick decision-making and brief, intense periods of activity, such as options trading or corporate sales.

Thus, an employer who has a worker with ADD might consider placing that individual in a job where quick decisions and task-juggling are needed, Hantula explains.

In fact, he notes, the typical traits of ADD may actually be suitable for some management and executive positions. Studies have shown that managers often work at a quick pace and are action-oriented, he says. Successful managers also spend considerable time networking and socializing?activities at which people with ADD are particularly adroit, he adds.

'The key to this whole thing is focusing not just on the person, but on the environment,' he says. 'It involves creating environments that enable superior work performance.'

?Scott Sleek