My boss told me, after pointing out a small mistake in my code, that "if someone cares enough about their work, they won't make little mistakes like this" (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago by iWantaSandwhich@beehaw.org to c/neurodivergence@beehaw.org

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It is one of my biggest pet peeves surrounding how people often misunderstand performance for someone with ADHD like myself. Of course everyone makes mistakes from time to time, but those with ADHD often struggle with making little mistakes, and often have to try even harder to avoid those types of mistakes. I care deeply about my work, and I struggled in my younger years with feelings of inadequacy, and when people chalked my mistakes or under-performing to some sort of moral failing, it really hurt. These days, through better understanding of ADHD, and how my brain works and what its quirks are, I don't feel inadequate, but I still get angry when I encounter it. Don't you dare tell me I don't care about my work because I made a mistake.

For the curious, I did this in my code: {{ conditional }} instead of {% conditional %} in a Twig template by accident.

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[-] douglasg14b@beehaw.org 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's also called a toxic workplace if there is a pattern of feedback like this.

If it is, and if you can, start looking elsewhere. Personal attacks over what should be mundane code review items is unacceptable.

If this was in formal code review, then that's still a huge red flag. Code review is about catching errors, learning opportunity, and periodically style/cleanliness problems. It should be semi-formal, and does not include personal attacks like that. It's a safe place to fail, and should be maintained as such, lest the productivity advantages be lost.

We all make mistakes. I'm a Sr. Dev & Tech Lead and just last week I had an obvious error that a Jr dev caught. It's no big deal.

It can be easy to dwell on this, and think about over and over again. ADHD folks tend to have a stronger sense of justice, which means we are more sensitive to being "wronged", and it will bother us for longer. All I can say is try to not let it bother you as much, it was unprofessional to say that, and minute mistakes are the norm not the exception.

this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023

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