ADHD Accomodations at Work and Home - How do you get people to understand what ADHD is and how it affects you?

I've been asked that question a lot lately. Here's my take on that.

I went through a phase after being diagnosed with ADHD of trying to get people to understand what ADHD was and how it explained so much of my whole life story.

I didn't take too long of getting lots of mixed reactions to discover this one truth.

People don't want to understand ADHD - they want to understand YOU.

I figured out it was much better for all relationships to learn how to communicate what you NEED in specific terms rather than to try to get people to understand ADHD.  Even a lot of doctors simply don't get ADHD and they don't want to take the time to understand.  People just don't want to learn all the details about every condition people have.  Better to withhold trying to explain and only share that with people who ask about it.  

What Works Better?

I learned to ask for accomodations in ways that don't position me as "disabled"

For example:

Instead of  saying  "I have Adhd so that means I need xyx."

It's more effective to say things like:  

"When I'm super-focused on getting something done, I tend to lose track of time. 
 To get the best work from me, could we work it out so that I have a flexible start and end time?  I do my very best work that way and you won't be dissappointed."

Almost every boss or client I ever asked said SURE!  I want your best work, if that's what it takes, go for it.

Another example:

  "I do better when you put requests in writing, it gives me time to think before I say yes..I don't want to overcommit and disappoint you, could you help me out by putting your requests in an email?"  

Again, the reaction is usually NO Problem!  In fact, they often say, Great Idea, that will help me be clearer about what I really want too.

Strategies like this work SO much better...and it gains respect to boot.  People admire when you factually and clearly just ask for what you need without explaining too much why you need it. 

What strategies have you used to ask for accomodations to your unique needs?