Paul and other list members, This is a question that has come up a number of times on the list - I asked it myself a few years ago, and the advice ranged from be completly honest to one reply (from a lawyer) who wrote - if you want the job - Lie! After a long search for a full time job, i started a new job two years ago, and am still working there. I told my co-workers about the PD afteer about a year, and received total acceptance and support. (I was dxed 5 1/2 years ago). I was only asked to type any written communications, because my handwriting is bad. So far that's been the only accomodation needed. I think it depends a great deal on your symptoms, the type of job, the attitude of the employer, etc. I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding of the ADA is that while it provides some pre-employment protection, it is not a guarantee that a disabled person will be hired. It doesn't require that an employer hire you over an equally qualified aplicant just because you are disabled. If you think someone less qualified was hired over you - you could file a complaint, but i think it would be difficult to prove, and would probably take a long time to settle. In the meantime - you want to find a job! These are just my thoughts - based on my own job hunting with PD experiences - maybe a lawyer could comment on the legal issues. If your symptoms are well controlled by meds and you believe they won't affect your ability to do the job, i'd say don't tell. The ADA states an employer may not ask about medical conditions at this stage. It can get trickier is they require a physical after being offered the job -- here I'd like to get some legal advice. If your symptoms are evident or you will be requiring accomodations, it seems though you will have to tell, and hope that the interviewer is an open minded person. You're going to have to educate them about PD. Get some materials from NPF, APDA, PDF, etc. to give them that explains the symptoms. I ithink it would help to know what type of accomodations you will need and to be able to explain them to the employer. The ADA says they must be "reasonable" Using a computer instead of writing by hand, or using word recognition software instead of typing should be considered reasonable. The JAN site has other suggestions. You will probably need to do a lot of convincing - but it seems that with all your experience in telecommunications - you must have skills that are greatly in demand, and that's what should be emphasized. Hire me for my abilities. Don't pass me by because of my disabilities. If you believe that you are able to do the job now and you want to work - i'd say go for it! It's true with PD we don't know how it will affect us and our ability to work in the future - in a year, 2 years or 5 years from now -- but then no one, even healthy people, know what will happen to them tomorrow. Good luck and let us know what happens, Linda ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn