question about disclosing at work

I was quite lucky really. I casually dropped it to my line manager and the assistant manager of my work I was undergoing diagnosis. I work in a school so some adults were not entirely supportive but didn't put me off either. Others blatantly said I have all the typical tendancies (being referred to as Sheldon by some colleagues!). One colleague gave me a paperclip and said "what is it?" I had a typical autistic response to list everything but paperclip!

The official diagnosis came through, and I decided people should know. I knew I had to approach the big boss before doing that, and although I wasn't required to disclose it, decided I'd rather be sacked than keep it secret.

My aspergers was recognised back in 2009 and fully diagnosed some 6 years later after a hiatus due to a person in my training school telling me I might scupper my chances of getting a job with a diagnosis, so I put it on hold till I'd established myself in my career.

Before I told anyone, I rehearsed carefully a couple of small sentences just in case. I practiced how I'd start the conversation, and my follow up sentence of "I have done this job for x years now, so you know I can do it and I'm not looking for any special treatment, I'm just telling you so your aware in case anything does happen".

I was terrified to tell her, but my boss was very supportive. She actually referenced a few other staff members who are not diagnosed autistic but have the same blinkered vision to getting a job done to a high spec or achieving a vision. She said it can actually be a positive trait in my profession. Its a school, so we have alot of autistic/aspergic kids. I suppose I was lucky that she understood 90s kids didn't get the diagnosis, and it doesn't go away once you turn 18. I left school in 2006 age 18, but even my old secondary teachers now say that my school failed me by not noticing my problems and tendencies, but in their defence it wasn't a widely recognised trait even then. 

I actually tell most colleagues within a few days of working with them about my aspergers now. They are all very supportive. Some people out of my work are not so supportive... "You don't act like you have aspergers"... Thats because I can pretend for short amounts of time but eventually it shows through. Luckily they use the word 'act' rather than 'look' because I'd otherwise possibly return with "You don't look like someone who's ignorant but there you go!" :S

NAS62204 said:

"You don't act like you have aspergers"

Which is, of course, just another way of saying "You don't seem to behave in compliance with the expectations I've built up from seeing and absorbing stereotypical examples of autistic people in films like 'Rainman', programmes like 'Big Bang Theory' and books like 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' and 'The Rosie Project'."  It often strikes me that the people who are most ignorant about the condition are the same ones who will be the first to say "Oh, Asperger's, yes... I know all about that."

(in case you missed it on another thread, there's an interesting article on autistic stereotyping in popular culture here: Autism from the Inside)

I know it's an individual decision, but personally I would always disclose my condition - the same as I would any physical condition.  If they use it to discriminate against you in any way, you have legal protections (it's a good idea to be in a union).  I wouldn't want to work for an employer who did choose to discriminate, anyway.  The risk of non-disclosure is that if anything happens that comes back to being associated with your condition (a meltdown at work for instance), then you run the risk of being disciplined or, at worst, fired for not being upfront about it. This happened to me once and ended up with a severe reprimand when the condition was finally disclosed through occupational health.

Yes, fair point. I do agree with you the risk of non-disclosure, like having a meltdown. It would help a lot in these situations. And I can see why it's good to disclose it beforehand. But I also fear what a lot of people have mentioned about discrimination, for example, it's not always easy to bring evidence if it's like subtle differences in the way they talk to you. Or even if they give you less opportunities, they could say it was based on skill and not discrimination (even if that wasn't the reason). I guess it's just hard for me to weigh the consequences on both sides. 

Yes, fair point. I do agree with you the risk of non-disclosure, like having a meltdown. It would help a lot in these situations. And I can see why it's good to disclose it beforehand. But I also fear what a lot of people have mentioned about discrimination, for example, it's not always easy to bring evidence if it's like subtle differences in the way they talk to you. Or even if they give you less opportunities, they could say it was based on skill and not discrimination (even if that wasn't the reason). I guess it's just hard for me to weigh the consequences on both sides.