First job rejection since diagnosis. Why are interviews seen as the best way to judge your abilities?

You say you have a high level of intelligence but is this related to the skills you need for the workplace or simply academic intelligence. It is clear you know that workplace interviews are an that you struggle with but how did you deploy your intelligence to limit or overcome the areas you find challenging in these situations? For example, did you confidently explain your needs and deploy any strategies you need to perform at your best? I often suffer from sensory overload in these situations, which affects so my processing speed. As such, I get the interview panel to provide me with the questions in advance so that I thoroughly think through what I want to say before I'm placed in the interview situation. 

Hello. I was referring to academic intelligence but this also related directly to the job I applied for. I didn't make any requests regarding the interview, as I thought this would go against me in the selection process - if not officially then at least in the minds of the interviewers (If she's causing this much trouble for just an interview...). To have the questions in advance would make a massive difference to how I perform in an interview but I never considered that this would be a possibility. How has this request been received in your experience?  

My requests has always been received warmly and my pass rate for interviews is extremely high. I only tend to not get the post if they've decided to give it as a promotion to someone who works there already and I've only ever had the adjustments I need challenged once. This has meant that most of the time I've never had to disclose that I need these due to being autistic, dyslexic and having ADHD. I'm of the mind that although society labels me as disabled I am not, so I don't tick the disabled box either. A key requirement of the jobs I apply for is confidence (I'm a teacher) and by asking for the support I need right from the start I'm demonstrating that I am confident and will ask for the conditions I need to perform at my best.

If you do need adjustments when you start post, as you state you will be requesting, surely its better to find out at the interview stage if the employer is discriminatory or not? If you start the job and the employer doesn't want to give you adjustments they won't, as is demonstrated by the high number of people on these boards who going through the tribunal process.

I've found the autistic community to be incredibly discriminatory towards others, for example, assuming an interviewer will be prejudice against those labelled as disabled simply because that person has the label of interviewer. I don't want to be like this and would rather approach situations with an open mind. I've interviewed candidates and as someone who asks for adjustments I certainly wouldn't be put off employing individuals like me. Furthermore, my husband's a senior manager and he has a wife whose has numerous lables, plus we have a daughter who might turn out to be autistic too (she's a newborn at the minute). He see's every day how lables do not effect talent, drive or ambition and he has a wide range of people in his team, including people with autism and MH conditions. After all a successful team needs different personalities and skills. When you apply for a post you generally have no idea of the background of the people on the panel. 

The interview letters I receive have a statement along the line of please contact x if you need any adjustments so I just email them with explaining what adjustments I'd like. Like you said most people have no idea what autism means, or what many other lables mean either, so they're more interested in what you need rather than the why. For the interview stage I also request that I'm presented with each question on an individual piece of dark green paper in Ariel font 12. Without this written prompt I often get muddled up on what question I'm meant to be specifically answering.

Interviewing as an autistic individual is a completely different subject to the academic one you've just graduated from and your just at the start of this learning experience. As such, its likely to take time, as well as trial and error, to figure out what you require to perform at your best so please don't get too downhearted if it takes a few attempts to secure a post. 

I'm glad you've found the discussion your post has prompted helpful. 

The interview letters I receive have a statement along the line of please contact x if you need any adjustments so I just email them with explaining what adjustments I'd like. Like you said most people have no idea what autism means, or what many other lables mean either, so they're more interested in what you need rather than the why. For the interview stage I also request that I'm presented with each question on an individual piece of dark green paper in Ariel font 12. Without this written prompt I often get muddled up on what question I'm meant to be specifically answering.

Interviewing as an autistic individual is a completely different subject to the academic one you've just graduated from and your just at the start of this learning experience. As such, its likely to take time, as well as trial and error, to figure out what you require to perform at your best so please don't get too downhearted if it takes a few attempts to secure a post. 

I'm glad you've found the discussion your post has prompted helpful.