Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello all
very glad to have found this forum which appears to be one of the more active ones.
My formal diagnosis has just come through after a multi year wait for the assessment. What a time to find our you're Autistic!
Can people help me work out a list of pros and cons for telling my employer that I am autistic? It is a public sector org which is all about diversity and inclusion these days. I am in senior management. In the past I have witnessed lots of autism discrimination. I can't help fearing:
1. judgement of coworkers who think it's playing some kind of special treatment card
2. having to take ignorant comments and not get into loads of conflicts
3. having my capability as a manager and team leader called in to question if I ask for new kinds of support
Many thanks
As others have written, it is probably most wise to wait a few months and let your feelings settle. It is worth looking back on any successes in your employment, and if those were times when the requirements of the job matched the strong points in your profile. then it is worth looking for pressure points between the requirements of your job or your working environment.
A point to remember - you cannot "Un-Tell" or "Un-Disclose"
Writing here as a Trade Union rep in a personal capacity,
Your diagnosis is first and foremost Your personal business, and it is Your decision whether to disclose or not in the workplace and your decision on How to disclose should you decide it is appropriate.
Your diagnosis is also "Sensitive personal data" That means it is data for which your employer must take special care to keep confidential and only hold if there is a valid reason to hold that data.
Autism is a Protected Characteristic under The Equality Act. Your employer Must Not treat you less fairly than other employees. Your Employer Must make reasonable adjustments to enable you to carry out your duties and so you are not at a disadvantage.
My thoughts are that it is no your co-workers business, and my inclination would not to make any disclosure in that direction.
HR is the part of an organisation which would hold Personal data and Sensitive personal data, and it's role is to advise managers How to manage in ways which comply with the law and a company's procedures and policies.
Your Trade Union exists to look after your interests - a good first step is using the TUC website to find out if a union has a recognition agreement where you work and join, or which unions work for the type of business your company caries out and join.
If you believe it is in your interests to make a disclosure I would counsel making your first step one of preparation by discussion with a union rep you trust or any helpline your union can offer. That can net you up to date information on your rights, and also a person with whom to look at options in a situation where Nothing is going to go back to your employer.
Reps can sound out things in confidence to prepare the way or gauge how well your employer would respect your diagnosis. As a rep I can have a confidential testing the water chat with a member of HR on the basis "I have been approached in confidence..." which means as Rep and HR we can go through the companies procedures and the law and work out How to handle things should a person wish to disclose, but without any names or other details which could identify you to HR
If you are a member of a union you have a right to have a representative accompany you in many types of formal meetings with your manager, to advise you, to witness the meting, to call adjournements to enable your to take time to discuss information, to meet with the manager to reach clearer understandings,
.. this is very good information for everyone at work who discovers that they have AS or indeed anything similar ..