What advice do people have for disclosure of diagnosis at work? (Both during the hiring process and/or after it)
What advice do people have for disclosure of diagnosis at work? (Both during the hiring process and/or after it)
I sympathise. One being mates with the boss would be a problem for other people, especially if they don't see the relationship like you. You felt that she was being protective and motherly, they may have thought you were sleeping with her.
Banter is a great big no no also in my experience as it can start to go in the wrong direction.
I have to be guarded and weigh people up best I can. Be friendly with everyone, but actually be friends with no one would be my advice to myself iro the workplace, especially with larger government companies.
This is one of the problems I had - I have a huge extrovert personality and I'm friendly to everyone - I don't really 'see' those social boundaries - and for 5 years, my office was next door to the woman who became #1 on the org, chart - she was the same age as me but I'm aware that my 'jolly nice chap' persona tends to elicit a 'mothering' instinct. It seems that the jealous, political animals hate people who are open, friendly and have no secrets.
It was only once she had moved on to another position that the others were able to make their move against me.
I think from experience it is best not to disclose before the interview for the job and to 'feel' the environment before saying anything. Learning to 'Mask' seems to be the key. My approach would be to give no ammunition eg no personal information except for popular sports and neutral/ popular arts hobbies and not to put people on facebook, instagram etc. Always smile and be pleasant and don't get involved unless you have to but put up your guard (eg pretend to drink more than you are, if invited out), just waffle about the weather and the latest thing people are talking about in the office but only talking in facts that everyone agrees on (eg the r number is abave 0.7 etc). Leave when no one will notice. Don't be pulled into situations that aren't neutral to all. I have accepted that making any friends in work is probably not going to happen and probably shouldn't until many years down the line.
This is probably just common sense to neurotypicals!
Yes I am. I have a letter which says I have traits consistant with being on the spectrum. I was only an admin and didn't meet any (open) minorities in that company unlike other places i worked in. They questioned me for taking two "well being days" off because I was having difficulties with medication. Even though this was a benefit available for everyone, I didn' t read between the lines and realise it was frowned upon taking them. I was sent to Occupational health myself ,even though technically I had taken annual leave and not sick days. I was then "outed" by my doctor against my wishes. Due to their behaviour on the days off I knew this was going to be used against me. I am bound by confidentiality on others but there were definitely incidents but I guess that is the job of HR. I got the sense that it was about getting round the laws and policies rather than working with them though.
My problem seemed to be understanding why people were not treating me in a fair and equal way. I was told I said nothing offensive and wasn't given any real offical feedback on my work. I was blanked, snapped at and treated rudely. The recruitment manager was quite openly racist. It may be a case of me being way too sensitive to people and the way they behave. I wasn't offically sacked. My work wasn't great to be fair but I didn't have much experience and didn't know what was expected of me (eg not to immediately ask questions but to take time to work it out and not to expect constructive feedback). I thought I was going to be given time to learn and develop but they expected me to know what I was doing immediately and not make any mistakes. I was wondering if this was a processing issue. I have 11 gcses, good a levels and an aegrotat degree, so I can produce good results.
I'm a chartered engineer - (among other things) - I was 4th on the organisational chart for the UK-end of a very large multinational.
The way I was being treated by my manager led me to a diagnosis and then disclosure - which was total career suicide - I was sidelined and frozen out, left out of meetings, lied to and bullied mercilessly - until number 2 on the org chart witnessed it first hand - I was instantly moved out of that area of the business - unfortunately to be under another useless manager. Nothing changed.
HR were utterly useless and acted against me in every way they could until it was so blatant and against all the laws that I walked away with a generous 'redundancy package' and a non-disclosure agreement.
How's that?
I'm on a mobile. So I'll have to actually switch my computer on for that, I think. I'm really interested to know people's lived experience, as I worked in hr and knew the laws and policies but also saw the reality was very different to the aims of the written word.
Hi Forg30,
The British Association of Supported Employment, who have a database of supported employment agencies, so you can search for one in your local area: www.base-uk.org
Remploy, an organisation which supports people with disabilities and those experiencing complex barriers to work, into mainstream employment: www.remploy.co.uk
https://myplusstudentsclub.com/
is also a good website to look at. It is a site on which employers advertise their opportunities for people with disabilities and they also provide information about disability and inclusive practices within their organisations. This is a good way to identify companies which will be keen to put in place reasonable adjustments for interviews and throughout employment.
I hope this helps,
ChloeMod
