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'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.
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.
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?
