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Do I tell my clients that I'm autistic?

Tonik

I'm self-employed and since getting my diagnosis last year I've been wondering if I should tell my clients that I'm autistic.

As far as I can tell, being autistic only has a couple of significant 'negative' effects on my work:

  • Dealing with clients causes me massive amounts of anxiety (so far I've managed to hide this).
  • I need time and space between projects to recover, so I'm not as productive as some people.

There's 'positives' too, for example:

  • I have great attention to detail.
  • I'm dedicated to my work and not letting people down.
  • I'm great at picking up new skills/etc.

But even though I think my clients are  getting a good deal because I put in so much effort with no extra cost, I sometimes feel like it would be better and more honest to be open about being autistic.  Maybe some people don't want to hire an autistic person? Maybe I can be myself more when I work and communicate with people? But I also think that it might cause complications, and even though I'm 'high-functioning', being self-employed is a constant source of stress and anxiety already.

What do you think - do I tell my clients that I'm autistic?

Parents

  • If you're doing contract work that's not very people focused then I wouldn't. People don't really want to know personal details of the people who say, mend their car or fix there pipes. Sure if you get chatting and it comes up I don't see the harm in mentioning it but you don't want to put it into your opening speal it'll sound too much like a disclaimer. If you're work is very person focused, say you work as an entertainer for hire, clown at kids birthday parties etc, then it might be worth mentioning because it gives them a sense of the kind of service you provide. Especially if its the kind of work where attention to detail is key.

  • in reply to Peter

    That's a good way of thinking about it. I work in design, so attention to detail is certainly key, which is one of the reasons I'm not ruling out disclosing it. But I really don't want it to come across as a disclaimer or a way of promoting myself.

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