Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello,
I was diagnosed with ASD in 2020 at 38. I'd been driving hgvs for 6 years before my diagnosis but I decided to take some time off work to research ASD and how it affects me. I've done some hgv driving since my diagnosis but I didn't declare my ASD which made it difficult to tell my co-workers/employer that I am autistic so I've had to continue masking constantly. I've now decided to start declaring my autism from the start so I don't have to mask as much, dvsa have told me that I don't need to declare autism to them as I passed my tests and had driven for so many years before I was diagnosed that it obviously doesn't affect my driving. Has anyone on here applied for any kind of driving work and declared ASD at the application/interview stage and got the job or have you found it difficult to find work when declaring ASD.
It would be illegal if they did discriminate.
I don't drive because my autism does affect my sense of where things are in relation to me, but that's by no means true of everyone on the Spectrum. The DVLA are correct. You passed your test, you've driven all these years. Your driving is therefore unaffected. They MUST not discriminate.
But, of course if they did you would have to prove that. That said, got a national shortage of skilled drivers, haven't we? So, I should think they'd need you too badly to ignore you.
Meanwhile, I can imagine your job would give you lots of time alone in the cab to unmask which must be good, but why should you have to mask when you do interact with colleagues? Good for you for going for it.
I understand that they shouldn't discriminate but it would be hard to prove if they did unless they specifically said it was because of the ASD. Don't believe the hype about the driver shortage it's not as bad as they say it is, it's more of an industry ploy to keep wages low as some firms especially the big national ones pay less for inexperienced drivers. I'm going to keep trying as I'm sure someone will take a chance on me.