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Adult revealing autism at interviews?

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Hello everyone. Thanks for being so welcoming yesterday. I'm wondering if you can help me. People at work have cottoned on to my autism and have been making life difficult. I have left and I know that in my line work there will be verbal references about me, so I am thinking of explaining at my interviews that, although I am not diagnosed, it is likely that I am autistic. What do you think of this approach? What information should I have to hand? How should I educate myself about how "normal" people see autistic people? So far I know about reasonable adjustments, the Equality Act and harassment, from the .gov website. What else will I need? It would be a shame to throw away my career because of this. At least if I tell them, they can decide whether they want to employ me. I feel like I have fewer cards to play, but perhaps I have a new card - diversity. Does this card work? Thanks, and have a great day! Slight smile

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  • It's just an idea but could you go armed with "I'm autistic and this is what I have difficulty with...X, Y, Z. This means I get anxious etc. Therefore I need....". Also "I'm autistic and while I find x y and z difficult, my strengths are...."

  • in reply to Deleted User

    Yes, I think this is good advice for  telling them, no matter at what stage. I made that mistake the first time- I just blurted out 'I was diagnosed with autism yesterday' ... SHOCKED SILENCE followed... then awkward conversation... 

    I think like you say a better way of doing it is to give concrete examples of what being autistic means for you in the work place eg. 'I am autistic. This means I do best with clear/direct instructions ... etc- basically everything you have said just now!! 

    I wish I had done that but at the time, I didn't even know myself what it all meant and I just felt like a liar not saying something (yep probably typical autistic oversharing and too much honesty), so I just told them straight out with no explanation except that I myself had no idea what it meant... 

  • in reply to Ann :)

    Yes its one thing saying "I'm autistic" but we cannot expect people to fill those gaps. They might not know anything about it, not want to assume anything anyway, understand the stereotypes,  or know other autists but who are completely different to me. Basically it's a minefield and we can't expect people to mind read.

    I think it depends on your track record and how you "come across" at interview. I think I could get away with saying it but others might not.

  • in reply to Deleted User

    Oh no. They really are the most stressful experiences 

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