Telling people or not...

you know if you tell your line manager they are bound to keep it private, that way if you have any issues they will have to make allowances for your disability - as that is what it is.  not everyone needs to know.  I  dont know if your work for a big organisation, but I do and i know that is some of my collegues knew they would make

 my life difficult.  the joke would always be on me.  It is such a hard choice to make x

millymolly said:

When i was diagnosed the mental health team advised that i didnt tell people, i think that you need to weigh up the benefits and concerns with both telling or not, and good luck with whatever you decide

Part of me thinks that given I have reached this stage of my life without a diagnosis that telling people won't help and in fact hinder. If I want to progress through the career ladder then having trouble talking to people won't help in the leadership aspects

A main reason I pushed through a diagnosis was to look at getting external support and coping techniques. The mental health lady did say that it seems the anxiety issues in the past and the CBT to overcome ended up giving me techniques and that my choice of career may have been by me subconsciously seeking the place I fit in best.

but I also know in the past I was made redundant due to my attitude. Couple newly diagnosed uncontrolled type 2 diabetes and autism and I can be rather difficult to deal with. ahem...

When i was diagnosed the mental health team advised that i didnt tell people, i think that you need to weigh up the benefits and concerns with both telling or not, and good luck with whatever you decide

i always criticise with myself and one thing i learnt from havign a child with autism its him having autism what makes him great and the person he is today and i wouldnt have him any any way and people can take him or leave him and if anyone cant except him they are shallow they are not worth knowing i know with me for myself and others it they know u well enough and the way u act and things u do like little quirky noticable things it would make sense it did with me

I thank you for your comments.

i don't know if it is confidence as if anything I think I constantly self criticise. But then I sometimes find I come across as arrogant. I don't mean to but it's like if people don't see things in the same way I do then it's like I dismiss them in my head and it's pretty obvious I don't tolerate them

 But all in all I do consider myself lucky in being outside looking in. It gives an interesting perspective. 

if I did tell him and he is understanding then I think it would help with appraisals as the comments about not mixing and speaking to people enough hopefully will be seen in a different context

I couldn't cope if everyone knew as I would think I was being talked about and that wouldn't help anxiety but I will gauge how it goes over time. 

 i told people i know and they have been no different and if they are that good of friends they will be supportive and undertsanding and just because u have autism doesnt make u any less capable of doing anything at work if u have the confidence to do so which it seems like u do

I found it useful just to have a better understanding of what was happening in the workplace, but I agree telling others is a mixed experience.

The decision was made for me in that I told HR about my diagnosis. They asked if I wanted my line managers informed, to which I said yes. At which point, without explaining this to me or forewarning me, they scanned in a copy of my diagnosis and sent it round my colleagues as an email attachment.

It did help though, but people's understanding of AS is generally not deep enough, and to be honest most people don't want to know the details. So I experienced what others reported here - still getting comments at appraisals that the diagnosis should have resolved.

However I was doing support work to disabled individuals as part of my job, so I took an especial interest in autism, and I hope, provided some useful support from a better informed stance.

You might find this book useful - "Managing with Asperger Syndrome" Malcolm Johnson, Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2005 (ISBN 1 84310 199 8).  While I found it a hard read, as the writing is stodgy and too biographical, and not always easy to see the aspergers, it does explore a lot of work situations. It looks at aspects of office politics and managing other people when you have Asperger's.

I think the main benefit of a diagnosis is being able to better understand why people might react to you the way you do, and what things you could do to alleviate the situation. I was able to reduce the potential conflicts.

After that initial disclosure I mostly didn't tell people. I did find it useful to chat to other staff who worked with people with autism, because they got insight from me, and I got better understanding of their perspectives.

Also I like observing and studying environments (as I've babbled on about here from time to time), sitting to one side and observing how other people deal with situations. Think of yourself as David Attenborough observing the human animal in its natural environment.....

I moved the content to this forum as realised I may have asked stuff already covered. I am interested in peoples experinces though