Positives and negstives of disclosing.. can anyone share their reasons for and against being open about your diagnosis?

I’m very open about my diagnoses, but I can also see why some people aren’t. Ultimately, it’s a personal decision that shouldn’t be influenced or swayed. 

I'm out with my diagnosis, although I can see in some work situations it could cause difficulties. I've found there are some people who can be quite rude and unhelpful because of it, but then they were probably being rude and unhelpful anyway and autism just gives them a different way to be rude and unhelpful.

Some people bend over backwards to find ways to help, sometimes almost to much so.

Most however are indifferent, or best of all treat me as normal human being.

I can only really repeat what others have said, in the past I have steered a conversation into something like an autism program I’ve watched. I then see how people react. I would imagine an education environment would be quite supportive, normally there would be someone who works with the neurodivergent pupils, it might be worth having a chat with them, you obviously may not work in that sort of environment. 

Don’t expect too much from family, my own mother still can’t say the words autistic or autism, the sentence rarely used is, “with what you have.” Family think they know you, they only really know what you’re allowed them to see, that’s not usually much.
I haven’t really told many people as I work alone, I’ve got to the age where I don’t really care what others think. You will lose some people along the way, I then think they weren’t worth having.

You might find the advice here helpful. These articles include examples of positive and negative experiences of disclosing and, in respect of disclosing to an employer, potential benefits and risks of doing so:

NAS - Talking about and disclosing your autism diagnosis

NAS - Deciding whether to tell employers you are autistic

You might also find some of the other articles in the NAS's Employment section helpful, including about reasonable adjustments at work.

I think it's good to be cautious whom you tell. Certainly, people you feel close to, rather than blanket all, 'family and friends.' I walked out of my NHS career before I was diagnosed [stress triggered more overt, 'symptoms' which enabled diagnosis, so the Consultant said], but later the employer tried to deny my diagnosis to avoid compensation, which really upset me; I'd suffered so much in life and this was like denial of my suffering. But your employer being supportive makes yours a different case. I would be careful to not disclose to all colleagues, until you've carefullly considered the likely reaction. Best of luck!

I think that I asked myself whether telling people would have a useful effect. My immediate family knew I was seeking a diagnosis, so they automatically were told. I have also told my extended family - mostly so they knew why I would not be forcing myself to endure large family social occasions in the future (anything major, such as weddings I still attend). I also told my close friends, their reactions were positive, and one former work colleague who thought that she might be autistic herself.

If I had still been working, I took early retirement, I would have informed my employers and my trade union. My former employers have relatively good support systems in place for disadvantaged staff and informing invokes anti-discrimination legislation, or at least gives them a heads up that they have to take this legislation into account.

Yes and maybe these people will be able to support you better with this knowledge. I told my boss first, she said if there is any accommodations could be made she would support me. I had to tell a couple of colleagues because I fell apart in a Teams meeting and thought they deserved an explaination. One girl has ADHD so that’s was an easy one. The last lady I felt sorry she was the only one who didn’t know, so I text her. I am a nurse and all my colleagues are nurses, I felt it was safe to say. I am very cautious who else I tell in my life. 

Thank you. In considering disclosing , I am being careful and very selective about who I'm thinking of telling. I thought maybe my boss as he has been very supportive of some health issues I've had and is legally obliged to keep it confidential. Or a couple of colleagues who i know have autism in their family or are generally very kind people who always seek to support others and I know are good at keeping things confidential.  

I have told my work colleagues, but there are only 7 of us in the team. I really struggle with so many aspects of my job so felt I needed to explain why I often get overwhelmed. I have told a couple of friends who knew I was going through the assessment process, and knew about my mental health journey. I have a complicated family situation and really don’t want to tell any of them, I know the comment “but you can’t be, you don’t look autistic” will just piss me off. So it’s  a difficult decision to make, I was say choose carefully who you tell. 

For me, being only recently diagnosed in my 70s there doesn't feel much need. My partner accompanied me to the diagnostic sessions so was aware of the diagnosis. The GP and NHS were made aware. 

I can recall the time when I have divulged other information and the person could not keep a confidence despite promising to.  I suppose my view is that it is generally impossible to put the genii back in the bottle.   

Also, my assessment is such a personal part of me although every one on this site knows; but that feels fine.  

Thank you for your perspective. To some degree keeping it to myself feels right as I only sought the diagnosis for my own peace of mind and self understanding. I'm not wanting anything from people if I choose to disclose. 

I personally feel more freedom keeping it for myself.

The only ones aware are my psychologist and doctors/GPs.

If I struggle with something, I try to specify what it is and what could help, but not my diagnosis.