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disclosure to new employer

belles12345

I am currently employed, and am considering applying for another job that may be better suited to me.  I have recently found out about my AS traits and am realising how much they affect me in my position (communication issues, anxiety, social difficulties).  I am fairly sure some of my colleagues are aware of my difficulties, as well as my manager.  I am currently successful in the technical aspects of my job, however also I am aware of various tricky situations that have arisen due to communication difficulties, as well as general difficulties like time management.  

I am nervous to apply to a new job in the knowledge that I have difficulties without disclosing anything.  If would feel like lying to a potential employer- I can seem very chatty and ok at interview as I learn scripts for this and also very interested in my work- it's after this that the difficulties start, and I have a history of unsuccessful jobs due to social difficulties/bullying and being let go without an understandable reason.  However I am also aware that in my field this will be viewed as a negative, and it does disadvantage me in several ways as my job requires a fair amount of time working with people.  I also worry any disclosure may not be taken seriously as I think I can seem fairly NT (if a bit odd) on the surface.

I think I have answered my own question through writing this, and that is that I shouldn't mention anything, especially without a diagnosis.  However it makes me very worried about applying for another position.  Any advice?  Feel like I am going round in circles with this!  Thanks for your help in advance.

Parents

  • When I got my diagnosis I asked if that meant I was disabled and was told not really - aspergers just explains difficulties. I already had good coping strategies and have much improved these with ';the knowledge'. Maybe it is like being blind versus partially sighted - at what point, with special glasses and other assistance - do sight issues amount to 'being disabled'.

    Conversely the late departed Coalition Government created a website with biographies of disabled people describing their positive experiences of work. About half had no specified disability, and there were more people with a stammer than with autism. A stammer is disabling, but is it disability? 

    I think part of the Coalition and new Conservative Government's game is to dilute the meaning of 'disabled' so they can fudge the employment figures.They can say lots of disabled people are happily employed (albeit it was only with a stammer) so why aren't you?

    We urgently need a sub-category where a person is not 'disabled' per se, but is nevertheless affected/compromised. So able aspergers would fit into that category if it did not fully meet the definition of disabled.  BUT we have no legislation covering compromised or 'less' disabled, so that would create an unprotected underclass.

    NAS needs to address this with regard to autism. Some of us are not strictly disabled, and seem to be below the NAS radar. But does that mean our experiences of autism don't count?

Reply

  • When I got my diagnosis I asked if that meant I was disabled and was told not really - aspergers just explains difficulties. I already had good coping strategies and have much improved these with ';the knowledge'. Maybe it is like being blind versus partially sighted - at what point, with special glasses and other assistance - do sight issues amount to 'being disabled'.

    Conversely the late departed Coalition Government created a website with biographies of disabled people describing their positive experiences of work. About half had no specified disability, and there were more people with a stammer than with autism. A stammer is disabling, but is it disability? 

    I think part of the Coalition and new Conservative Government's game is to dilute the meaning of 'disabled' so they can fudge the employment figures.They can say lots of disabled people are happily employed (albeit it was only with a stammer) so why aren't you?

    We urgently need a sub-category where a person is not 'disabled' per se, but is nevertheless affected/compromised. So able aspergers would fit into that category if it did not fully meet the definition of disabled.  BUT we have no legislation covering compromised or 'less' disabled, so that would create an unprotected underclass.

    NAS needs to address this with regard to autism. Some of us are not strictly disabled, and seem to be below the NAS radar. But does that mean our experiences of autism don't count?

Children
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