Employment law protection for those with Aspergers?

Hi there,

I was diagnosed with Aspergers a couple of months back - which certainly explained a lot to me & came as a relief too. 

I have always had difficulty with working & never been in each job I've had for more than a year. 

My trouble with work has always been getting on with other employees, or in the case of when I was self employed, clients!

This has mostly been other people upsetting me, to the point I have a bit of a melt down & leave. It's also less frequently been my direct behaviour - an example being me going into a colleague's drawer to use their hand sanitiser & not realising that broke social etiquette and was upsetting to her, getting reprimanded by the boss & feeling ostracised   

I want to go back to work - and need the income of an average UK salary, but I'm very fearful of doing anything but low paid, simple jobs, like working in a cinema (I'm a big film fan :) )

My actual field of work for which I'm qualified is financial services, doing research & planning for financial advisers. Although I haven't worked at all now for 2 years after a huge melt down in my last job, which turned my life upside down.  

I therefore wondered what protection there was in employment law for those of us with Aspergers, what it provides & how to disclose having Aspergers to an employer & how that's gone for you guys. 

I feel now my social awkwardness can be explained, if I have legal protection from unfair treatment, I'd go back to a demanding job  

Thanks a lot :)

Parents
  • NAS18906 said:

    Autism is a disability which means that you are protected (if you are in England or Wales) by the equality act 2010.

    Just to add to what recombinantsocks has said, the Equality Act (2010) applies in Scotland too, but not Northern Ireland. It covers many "protected characteristics" in addition to disability.

Reply
  • NAS18906 said:

    Autism is a disability which means that you are protected (if you are in England or Wales) by the equality act 2010.

    Just to add to what recombinantsocks has said, the Equality Act (2010) applies in Scotland too, but not Northern Ireland. It covers many "protected characteristics" in addition to disability.

Children
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