Is it worth mentioning you have autism at a job interview?

I was contemplating a career in Graphic Design and sought to teach myself Adobe Creative Cloud - until I was no longer able to afford it.

I would be more logo-themed than artistic.

With all that said and as you know.  if they know you are different they can use it against you.  If you get a job, people are nice to you, you enjoy the workplace and their are no negatives, and assuming you can be very NT in your behaviour.  I wouldnt mention it.  If you are prone to meltdowns and appear overtly autistic, you will find it impossible to hide, so come clean.

Without sounding biased, I know I am gifted in all the areas of design so I can't imagine it's my work. It usually just comes down to experience and I've had good interview feedback for the previous ones before I even mentioned the autism.

With the small company, yes I have been treated like an outsider to the point I was being spoken to like rubbish and that was even before I was diagnosed and even after it didn't make a difference and I am glad to be out of there now!

My most recent design job, which I lost at the start of the new year, it was a bigger company and I waited until I had to go through all the professional processes (signing forms, meeting HR etc) and mentioned it then to have a meeting so we could talk about it in more depth. They were lovely and understanding about it so yeah it is a hit and miss.

I never actually got round to having the meeting re my autism so it was just a bad coincidence. The reason I lost that job was purely down to a misunderstanding of my skill set.

Personally, I think they just made a mistake in hiring me in the first place because they got somebody else to do the job that I did not have the skills to do.

It really depnds on what your job is and who you are working for.  So, saying that.

Does the job require you to gain a security clearance?  If yes, disclose it, they will find out anyway.
Is the job going to require a DBS check?  If yes, disclose it.
If you are going to work for the gov, emergency services, schools, youth clubs, etc, then disclose it.

If you are applying for a job as a delivery driver, or a refuse collector, i wouldnt bother.

For a design artist job, maybe, depends on your portfolio.  Are you gifted in design?  Do you have a portfolio that reflects it, with lots of designs you created and illustrated?  If yes, and the company isnt less than 10 employees, then sell your creativity.  if its a small company and/or you dont have a stellar portfolio to sell yourself with id consider it carefully.  While their is a discimination act, smaller companies may treat you as a freak that might rock the boat and cause friction in their team(s).  They will probably say no just because of the disability and for no real reason.  They will never overtly express the real reason, but instead will go with a genertic "we dont think you would be a good fit for our team".  It will be nigh on impossible to prove discrimination.  I would get the job first, then drop the autism on them.  That way under the law you covered your ass by telling them, and if they then get rid of you or make your life difficult, you can tribunal them for discrimination.

Exactly, standing out from the crowd is positive (if done in the right way of course!) and also bring open shows trust in a potential employer and I think them seeing that will make you look better in their eyes too :)

I didn't declare my autism in a job I had sixteen years ago, and paid the price.

Also, I forgot to mention that you usually find a lot of creative people are autistic so they should understand. 

Good point about the CV because that's the first thing they look at. I have made it as a designed one for it to stand out too so I can sell myself and show off my skills before they've even seen me.

I've had a very bad experience with smaller companies hence me being so sceptical about mentioning it now.

The downsides with my traits are things like I have to get things explained twice and people don't always think I have been listening when that is not the case. I just have a selective memory and this has caused a lot of frustration in the past for me.

Thank you for the advice. 

That's very true and explaining how it makes me better at working is something I never thought of instead of me sounding like a "generic candidate" saying I'm good at X, Y and Z when they've probably been told that a hundred times haha! Thanks for that advice. 

I think a lot depends on how well you pass as NT and how autism-friendly the company is.     

If your CV content makes you look competent, they'll be more likely to call you for interview regardless of ticking the box or not.      I'd be tempted to tick the box if I was going for a civil service job - they love / need their quotas, similarly, big companies like to play social games with their recruitment - but remember, your CV will convince them if they are borderline on the 'special' status candidate.

Smaller companies have a lot more to lose with their recruiting so I'd not mention it on the letter - but if you get an interview, try to judge their feeling towards you - especially if you can demonstrate why your autism is extra-useful for them (attention to detail, single-mindedness, abstract solutions, high work ethic etc).   Try to understand their needs and how you can solve all their problems.

I can pass very well at interviews - I make it a performance piece where I can be a chameleon morphing into whatever they think they want (years of learning to hide in plain sight) - I do this to put the ball in my court - as far as they are concerned, I'm the best thing since sliced bread - I can then decide if I want the job and if I'm capable of doing it.

Technically under the Equality Act no employer big or small can discriminate so in theory mentioning it shouldn’t have repercussions but I accept the reality may be another matter. It may be healthy to mention it however so as they can understand how to best support you and your traits, but I would say that selling your ASD as a positive would help, such as mentioning how certain traits make you better at your work. Just an idea anyway :)