So - discussion. If you are in or looking for employment. Would you disclose your ASC? What, if any benefits do you feel this will have on a job? Is it dependent on the job to disclose your ASC? Or do you feel it will have a negative impact on a job? Or a positive impact
In full-time employment and have disclosed my diagnosis. Several reasons.
The first is that (where possible) I need things a certain way in communications and clear instructions otherwise I get "slightly" stressed. It also helps that sometimes I need "time out" at work to wind down from interacting with people and time to recharge - I'm in a ton of meetings at the moment because I work remotely and covering some management duties which I find absolutely exhausting. So with people aware that I can get run down it does help me negotiate cover for things if I get overloaded.
With disclosure I've got scope to request reasonable adjustments. I've worked on a remote team for years now and although there's no move back to the office just yet I can request to be a permanent home worker (otherwise I'm commuting to spend time on the phone/MS Teams which, if I've had a difficult day, can reduce me to a wreck). Legally it also means I'm protected - all my managers have an edited copy of my assessment report so I've something to fall back on if things get silly.
It also helps, to an extent, with peoples understanding. If I'm stressed my communication style can be a little too direct (I've been told) and I'm rubbish with social cues. On those occasions I'm a bit "off" folk know not to take it personally and that there's probably something else going on that's distracting me. I am very fortunate where I work at the moment that the people I work with are generally supportive, although the work environment hasn't really changed (too many meetings, no agendas, not enough prep time or clear asks) so that is an on-going thing.
I do feel slightly stuffed from a career point of view as there are definitely situations where I'm simply not as able as others. People still put me to shame when they summarise meetings because I can miss a lot of verbal information if it's in general discussion. I need as much info up front as possible to prep for meetings because I can struggle to generate ideas on the fly. Where I am at the moment the next step up is all people management and having tried it out for the last month to cover for someone else, I have found it pretty exhausting. There's the greater emphasis on social networking which I'm ok with if there's a clear goal in mind (talk to X to get Y), I'm not so good with the politics though.
I've also got regular meetings with my manager to keep tabs on where I'm finding things more difficult. There's a lot of empathy in the sense that people say they experience frustration over the same things, although the understanding that I process things differently isn't always there. That's really tough to get across, but then I can be told about a social cue or one of those "hidden rules" and I'm equally as mystified.
Don't regret disclosure - my diagnosis is part of who I am in the sense it impacts how I see the world and relate to others which I need folk to understand - so in a pragmatic sense I'd struggle to find reasons to keep it from people.
In full-time employment and have disclosed my diagnosis. Several reasons.
The first is that (where possible) I need things a certain way in communications and clear instructions otherwise I get "slightly" stressed. It also helps that sometimes I need "time out" at work to wind down from interacting with people and time to recharge - I'm in a ton of meetings at the moment because I work remotely and covering some management duties which I find absolutely exhausting. So with people aware that I can get run down it does help me negotiate cover for things if I get overloaded.
With disclosure I've got scope to request reasonable adjustments. I've worked on a remote team for years now and although there's no move back to the office just yet I can request to be a permanent home worker (otherwise I'm commuting to spend time on the phone/MS Teams which, if I've had a difficult day, can reduce me to a wreck). Legally it also means I'm protected - all my managers have an edited copy of my assessment report so I've something to fall back on if things get silly.
It also helps, to an extent, with peoples understanding. If I'm stressed my communication style can be a little too direct (I've been told) and I'm rubbish with social cues. On those occasions I'm a bit "off" folk know not to take it personally and that there's probably something else going on that's distracting me. I am very fortunate where I work at the moment that the people I work with are generally supportive, although the work environment hasn't really changed (too many meetings, no agendas, not enough prep time or clear asks) so that is an on-going thing.
I do feel slightly stuffed from a career point of view as there are definitely situations where I'm simply not as able as others. People still put me to shame when they summarise meetings because I can miss a lot of verbal information if it's in general discussion. I need as much info up front as possible to prep for meetings because I can struggle to generate ideas on the fly. Where I am at the moment the next step up is all people management and having tried it out for the last month to cover for someone else, I have found it pretty exhausting. There's the greater emphasis on social networking which I'm ok with if there's a clear goal in mind (talk to X to get Y), I'm not so good with the politics though.
I've also got regular meetings with my manager to keep tabs on where I'm finding things more difficult. There's a lot of empathy in the sense that people say they experience frustration over the same things, although the understanding that I process things differently isn't always there. That's really tough to get across, but then I can be told about a social cue or one of those "hidden rules" and I'm equally as mystified.
Don't regret disclosure - my diagnosis is part of who I am in the sense it impacts how I see the world and relate to others which I need folk to understand - so in a pragmatic sense I'd struggle to find reasons to keep it from people.
