Did you tell your boss about your AS?

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Having recently been diagnosed with AS, I'm now trying to decide whether I tell my boss at work.

My AS does affect me at work, and there's things people can do that would really help, and also I need time off for medical appointments (going to counselling).
But if I do tell her, I don't know what the reaction will be, and whether it will help, or be even more of a problem.

I'm not asking for advice, as you don't know me or situation: all I want to know, to help me decide is...


Did you tell your boss you had AS or not, and why?

If you did, what reaction did you get/what happened?

If you had to choose again, what would you do?

No. For fear of its being held against me. These folks hired me without knowing; why do they need to or should they know now? There's one person at work, very junior to me, who knows. I don't know why I decided to tell her, but I did. I'll tell you that I made sure that I knew something much more "scandalous" about her before I told her. And I'm also the person who fought really hard to get her hired (and she knows it). She would never betray me. (These are the kind of people I'm comfortable telling.)


The same -- except for that one person I told. Wouldn't tell her if I had it to do over again. Compelete secrecy seems like the better policy. No matter how comfortable I am with her and how much I trust her, I've lost control of that information. I'm basically at her mercy to continue being the kind of person she is today for a long, long time.

well if your boss and people you work with are kind and compassionate about each other then i would tell if not i would keep it a secret and maybe if your boss is nice only tell them

No, I never tell the person above me about it. Most people are idiots, if the boss is a nice, compassionate person, you'll get mollycoddled. If they're NOT a nice person, you're looking at someone who'll always consider you 'different' and not as good at your job. Better to have them know nothing and treat you as an average drone looking to get paid.

I think my boss may know now or very soon without me having to tell him. Yesterday, I had to go to a booster rally for my job and spent the entire 4 hours of loud, clamorous noise in a complete shutdown state. The entire management team from where I work was there and only one of them previously knew about my AS (not my boss).

I was hoping to wait until I had an official diagnosis to decide whether to tell him. Oh well.

I avoid mentioning AS as most people aren't really as aware and as undertstanding as I'd like them to be. However, I will focus on specific things I may have difficulty with...for example, "I have problems with anxiety, and if things get too much for me I will have to have some quiet time alone." The response has generally been positive, but there are ALWAYS people who are never going to understand things no matter how much you try to teach them.

I have considered it, but no I have not. I was having a few issues when I first started my job, and I was thinking of telling my boss about it. At the time, however, I was only self-diagnosed, so I did not want to tell a bunch of people until I had it made official. When it became official, the issues have subsided, and she seems to understand my "quirkiness". If there is an autism-related issue that arises that I feel cannot be solved, I probably will tell her. Until then (if that ever happens), I don't see a need to do this.

I did have a HUGE issue once a couple years ago, so I did tell a boss then (I was 7000 kilometres away from home, so I felt I had no choice). The boss said, "yeah, I knew there was SOMETHING wrong with you!" in what I perceived to be a very rude tone of voice. I have been known to misinterpret tones, but still, how else can someone interpret the words themselves. That is a very rude thing to say to someone, IMO, even if it is true.... So, ever since then, I have only shared it when I felt the need to.

I didn't tell her. She figured it out on her own. Lucky for me, it turns out she's got a family member on the spectrum too, so she just leaves me to my own devices. We haven't had any problems so far.