Diagnosis and Work

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I am considering being formally diagnosed with aspergers and am curious if doing so could be harmful to have on my "record".

I recently worked for the US government and they dug up some really obscure information from my past and made me explain in painful detail before hiring me. I imagine something like this would have made that opportunity totally non-existent.

Could it be harmful to me professionally to be diagnosed?

As a rule, a lot of people here think it is a bad thing.

In the USA, the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) only compels an employer to make "reasonable accommodation," and that is not defined in black and white terms. It's up to the employer to decide if something is too much a burden to deal with. In fact, they can't even as if you have a disability because of where that can lead. So, unless your condition is such that obviously something is wrong with you, the rule is that it's better to not let them know and since the most they can ask is if you have a condition for which you CAN NOT do the job even with reasonable accommodation, you are presuming the answer is NO. Saying YES means they don't have to consider you for the job.

In truth the ADA, at most, helps people with obvious physical disabilities (crutches/wheelchair) because the need to accommodate the physically disabled is much simpler to address in predicable black and white terms. Neurological/psychological handicaps are too diverse to have an easy way to deal with, and employers seem to be inclined to avoid such disabilities if they know about them in advance.

Never mind that unless your disability is clearly documented, they may feel ADA does not apply since you claim protection for something you don't have proof of.

Now, there are some government programs that promote hiring the disabled...often at the federal level, but how good these jobs are, how many there are, and if there is discrimination against some disabilities but not others is a different matter.

Thanks,

Although I would be more concerned with concealing my diagnosis from employers rather than having them make "accommodations" for me, this info is helpful.

I am not sure, but I imagine that most employers can gain access to peoples medical history etc... It makes it a really tough decision.

Not really. Nobody can gain access to your medical history without your consent (employer-wise), but I do wonder where company health care plans come into play. I know of people who were denied employment or later terminated once the employer/heath care plan found out they had chronic health care issues or their dependents (who would be covered) had problems.