Can a diagnosis of AS hold you back?

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Thank you for the responses so far. I should mention that I am in the US. I have no plans to ever be involved in the military, or to ever be a parent, so I guess that's good...

I'm high functioning enough that I'm quite sure absolutely nobody I know would suspect I might be "different" in that way, or have a psychiatric condition of any kind, despite my quirks (unless they knew me as a child). I could totally see myself trying to qualify for some kind of entitlement only to have people think "this is just a normal guy with no real disability, trying to be a freeloader". My social skills are not even poor enough in any way that I think could be demonstrated to be disabling (unless I try to fake it, and I'm not a good actor ). Like practically everything else in my life, this may very well be yet another place where I fall cleanly through the cracks.

As for trouble getting jobs, I don't know how this sort of thing works legally, but I am quite doubtful that anyone can be forced to hire someone based on something like this. I could see it being a serious problem for some types of work, namely the exact sort of thing I'm aiming for as a profession. For example, do you think that someone would have any chance of being hired as a teacher (a job demanding very strong interpersonal skills) if anyone knew the candidate had a condition known for impairing interpersonal skills? However, I don't know what the likelihood would be that anyone in the hiring process for most jobs could potentially find out about a diagnosis. My ultimate professional goal is to be a choral conductor and teach choirs at the college level, which is more fiercely competitive right now than you could ever fathom.

I just want to make sure I have a crystal clear understanding of the positive and negative consequences before I have something put on my record that can't be removed.

I've thought about lying on personality surveys but I am afraid if I lie on them, they will find out anyway after they hire me.

Well, I went through the test results and everything today. I am just barely shy of the benchmark for official diagnosis as an adult. My therapist was 100% certain that I would have met the diagnostic criteria as a kid, but I have come far enough with my social skills that I just don't quite qualify anymore. So, I won't have to worry about any negative consequences of a diagnosis in my records.

Just as well, I suppose. Once again, I fall through the cracks. Just enough for it to be a blight on my life, and not enough to provide any universally accepted excuse. Spectacular.

I still can't help but identify at least somewhat as an aspie, as it just explains everything I've always wondered about myself far too perfectly. The majority of the telltale tendencies and internal drives of AS may be easy or even almost effortless for me to control nowadays, but they are all very noticeably and consistently present. The main difficulties I'm dealing with are unquestionably coming from the autism spectrum...

what do you mean by "fall through the cracks" in this case? I have been officially identified by 3 PsyD's and have NO SERVICES or anything as a result.. I also have a very good job, several homes, etc. Do I fall through the cracks too?

Seriously, the DX means nothing to you or me. We are just people and it sounds like you will be fine in your chosen career. And to your question RE Aspergers and teachers... Check out Vernon Smith one day.

Thank you all so much for your advice and info. This is all new and scary stuff for me. The lack of meeting the legal standard certainly doesn't change the fact that many fundamental aspects of my life have sucked and continue to suck as a direct result of AS traits, regardless of how "well-adjusted" or "high functioning" I may be considered to be.

What really strikes me while looking into this is just how completely ignorant the entire population is about anything relating to the autism spectrum, except those who know it first hand either personally or via loved ones. As it is currently, any type of mental health condition that renders a person "different" (oh, that word) or functionally impaired is still very much synonymous with "ret*d" in the eyes of 99% of the general population. Nobody will see that change for a long time to come, an unfortunate remnant of backwardness in a time when we have suddenly come to understand countless things that have been utter mysteries throughout human history until just recently.