Telling my employer and colleagues I'm an aspie...

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Don't tell them, OP. Nothing good can come of it. It might cost you your job, one way or the other. And they'll never look at you the same.
Make up some other reason instead, like suggested by kahlua and whirlingmind. Blame it on a phobia, social anxiety, or your religion not permitting alcohol, or something else.

Just tell them the truth - that you don't enjoy socialising in groups and that you'd be happy to go for a drink with them one on one.

But don't that mean you've been officially stamped "disabled". As in you would qualify for disability welfare or have some sort of document saying "disabled" or even just a handicap parking space tag?

I don't know that I can legally claim being disabled if you know what I mean.
I think I'd have to get some kind of official document or whatever say specifically that "this person officially qualifies as disabled" or something like that???

Depends on what the local laws of the land are, and what gov't agency & their criteria for disabilities etc. Ie here, once I have an official diagnosis, I'll qualify for a disability tax credit currently worth an income tax write off of about $9,000.00/year for life as ASD is recognized as a disability that qualifies for said tax exemption - no official looking, "disabled," red stamp of disapproval required!

Thank you so much for you all getting back with your views! I really appreciate you all taking the time to respond. Most of you seem to think telling the truth might be more grief than it's worth and i'm inclined to agree. I have my son a couple of nights a week and it's a ready made excuse, but is starting to wear a little thin. To those of you who have felt liberated by telling the truth, that does sound like the perfect scenario, but based on my knowledge of my colleagues, I fear that wouldn't be the outcome. It's not that they are fundamentally bad, just a little pushy. They obviously mean well and I try not to view the world through the prism of autism and take everyone at face value, however i think if I say something like "I don't like socializing in crowds", then i'll definitely come across as a little weird. A bit of a catch 22 I think. One of you said that some people just like to keep their social and work life separate, that's definitely me!

I have to admit, I'm not overly fond of the work -- it's somewhere between white collar and blue collar, but closer to blue. However, I've been there for almost 30 years, so I do have something invested in it.

For whatever it's worth, I feel like it's better the way my workplace did it -- they sent out a form to be filled out, with very specific instructions. I don't think I would have done so well if I had just tried to explain it face-to-face with someone.

In fact, I haven't said a word to my supervisor or my coworkers. I don't think I would be able to word it right. But Human Resources has spoken with my supervisor, so I know word is getting around. Some bad situations still come up, but if they get too awful, I go to either HR or Employee Assistance. I realize, too, that my employer doesn't fit the norm of most American companies ... it's unusual for them to go this far out of their way to provide assistance for the disabilities that are not so easily "seen."

I don't mind the "disability" label now that I have it. Also, I made clear to HR that what I'll need help with is misunderstandings with my coworkers. These incidents have almost made me quit my job of 30 years several times now. Since I declared the disability, I've gotten help THREE times from not only HR, but from Employee Assistance as well -- and made it through with my self-esteem intact (that wasn't true of the other incidents that happened in the years before).

The interesting thing was they didn't ask me for proof of my disability, even though I got my diagnosis at the Bressler Clinic in Boston.

Wow would love if we had that here.

I didn't read this the first time I read through the posts, sorry. All I can say is, wow, I'd be very tempted to live on $9000 a year if I didn't have to wrangle out of misunderstandings with coworkers or have to figure out what the hell mindgames they're playing today. The work itself is fine, it's the interpersonal communication that gets lost in the translation and I'm always on the losing end. Today was a case in point, but I tried to pretend I didn't notice my coworkers were insulting me to my face.