Disclosing Autism to an employer?

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Yes, the outcome of disclosing the diagnosis can vary significantly depending on the HR and bosses.

When I disclosed my diagnosis to the boss (not anyone else in the department), all he was worried about was to protect himself from getting blamed for some "accidents that could happen due to my ASD", an idea he came up with based on his ignorance. He was only seeing me as a potential problem in that way. He wasn't even thinking about my real issues such as bullying and noise problems, and simply kept defending those who were harassing me. I finally had to document what he'd been doing and lodge an official complaint to HR when he yelled at me for my trying to defend myself from his harassment.

Disclosing the diagnosis to the HR did help because some of the HR staff members were aware of problems associated with ASD. However, I had to be very careful about who in the HR to speak to because some of the HR staff members are known to play politics and do everything they can do to suppress problems so that they won't have to go against powerful people.

I think people should disclose.
It's ableist to say we should pretend to be NT, or adapt to NT workplaces.
Pretending to be NT means perpetuating a cycle of masking, breaking, and burning out.
I'm sure none of us want that for one another.

That being said, I understand it's difficult to disclose to some employers.

Here's an insight about the ethical double bind.




60 Second Lectures - "Double Binds and Oppression"

Might not do that…. Would be kinda fearful of management using your private info as a excuse to let you go…but I am in the USA