Diagnosis

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I've read in one post on WP, that in some places, if you have an official diagnosis, it will be written on your drivers license (and maybe other documents alike?). I'm wondering if it's very common and even necessary in some countries? Where I live, nobody but your doctor, who has diagnosed you, has the right to access your medical history. Nobody asks for it when you apply for a job (maybe there are a few ones though, but as much as my psychiatrist told me, there aren't..). I've also seen the movie "My name is Khan" where the main character has a badge with "Autism alert" written on it. So does an official diagnosis mean that "autistic" will be written on your forehead for the rest of your life? And how is it in the US, generally speaking?

I don't know much about it, but I've personally never heard of such a thing here in the United States.

So, consider this a bump.

I'm certainly not aware of the diagnosis alone meaning other people have a right to know. Yes our medical information is personal, but doctors have a right to protect the public and their patients and if they think that we have a condition that MAY affect our driving then they are required to report that to the relevant government department and a full investigation would be done to see whether it did affect our driving, whether other conditions should or could be placed on our licences, etc. People who are short or long sighted and wear glasses have that noted on their licences and it is against the law for them to drive without their glasses in some cases and in those cases the licence photo is also taken with the glasses on. Medical conditions in and of themselves do not mean that someone cannot drive or that restrictions are put onto them. Someone who has had an epileptic seizure once in their life 20 years ago and is totally stable on medication can drive without issues, but someone with epiliepsy which is not under control could be prevented from driving, or not be allowed to drive at night if bright lights set them off, etc. There would be times when aspects of a persons autism would affect their ability to drive, but that is by no way everyone. A licence would not say what the medical condition was, but if restrictions are put in place it wuold state what the restrictions are and that they are due to a medical condition, which the police would be able to know if they look it up, but they cannot find out just for the sake of it.

We have government funded programs which provide supports on the job for people with disabilities, so that employers are not left out of pocket and to not give them a reason not to employ the disabled. The government provides all the modifications necessary, ie, screen reading software for the blind, ramps and disabled toilets for the physically disabled, sign language interpreters for the deat, job coaches for people, etc. If a person needed on the job support, then any country would require the employer to know why that is. The government here does not go and put screen reading software on every single computer in the whole country incase someone is blind, nor do we have every single home in the whole country wheelchair accessible, and not all businesses are yet either, but things are moving in that direction. If a person needed support on the job or modifications made then an employer would know why, but that would come from the individaul. There are some people on the spectrum who would not require any modifications, I am one who will, being at the more extreme end of the spectrum and I do not expect that to be provided without people knowing why, it is illogical.

Disclousure is a personal decision in all countries in the world. If a diagnosis would affect your driving and would create some restrictions and you do not want people knowing, you can choose to simply not drive instead. You could to some degree choose not to work if you can find a way to eat, etc without such income, but again if you do need support on the job, then disclosure would be necessary. Same with school, college, university, etc. If you need accommodations put in place, assistance with things, etc then you need to disclose. I have such high sensory issues that sitting in a classroom totally freaks me out. Sitting there and keeping myself in the room is a full time job for me. I cannot possibly focus on the class, take notes, etc. As a result I have a full time support worker at college to assist me. There is a Disability Liason Officer whose job it is to assess my needs and to put my supports in place. She is the only one who knows what my daignosis is, sure the students and teachers know that something is wrong, but the details are none of their business.

Doctor patient confidentiality does not override the publics and the individuals right to be safe, and there are times when doctors do need to report things to government authorities. If a doctor thinks a parent is abusing their child, they have to report that too, we have a responsibility to keep children safe, and rapeing them and beating them is not right and needs to be reported. A doctor should be required to keep such information confidentail.