I'd like some help...

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Hello everybody. I'm new here. I was midway through a diagnosis of Asperger's when I got scared that my parents would find out. Then I got worried that I wouldn't be able to go to university and then I got worried that I couldn't be a teacher so I quit without telling the doctor because I didn't know what to say. A diagnosis would explain alot about me and maybe would help me in the future. This is why I'd like to try the diagnosis again. The doctor did say she thought I had it. However I am quite scared about the whole thing as I don't like new situations but i would like to go through with this. There isn't really a proper question here but i would like some advice.

Thank you

I don't know where you live, but in the U.S. at least, you won't be discriminated against while going to university, not would you be if you choose to be a teacher. The reason is, no one will ask. It's up to you who you tell. There are certain jobs that will check your medical history (say, the police), but universities and school districts won't.

Thank you for replying. What you said is very reassuring.

I'm autistic and in college, and plenty of my fellow students are autistic, too; so don't worry about that. There's plenty of us. We're taking over the campus!

As for teaching: In the US, we have laws that state that people are not allowed to discriminate against you based on your disability. That means that if you can do the job, you are considered for hiring at the same level as all the other applicants. If you are able to be a teacher, then you can sue the crap out of them if they reject you just for being autistic! They shouldn't, though. There are plenty of awkward "nerdy" teachers, especially college professors, math/science teachers, and people teaching specialized subjects (like a foreign language, music history, English lit, that kind of thing). If a diagnosis will help you get services that will let you access school and work, then go for it.

You don't have to disclose a disability if you don't want to; not unless you're working for some very high-pressure jobs (like ones where you carry a gun or have people's lives in your hands, like 911 operator or air-traffic controller). In those, they ask whether you have a mental diagnosis, and you have to disclose it; and what matters is whether your AS keeps you from doing the job. But last I checked, teaching wasn't the sort of job where a disability might pose a risk. If you're disabled but you can do the job, legally they have to ignore the disability and decide whether to hire you simply based on your other qualifications.

If you live in the US, you are not even required to tell a college or university that you have it, or most prospective employers. (There are exceptions, such as police officers, or entering the military, but not teachers.) Once you understand yourself better, you may or may not choose to tell them in order to ask for accommodations: the "right" decision would depend on so many factors you'd want to wait until you, first, had a diagnosis, second, understood your own issues, and third, understood exactly what it might imply to seek the accommodations you think you may need. In other words, you'd want to wait and think it over before you did anything.

And it would be your choice. Except in very specific cases (such as a court order, which will almost never be given, unless you're at least suspected of a serious crime) doctors are not allowed to breach your privacy by telling anyone about your diagnosis without your permission. If you made it plain to them you wished it kept private, they'd be bound to follow your wishes, and you could sue them for huge damages if they discussed it with anyone anyway.

Now, there are ways it could "leak", and you do want to think those through. If you're on your parent's insurance, they might get their hands on data which should not include your diagnosis but might prompt them to ask questions. Or, if you're living with them, and you get a letter in the mail from this doctor, or a phone call from their office, again, they might get curious. Those things are up to you to anticipate and avoid as best you can.