Why am I so upset?

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I had gone through a volunteer orientation and I mentioned to them that I wanted to help out on the receptionist areas/ admin. This is so I can get some new skills and take them to work. As it turned out, they had to do a background check on the people wanting to volunteer. They got back with me today after the background check . They said that they need the most people in the admin area stuffing envelopes which is every so often and not every week. I don't know if that is because of the background check in finding out that I am "Austistic" and don't trust me on the phones or that they just don't have anything available in the receptionist area right now.

Either way I am confused.

I'm pretty sure any diagnostics are protected under HIPAA. But, that doesn't mean any references you provided didn't reveal it. Is there any source outside of a school or a professional that could have leaked that information by accident?

Otherwise, maybe they just didn't mention the infrequency to potential volunteers, because they were afraid people wouldn't volunteer at all. It's really hard not to be suspicious after being burned in the past. Just keep an open mind, and don't immediately turn it back to you.

I am going to go ahead and do this work since I already made the commitment. Then I am aiming to work in a local botanical garden area as it looks like there are a lot of opportunities there as well.

They probably really do need you to stuff envelopes. Nonprofits often do a lot more bulk-mailing than calling. It can be disappointing, because social-service and psych people will often recommend that you do volunteer work to acquire or brush up on skills, but they don't usually know what the organizations that take volunteers actually need at any given time.

Having people stuff envelopes and do other tasks like that is also a good way for an organization to get to know a volunteer before giving him more responsible jobsMy ex tried to volunteer with a counseling agency while he was on disability, and thought they'd let him counsel clients directly. He was offended when they said they needed him to pour OJ at a community event -- but it was really what they needed, and besides, it would've been foolish for them to put someone they didn't know with clients, even if he'd been qualified.

A background check does not reveal your medical history. It just searches criminal records, sometimes credit reports. I run them on people who want to rent an apartment from me. You can't get medical records that way.

Well, I can tell you this: I'm a practicing attorney, and there are only two ways that I can obtain any HIPAA-protected records: a signed release from the patient, or an involved court process by which the court issues a judicial subpoena, followed by a hearing where the provider can argue against disclosure. At least in my state.