What kind of protection am I entitled to on the job?

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Without an official diagnosis, an employer could choose to disregard a claim of having a disability, but a wise one would be careful because you may KNOW you have AS, but you don't have a doctor's confirmation. If you complain of an ADA issue and then go out to get a formal diagnosis, the employer will likely be on the hook if they take action and you come back with the doctor's confirmation.

However, if you claim to have a disability and choose not to see a professional for diagnosis, they could claim you're bluffing. In either case, if you want protection under the ADA, at some point you must prove you are disabled.

'It's really more of a difference.'

'It is both a difference and a disability.'

That's the kind of thing you might want to be prepared to say. Although probably you don't really need to say anything.

And, as we all know, Asperger's Syndrome is genuinely a case, which can be said without any political correctness, of a person being differently abled.

Rhett, I would recommend that you start going formal. And if you can get an advocate so that you won't have to fight this battle alone that might be a good thing. Maybe someone from a state agency on employment for the disabled (yeah, you'll probably have to use their language, at least for the time being, but you can gently and easily educate people as you go along). Feeling the person out, your judgement call on whether the person will be a good advocate.

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And the rest of us, please keep in mind that it's not a case of whether or not Rhett chooses to keep the job. It's a very difficult hand to play. There are risks in whatever moves he makes.

(One advantage of the advocate route is that it insulates you from getting more than too emotionally invested. It's your job, you're going to be somewhat emotionally invested, but if you can keep that in the medium range. And frankly, the less interaction with the GM and his lord highness the supervisor the better. The business principle MIWJ--Minimize Interaction With Jerks, yeah, great advice, but it's kind of hard when it's your direct boss)

Please drop us a line for time to time. I think you'll find people here friendlier as you go along.

And remember to add free positives to your life. Don't let this situation derail other good things.

Hello again! I recently discovered that e-mail from this forum was being routed to my spam folder and deleted immediately, so I didn't know about all the responses since I was here last. Thank you for all of the input, everyone.

There hasn't been any more trouble on the job since I last wrote. I suspect the supervisor has been talked to by the GM, but I have no proof, other than that he has not been obnoxious to me, or even talked to me much for awhile.

I have made the first move to get an evaluation. My preliminary interview with the psychologist who specializes in autism spectrum disorders and diagnosis was a couple of weeks ago. My first session is in a couple of weeks. She said it involves an in-depth interview and other testing. I wish I had some idea of what to expect. I'm going in totally unprepared, and it's scary.

In response to the suggestions that I get another job - in this market, there isn't another job like the one I have. There is absolutely no chance that I could get another job with the kind of salary, pension and benefits I already have for the work I perform. I am working at the only company that does what I do, for several hundred miles in any direction. Having my wife quit her job and the both of us relocating on the off-chance that either of us could get another job like the ones we now have elsewhere is right out of the question. If I were unable to keep this job, my only option would be to go work with the public, for minimum wage, which, based on my previous experience in working with the public, is almost a fate worse than death. See, I love my job, and I'm very good at it. It's only some of the people I have to deal with that make it miserable. I am the only non-management employee in a protected job class there. In some fields, it's called Career Service. They haven't given it to anyone else, just me. Someone high up recognizes that I know my stuff, and they must believe they are better off to have me there than not to, otherwise it wouldn't have happened.

I just need to survive some idiots. Some days it's harder than others. At least some of the problem stems from the fact that they don't pay enough money to attract anyone with any experience. If ever a position comes available (and one hasn't come up for several years), anyone working in the industry who sees the salary on the job posting laughs at it and keeps looking. So they'll hire anybody. That's how we end up with a person with no experience of any kind in this business, or in management, working as a manager in a field about which he knows nothing. And that's why I have to seek legal protection from such a person.

Whether I have AS or ASD or any other thing has never been an issue before, and if not for this person, it would still not be an issue. Learning that I have it or don't isn't going to change anything about my past. Although if it turns out that I do have it, it would certainly explain a lot about my life. What I'll do if I do have it is something I don't know yet. It isn't going to make me feel any better. I don't plan to use it as a crutch, that's for sure. But if I have to use the diagnosis as the reason to invoke the ADA to get protection, I will, and only because this kid will have made it necessary. And that makes me angry. I hate being angry. I didn't used to be angry. I am normally a very non-angry guy.

What terrifies me the most is if is decided that I have to start taking drugs to make me different in some way. I know there is no drug treatment for AS or ASD, but I don't know what kind of determination the doctor will make about any other condition I may have. I can't come to terms with the possibility that I might have to take some sort of medicine that quells whatever it is that makes me who I am. Even though I am far from a demonstrative, wear-my-emotions-on-my-sleeve kind of guy, I couldn't stand to be an emotionless drone, zoned out on some drug that makes me forget what feelings I have. Just reading about the side effects of mood-altering drugs makes those seem worse than any potential benefit one could get from taking them. Have you seen the commercials for some of those antidepressants? They spend more time talking about the possible dangers of taking them than the supposed benefits they have! I'd love to quit smoking, but the list of known effects of the most popular drug for it includes nightmares and suicidal ideation! No freakin' thanks!

Well, I just wanted to thank you folks for offering advice to help me cope with my situation, and to let you know that I haven't abandoned the place. If anyone has anything to add, please feel free. I won't miss your responses now - I've changed the setting on my spam filter.

Take care.