Do I tell my employer I have Aspergers?

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skyrider
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13 Apr 2011, 8:30 am

I have been working as a Playgroup assistant for one and a half years. I have not anyone where I work that I have aspergers. Do I tell them? I am scared they may think I am slow and quiet for no reason. If I tell them it could go against me because they may doubt my capabilities.



JeremyNJ1984
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13 Apr 2011, 8:37 am

skyrider wrote:
I have been working as a Playgroup assistant for one and a half years. I have not anyone where I work that I have aspergers. Do I tell them? I am scared they may think I am slow and quiet for no reason. If I tell them it could go against me because they may doubt my capabilities.


The only reason you would have a need to explain it is if it impacts your work. Is their an HR for your company?



inexplicablefolly
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13 Apr 2011, 9:44 am

If your employers directly mention something you do and you know is AS related and they say it's negatively affecting your work then informing them of it would be a good idea then I think. Otherwise, I don't see it as a necessity. Especially since you've been fine for 18 months.



Meggo
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20 Apr 2011, 7:53 am

I'm an administrative assistant. I told my boss, because I needed to setup a system with him that worked for me. I haven't told anyone else in the office, because they don't need to know.

I've found that when I tell people, they don't "get" it and don't make an effort to understand the symptoms. So, I fear they'll just avoid me out of ignorance, like I have the plague. My boss still doesn't understand beyond I need everything written down. I'm a post-it note queen.



skyrider
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20 Apr 2011, 9:37 am

Meggo wrote:
I'm an administrative assistant. I told my boss, because I needed to setup a system with him that worked for me. I haven't told anyone else in the office, because they don't need to know.

I've found that when I tell people, they don't "get" it and don't make an effort to understand the symptoms. So, I fear they'll just avoid me out of ignorance, like I have the plague. My boss still doesn't understand beyond I need everything written down. I'm a post-it note queen.


More people should be aware of autism and not so narrow minded. It will help you and the people you work with go much more smoothly.



Bodrik
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24 Apr 2011, 10:40 am

Being aware and being educated on it are quite different though.

I rather let my work and office relations "show it" and be asked on it then have to say it myself.
Having someone curious about why I act a particular way is a sign of co-workers actually being the kind of people you can be open with. It is that curiosity that leads to you mentioning autism/aspergers -> them looking it up -> Lightbulb lights up -> different level of understanding in the relationship.

I do lots of post-its as well, but I don't feel the need to explain to anyone the underlying reason why. It is just my organizational tool.

It is up to the person with Aspergers I guess. I have it better then some in some ways I guess.



klikmaus
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26 Apr 2011, 6:23 pm

I am new to the Asperger's community. I've always known I'm different (plus being told this fact over and over and over and over), but the reason WHY was always beyond me. I was diagnosed as ADHD at 21 but I had conflicting feelings about that-- when I'm applying myself to something I LIKE-- there is definitely NO lack of attention-- on the contrary I get so tied up in my tasks I lose track of time for endless hours or until the task is done-- one of many key characteristics of A.S. that I possess.

I haven't had the opportunity to test the theory of informing those around me that I (not diagnosed yet) have A.S. but my experience in entering into a job as a normal person, well...... At age 31 (32 Saturday) I have been unable to KEEP a job for more than 8 months without my personality causing conflicts leading to my termination. I try really hard to get along, but being a know-it-all that really DOES know it all (at least in the departments in which I put my two cents worth in) tends to cause animosity, keeping my thoughts to myself causes people to label me antisocial (I don't do small talk), and my overall childish mentality eventually leads me to be considered "not a good fit" in the business. I've done rather well in tech jobs where I just go and do my thing, don't have to deal with people, but recently those jobs have been out of my reach. I'm not completely anti-social as I love to be close to a small group of people, but large crowds cause me to have anxiety attacks. I over-stress in noisy environments due to being hyper-sensitive. I am unfortunately one of those people who can hear the high-frequency whine of CRT televisions and computer monitors so sitting in front of a screen all day gives me headaches and leaves my head ringing for hours after I step away from the screen. Thankfully LCD screens are becoming more of the norm and they don't scream in my head. Needless to say, I don't watch TV much..... But how this relates to work-- I would do really well crunching information in front of a computer all day (even telemarketing is easy when just rattling off a script over and over, and tossing out the proper rebuttal for the rejection given-- with my innate mimicking ability I can easily adjust my tone of voice to synthesize any kind of person-- anouncer, Aizzie, Brit, Irish.... so acting the ultra-friendly telesolicitor is just another "face" to put on) but most businesses still rely on the CRT display.
With the consistent job turn-over rate on my resume, very few of my applications get a response, I am assuming I am deemed as unreliable (untrue) or unable to maintain a commitment (also untrue).