Should I tick the disability box on application?

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I am applying for a job. It is a job I really want and is my specialised area of expertise. I am experienced and qualified but have been on an 18 month break.

They ask questions on the website while applying. One question is: "Do you consider yourself to have a disability?"

I put no, but I am wondering if its best I put yes. In the UK some employers seek disabled candidates. Also if I got this job I would want them to know about my Aspergers.

I don't know what to do. Any advice please.

How about answering the question truthfully. I think an employer would be far less happy knowing someone lied on their application.

Also wanted to add, until recently I would not have ticked that box.

But ... I have had a lot of trouble with functioning over the last few months, and ended up being signed off work sick for 4 months. I'm now back at work and my employer has made several adjustments but I am still having difficulties. Nevertheless, I would not have considered myself disabled, until today: today I saw an occupational health doctor who in her report stated that I would be considered disabled under the provisions of the Equality Act. The OH doctor suggested some additional adjustments for my employer to make to help me get back to fulfilling my roles and responsibilities at work as I used to, and as I want to again.

If I were to apply for a job in future, I would now tick that box because I do need adjustments to do my job (mostly to do with working environment & schedule). I hope I won't be applying for another job in future though. I've been employed in this job for 7 years and I want to stay here.

I cannot think what kind of adjustments an employer would need to make. I know that I am sensitive to light but I can use a lamp in the winter and sunglasses in the summer. My AS just affects my ability to make friends and I think it is only an issue in my personal life.

Where I live if you don't you cannot get accommodations. I always check it whether I feel I am disabled or not is of no importance. I do it for just in case and it's not like you have to tell them specifically what it is and they can't ask what it is, that is illegal. That may be hard if you are alone I have a social worker who can always back me up against work if I need.

On Monday I am seeing a work psychologist so I will talk to them about it. I am wondering also if it will be beneficial to say I have a disability because some employers want to increase their disabled staff. Plus the job is for a software developer which AS is a strength in.

My opinion is to tell them. Though not to check the disability box.

Do you need this job or the money it brings more then you need to have a workplace where people don't understand you?

How much does your AS affect your ability to communicate with other people in a work place? IE, can you effectively minimize its ability to interfere with Supervisors, Co-Workers, Subordinates, etc etc. Even though Software Dev tends to be a pretty solitary job with minimal contact, if you get even one touchy or controlling supervisor, that can send your position with their company into a tail-spin that ends in layoff or firing. The effect of this may not be as difficult to overcome in the UK as it is in the US.....

Again, I want to re-iterate that though AS might be overall a Strength in the world of Software Dev, it won't do you any favors if you end up in a team environment, or as the lamb to your Supervisors Shepherding of your projects.... This has been my only continual work related experience with AS, and though it affects different people in differing strengths in this area, this is the one area Id probably tell anyone with AS to contemplate.

I definitely agree with talking to the company Psych. Just make sure to ask them about doctor/client privilege, and if any of whats discussed is going to go into your file, or be made known to others before you go into it. This simple inquiry can save you a world of hurt later.

Good Luck,
Aldran

I'm always unsure what to do about this as well....an employer wanting to hire someone with a disability might be the only way I can get a callback!

The ADA says an impairment is a disability only if it substantially limits a major life activity. So that's a U.S. thing, but it might be useful.

Unless you feel that having Asperger's would either impact your ability to perform on the job, or you feel you would need special accommodations made because of it, I would highly recommend leaving the box unchecked. While a company can't legally not hire you because of a disability that doesn't impact your job performance (in the US at least), if you check the box it's always possible they will indeed factor it into their decision, and considering they likely know next to nothing about Asperger's it may not be in a good way.

I wonder about this when applying for jobs too. Until a year or two ago I was continuously self employed, so it wasn't ever an issue. When I ceased self employment and started applying for jobs, I wasn't sure what box to tick...

Sometimes employers like people with very minor 'disabilities' because they can hire them without having to make any major workplace adjustments, and come up looking good on the equal opportunities front. My dad's office had a guy who was missing three fingers, a guy who only had sight in one eye, and a guy who had had childhood polio and had weak arm muscles because of it. All three were classed as disabled and my dad's department got extra funding for hiring so many 'crips'.

On the other hand, some employers would just look at the tick in the 'yes' box and automatically bin an application because of it withough even wondering what the disability actually was.

18 months ago I applied for two similar jobs. I ticked the no box in one and the yes box in the other, giving the information that I had an ASD that was sometimes noticeable but that had never affected my ability to do a job before. At interview I was asked about it and I said that I saw it more as a difference than a disability and that I'd only mentioned it to be 100% honest.

End up I was offered both jobs.