Are you disclosed at work?

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Or are you like me, living life as an impostor, forever and every minute worried about being caught, as if a different neurology was a crime to hide?

I'm a sales admin in international telecom. I like my work and am considered very good at it. If I disclosed, I'd be of course fired immediately and if I got really lucky, as an open aspie I'd work for 1/3rd of my current salary doing manual labor (which I'm very bad at due to motor skills issues) and getting yelled at constantly till being fired.

When i started out my current job, i suspected Aspergers because i had done the WAIS test that indicated autism. So, i went in with 100% disclosure. I also disclosed other things about my life that i found necessary. I got my official diagnosis while on the job as well, and it came as a shock to no one.

Fortunately, i have a very understanding and openminded boss.

a couple close friends and some of my family are the only ones who know I have autism.

I am undisclosed. Only my family and my therapist know I have Asperger's, at least currently. I have considered being open about it to friends if misunderstandings come about to necessitate it.

Undisclosed and afraid someone will find out, but at the same time wanting to tell everyone.

I opted for soft disclosure. If I had known when I started my job, I would have fully disclosed. But it is not necessary. So, I just listed things I am good at, am not good at, and that I am willing to work on all of these things. My manager told me that there were many different ways of learning and that that would not be an issue. Lucky me! I disclosed as fully as I could at the time, and then just never really felt the need to go that final step. However, one of my coworkers feels I am weird. She is entitled to her opinion. I just say things like 'in order to have a greqt memory, I need to say things out loud for me to remember them.'

Late last summer, I was stampeded into disclosing my condition, when I had sworn that I would never play the Asperger's card at any job ever.When I meet people, I usually set out to like them, until they give me cause not to. I am working for a man to whom a conversation is like a game of paintball where he is the only one who gets to have a gun. It's gotten a little worse every year. I have been at this job for nearly 10 years and have had one raise. I am making $1.50 an hour more than average CNA (They're underpaid, too). Although jobhunting is an activity from which my soul shrinks, I am ready to cast myself into the breach once again.

I am going to give this to the HR office in the small town I live in Monday morning, I suppose any advice would be appreciated if anyone cares to offer any, I also go to church with the town mayor and I talked very briefly today about the job and she offered to give me a recommendation, hopefully they haven't already offered the job to anyone yet but they have had my application for a week now and I have yet to hear anything from anyone. My concern is that on paper I look massively overqualified but in reality I am not, I am afraid that the HR person will pass me over for someone who hasn't accomplished as much as I have in life, its a weird place to be, but in this case I hope that my AS will be view as an asset rather than a liability.

To whom it my concern,
I am writing to apply for the position of library page at the Alamogordo Public Library.
The reason I am especially interested in the library page position is primarily because I have a hidden disability known as Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), a high functioning and mild form of autism which predominantly limits my ability to interact socially. In my case it is "not being able to apply" my skills that is part of the problem; in other words, while I successfully served for twenty years in the Air Force, I now know that being an aircraft mechanic was not a good fit for my personality. As one of the key characteristics of having AS is an impaired ability to interact socially, as well as the additional anxiety which results, I also have concerns regarding the job interview, should you give me the opportunity, as far as how effectively I can "sell" myself at a job interview.
Autism experts agree that working in an environment such as a library is an ideal setting for a person with AS due to the quiet environment and repetitive nature of the work; in fact it is because I have AS that I possess several unique abilities which make me particularly well suited for this job.
The key strengths I possess which will make me a successful library page include:
• I have extensive technical knowledge with computers and machinery
• I have the ability to focus intently on the task at hand
• I possess a strong ability to sort and organize, I naturally pay attention to detail and have an innate need for order
• I have good communication skills and exceptionally high verbal comprehension
• I have excellent long-term memory and am able to recall prodigious amounts of information
• I am reliable, persistent, conscientious, and self motivated
Please see my resume for additional information regarding my background.

I am truly excited about this opportunity to work for the Alamogordo Public Library, thank you for your time and consideration.

Last edited by Theuniverseman on 04 Mar 2013, 12:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It was my workplace that railroaded me into getting a formal diagnosis.

I still can't get any advice out of anyone as to whether they could even legally do that.

I explain that I am autistic in the cover letter of every job that I apply for. I started doing this after I received some criticism of my ability to sell myself during a phone call about a job. I had one small job since I started explaining that I am autistic but I don't know if people remember it or how many people they shared it with, so I don't know if people knew that I am autistic at work.

If I followed through and got a formal ASD diagnosis most co-workers would say "tell me something I don't know already". It's safe to say that everyone has probably figured it out because it is quite obvious and it is seen as a positive thing despite my clumsiness and sensory issues.

May I offer two suggestions, universeman?

1) start off with why Asperger's is a benefit. So, talk about that list of Aspie strengths that you listed first. Any deficits or negatives should be addressed afterwards and in the most positive way possible that makes you look good for the job.

2) keep the discussion limited only to that job.

I have done hiring this year and work with two individuals who do hiring in their departments. I also receive assistance from a learning disabilities association and got coaching from a friend in this area, who had also had professional coaching, and those two facts are what I learned from all of these experiences. However, I always advocate discussing AS, whether you name it or not, with your manager before issues start coming up, so that he or she has been prepared in the best way.

I would be careful with HR offices, because they keep your application on file.

Yes, I also agree with the statement that people notice differences. I am glad to say that my oddities now are seen as Tina being Tina and that my quirkinesses are absorbed by my environment.

I personally would not disclose.
I will use myself as an example, I have plenty of money. I dont have to work actually. Lets say I got a formal diagnosis and disclosed. It really would not change anything, that is until something went wrong or completely different management came in. In my opinion it could be used as a tool against me. So I say why do it, people know who you are they have there opinions based on interactions with you good bad or whatever. You say hey I got AS. Then they hear on the news someone who went on a killing rampage had AS too. Not good. A lot of people are very judgmental and even if they dont know it yet, neurodiversity is there new dirty word, you dont want to be that word. We have a new excuse! Everything that goes wrong is your fault because of AS.

While it is true many of us have had more than our share of mistreatment is that an excuse to pay a victim card?

I disclosed because I had 4 months off work sick with "stress" and my occupational health doctor was suggesting certain adjustments to help me. Although under no obligation to disclose the reason for these adjustments, I felt given the area in which I work it would be appropriate to do so and did so on my return to work. No one treats me any different than before and I feel more confident with them knowing because I am not hiding anything, and that people understand the reason for the adjustments. It should be noted I had been working in my current job for 7 years before disclosure (and I didn't know I had an ASD until a few months before I ended up going off sick).

I am undiagnosed, so saying anything to anyone other than a couple of very trusted coworkers would be pointless. I don't think it would affect my job much.

The reason I disclose my autism when I apply for a job is not to "play the victim card". It is to explain why I cannot effectively sell myself during an interview and to explain why my poor conversational skills are not reflective of my ability to do the job. Someone who is deaf might want to tell an interviewer that they are deaf because it can probably be difficult to lip read during an interview, but it is not playing the victim card to tell them they are deaf.