The "do you have a disability?" application question

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There are a lot of threads here about whether you should disclose your Asperger's in an interview, but should you mark yes on the "Do you have a disability?" box or simply leave it blank? My Aspie friend said his mom thinks it will be easy for him to get a job because of companies having to hire people with disabilities, but I am far more pessimistic about it and think they'll just use it as an excuse not to hire you, regardless of what it says about it not affecting the hiring process. I've said yes on some applications and left it blank on others. I've never gotten a job interview either way. So would you recommend saying yes on it or leaving it blank? Most applications also mention specific disabilities, including autism and OCD. I have both.

if you leave it blank, they might reject you, based on incomplete application.

if you answer "yes", they might require a psychologist's letter.

at one job, i disclosed diagnoses. the employer gave me three (3) days to get a doctors letter.

wtf?

in some cases, it takes more than 3 days to get a doctors appointment.

Supposedly they cannot discriminate against hiring you because of a disability, if you're qualified for the job - but then, they aren't required to tell you WHY they chose not to hire you, so that's a crap shoot.

However, if you disclose your disability and they DO hire you, the fact that you have a disability makes it more risky for them to fire you, because there's always the possibility of a discrimination claim, and that makes their company look like douchebags. It also means that they are required by law to make accommodations for your disability, so if you have an issue with noise, they can't put you right next to the loading dock, or the metal crusher, or the buzzing fluorescent light fixture, etc.

I wasn't diagnosed until my career was over, but I wish I had known sooner, it could have saved me a lot of grief. I worked with a guy who had schizophrenia, and the supervisors and managers literally tiptoed around him to make sure he wasn't inconvenienced in any way. Guy was a sweetheart, but he was never pressured to do more than he could handle.

On the other hand, I also worked with a paraplegic who got fired even more often than I did, but he was an entitled douche who did things like not show up for days and then just waltz in like nothing had happened.

Hello-

where are you applying for a job that they are asking if you have a disability on the application? In the US, if the employer has 15 or more employees, or is a state or local government, that is a violation of the ADA. Most employers not covered by the ADA will be covered by similar state law, or will comply with ADA to avoid "nuisance" lawsuits and the accompanying bad publicity. (Grammar Geek, this is generally the case in Missouri, hence my question.)

Under ADA, employers aren't even allowed to ask questions likely to reveal the existence of a disability before making a job offer. Obviously, if you need to seek accommodations during the application process, you'll need to disclose some things, or have someone disclose them for you, in order to receive the accommodations.

Jim

Sorry, connectivity problems and I didn't see the first post go through.

"On the other hand, I also worked with a paraplegic who got fired even more often than I did, but he was an entitled douche who did things like not show up for days and then just waltz in like nothing had happened."
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did not show up for days?

previous employers explicitly specified, a priori. beforehand. that 3 consecutive days of no show/no call was "job abandonment" and subject to termination.

Hello-

Grammar Geek, for several years I ran a mentoring program for post-secondary students with disabilities (primarily ASD, but some other stuff as well). One of the common tasks we worked on was finding employment. I don't recall ever seeing an application that asked if the applicant had a disability, and I helped fill out or reviewed more than 1,000 applications prior to submission.

It could happen, you could run across several of them, but I don't think it is as big a concern as it was back before ADA (say, pre-1990). There are many concerns about applying for jobs, I would suggest not worrying much about this one.

Jim

I see it as the business offering the opportunity to disclose, and I ran a cost-benefit analysis and decided against disclosing. I don't foresee needing any accommodations to do the job, so I see no benefit. YMMV. If you need an accommodation but did not disclose, that seems like a fireable offense.

"If you need an accommodation but did not disclose, that seems like a fireable offense."

some states are "at will" employers. the employer can fire the employee for any reason or no reason. as long as the employer did not violate American Disabilities Act, Occupational Safety Hazards Act, or Equal Opportunity Commission. or other laws like that. then it is legal. the employee does not have to allegedly commit a "fireable offense."

I always checked Yes on them but I have physical disabilities in addition to my Aspergers that they'll notice about me pretty easily after watching me for abit. I feel I have to tell them in my interviews because there's not point in them hiring me if I won't be able to due the job due to my disabilities. I never tell them about my mental stuff thou, only the one or two physical 1s that limit me the most with employment.

As I understand it, it's the person's choice whether or not to disclose and when to disclose. And the standard for the company is reasonable accommodation.

Now, if you disclose two weeks after being hired, the person representing the company may feel snookered. You can still say, Look, I thought I could do the job without accommodations, I was mistaken about that. If you disclose six weeks after being hired, hopefully, they're less likely to feel snookered. You can still say the same thing. Or someone please, suggest something better to say.

Depends on what the job requirements are. Some jobs exist where you absolutely can't have anything considered as a disability while others will try to accommodate you to your best potential if you need it. It's your choice to disclose it in that case. I'm quite lucky because my Asperger's just makes me come off as weird to other people and doesn't hinder my skills.