Do you tell people you have ASD?

Post Reply New Topic

I was sent to a psychiatrist through work because of depression/suspected suicidal thoughts and he diagnosed me with Asperger's. Work knows!
Luckily, I work for an EEO, squishy government department but they know of the benefits Aspergers brings me, and in turn, them.
I can just sit there and work for hour on end without needing a break. I can program like a machine. I can fix peoples computer problems if need be.
I don't spend time standing around socialising. They think I'm really smart because of alternate solutions to problems I've come up with that no one else would have thought of.
I stim in meetings but that's okay. Hate meetings. Especially impromptu meetings.

Work colleagues know because:
a) I'm weird and they can tell;
b) I wear tshirts re. having Aspergers and being an Aspie;
c) I talk about it with them;

As I've said in the past, having Aspergers shouldn't be something you're ashamed of. It's a part of you just as the colour of your hair or eyes is. It's not a dirty little secret to be ashamed of.
Having said that, disclosing the information in certain situations may have detrimental repercussions for you so use discretion where needed.
Just because you're not ashamed of it doesn't mean you're obliged to tell everyone about it either.

It's more difficult in the US because of At Will Employment. Then there is the ignorance factor.

At Will Employment? Sounds scary. Aren't you government jobs more 'disability' friendly/secure/discrimination free?

Probably.....because they are not so "at will" as other jobs. I work in civil service myself.

I'm still careful about disclosure.

I have, but this was how I learned that I need to be careful, even with other autistic people.

I told a transition group I was part of that I am a little autistic. One of the students excitedly said "me too"!

The whole situation seemed innocent at the start, but this young man who spoke up turned out to openly dislike having autism, and he thought others should too.

One day he asked me "if there was a cure for autism, would you take it"?
I merely answered "no".

I thought this was all that the conversation would be; however, the next day he started to put me down for saying "no". He said that I was immature, and that I don't want to be well. This came as a shock to me, and made me feel angry inside.

I hope that he was not raised to think that he has a disease.

Last edited by HarmonySeptember on 17 May 2014, 5:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I don't tell anyone because I get treated like everyone else does, and if I told people then I might get treated different.

Yes, if it comes up in conversation or something, I tell people I have it. It usually comes up when people are asking me about my major, and why I chose it, and what I want to do with it, and so on. I guess one of my main reasons is that I want to bring awareness to that fact that there are people out there who are really high functioning and whose autism is not readily apparent in a lot of the time. I have been lucky that there has only been a very small handful of situations that anything negative has come from it. Mostly people are intrigued that I am autistic and want to know more. Since autism is my main interest, that part is really easy.

Best approach, I find.

It's nice to give people a chance to react, even if that reaction is negative.

Maybe this is a little naive, maybe I can afford to be naive? I've only been 'out' since last Autumn when I was labelled... awarded my diagnosis, so I haven't been living the reality of having ASD for that long, really.
(you could argue that I've been living with that reality all my life, just that I've been blissfully unaware of it until recently)

It doesn't bother me that I might be seen as being different to others, I accept and celebrate it even if it's the root of my problems. I might have a different attitude 5 or 10 years from now once the 'reality' has really sunk in, but for now I'm perfectly happy in my little bubble, and I don't care who 'knows'. As far as I'm concerned I was relatively normal up until my diagnosis, and I'm still the same person now.

I don't keep my autism a secret. When conversations arise that can lead into something dealing with autism, I usually tell I have autism. No one has so far thought anything less of me. If anything, it lets them realize why I seem to have eccentric ways and don't socialize like most people. And these people treat me the same as they always have. Also, I have a music ministry where I take some time to discuss my autism and the gifts and talents I have gotten from it.

Only one person - my adult son who has an autistic son and and asperger's daughter also. It helps him understand them and me better.

I...don't have conversations with anyone, so it wouldn't come up.

It's about the only thing I have, that anyone has found interesting about me - for about 5 minutes.

I tell people freely, I want people to know that when I act weird or say something off there is actually a reason for it. People don't usually think less of me because of it either and the very few that do don't deserve to know me.

My friends, family, some of my professors, and anyone I've ever lectured for all know I have it, as do the random strangers who read the back of my favourite sweater, which proclaims that I have it. I think it's important to spread awareness about the condition, plus it gives people an explanation for why I'm stimming or not making eye-contact or conversing in a peculiar manner.

Yea many jobs here in the states are "at will" and are not suppose to fire on the bases of disability but many do but they say it's because of something else it's worse in the where I am (metro Atlanta area) because it's a right to work state there's very little union jobs and such companies can fire you for next to nothing and the employee has very little rights.

No

Why? Because I dont want to, besides, people my age don't even know what it is, so no point.
I also dont want to lean on my dialogsis, I want to stand up on my own, without always saying "Oh yeah, I am an Aspie, and I'm SPECIALLLLL, so you're evillllllll if you tap your pencil cause that bothers me cause I am Aspie and being Aspie is suffering, so don't make me suffer even more"

I'm rather mild, so basically most people dont know that I am an Aspie unless they know what to for. I know that some people are strong enough in the Aspie department to need to do that, and its okay then, but I don't want to do that.