Would you hide you autism diagnosis even violate law

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Of course I would, but not merely to "advance my career". I would hide my status to avoid discrimination or outright violence at the hands of neurotypicals, because I've found that the best way to deal with people is to keep them on a "need-to-know" basis. What they don't know is harder to use against me.

It would depend on the type of job role. If its one where you have to make decisions that can have serious fatal consequences, i.e. air traffic controller or surgeon for example its only right to disclose anything that can potentially have an impact on the speed and ability to make good decisions.

In the fictional series Breaking Bad an air traffic controller is so devastated by the death of his daughter that he takes his mind off the job, there`s a huge air crash & hundreds die. If this were an autistic person and it was revealed he didn’t reveal his condition when he got the job he would probably go to jail.

In fact even if he did reveal before given the job, the prosecution lawyers would probably have a field day bringing up autistic peoples difficulties in court, like problems adapting to change, anxiety etc.. and using it as a reason for the mistake, probably explains why shows like “the good doctor” will always remain fictional, no hospital would risk being sued.

Job application usually require any disability that would effect the job to be mentioned,it all depends if it effects the job or not,air traffic controller could be a problem and also a surgical doctor too,due to tremors autistic sometimes people have.But I see no reason why an autistic couldn't be a general practitioner.

Before I was diagnosed as ASD, I made the mistake of telling my employer at the time (Domino’s Pizza) that I was diabetic. It nearly got me fired.

Ditto with Absolute Quality, which had a support contract with Apple Computer. The level 2 techs at Apple were a lot more understanding about diabetes than middle management at Absolute Quality.

No career, nothing to hide.

What law is there ?

Depends on who you ask, doesn't it?

Aleister Crowley was a self-proclaimed drug and sex "fiend", a mostly self-published author of books on the occult and magick, a poet and mountaineer, and a leader of a group called Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) whose tenets are detailed in his writings.  "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" is his motto for OTO.  In practice, for Crowley this meant rejecting traditional morality in favor of the life of a drug addict and womanizer -- "I rave; and I rape and I rip and I rend" is a line from one of his poems.  Diary of a Drug Fiend is the title of one of his books.

Not exactly someone I would cite as an authority on Moral Law.

Exactly.


If I actually had a successful job, you can be sure I wouldn't disclose. Why would I self-sabotage like that?? I see noting good coming out of it.

If I weren't successful in this scenario, I'd still not want to disclose to just anyone.

What situations would I be forced by law to disclose? Only job-related?
Or would I pass a neighbor and have to say: "I'm an aspie. Oh and good morning to you too." Cause I certainly wouldn't be the least bit interested in casual acquaintances knowing.

If I weren't successful and it was only job related, then I'd still want to not tell, unless there were laws I could use and claim discrimination if not hired. Why not let these things work for me for a change! But I suppose that wouldn't be the case.

I would absolutely hide my diagnosis, and I do.

People are not rational, and revealing one's AS is just another thing for them to act irrationally (and negatively) about.

There are all manner of negative stereotypes and myths about AS, and with most people, when they learn you are AS, they stop reacting to you and react to the stereotypes instead. They will assume horrible things about you that are not true, and no amount of evidence or argument will change their minds.

It is better to not tell them, and pass for NT as best you can.

Even if you are not very good at passing, the more you try, the better you will get. It is the nature of learning that we learn the most from our failures.

I'm with the others that would hide disabilities that others don't need to know about: There's enough discrimination in this world without adding to it.


• In 2013, I got through a phone interview with a large City law firm. Then I was asked to attend a face-to-face. Their 'pre-interview application equality' form was nothing short of offensive. It asked everything from disabilities, personal lifestyle questions, personal questions, religions/beliefs, relationship questions through to inside leg measurement. I was quite shaken a City law firm would be so blatant and the deal so clear: If you don't fill in this form, you don't get to go into the interview in 15 minutes' time. Reluctatantly, I filled it the form, hesitating whether I should make a run for it. In the interview, I saw the male hiring manager double-take then triple-take my answer on the front page to the sexual orientation question: 'Gay'
  .
• Later, I wrote to Lynne Featherstone (then MP, now Baroness, and who pushed through gay marriage in the UK, and in general has pushed hard to get rid of discrimination opportunities). She was good enough to reply.
  
  I suspect certain firms will always push the boundaries of what's acceptable to get a mix of what they think are the most suitable employees for their image, not necessarily the most creative (and I mean that in all sorts of ways, especially problem solving, which I love).
  
  It left me shaken there was such open opportunity for hiring manager discrimination when such things should only be visible to HR The role wasn't well paid. I wasn't sorry when the other candidate got it. For the record, I stated I didn't have a disability, though some consider AS a disability. It was pretty clear they wished to identify round pegs for round holes, and I'm guessing gay, neuro-diverse was the opposite of how they wanted people to think. I think we're amazing and our diversity should be applauded: Let's face it, for most of us each day throws up a few challenges NTs don't even have to think about .

I never disclose my disability on job applications or my resume or any other related documents. You never know who's going to be looking at those, or how fair they'll be. I always wait to disclose until I've actually met my boss(es), been interviewed, and been brought on board, and I always do so in-person and off the record.

I have declined to discuss my diagnosis with employers before, usually because I get the sense that the person in question would not understand and would not use that information appropriately. I sometimes find that the mistreatment from being considered a "weirdo" is preferable to the mistreatment I get when I talk about my issues and accompanying diagnosis. Some people just do not work well with those on the spectrum, which is a shame but there's not much to be done about it except to avoid working with them them if possible. Failing that, avoiding disclosure can be a workable tool to cut one's losses in such a toxic environment.

Thankfully I live in a jurisdiction where disclosure is not required, so I guess the second half of the question does not apply in my case.

There are scenarios where I have disclosed, however, because I can tell that the person in question is the type who would do their best to understand, stick up for me, watch my back, be patient, and work with me to help improve my skills. Usually the alternative in this particular scenario is that my physical coordination, executive functioning, and social problems would undermine my reputation in the workplace; I would be seen as being lazy and/or insensitive on purpose. If I make it clear that my shortcomings are tied to a clinically recognized condition and I'm doing my best to work on them, the reaction when I'm struggling is generally less negative in this situation.

I make the decision whether or not to disclose pretty quickly, often within the first 5 seconds of meeting somebody. If I do decide to disclose, I usually do so within the first few days, and the reaction is typically along the lines of "If you hadn't told me, I would have had no idea." I present myself pretty well to new people, but within a few weeks some cracks in my "NT mask" start to show and I get, "Ohhhhhh, I see that now."

When I disclose, I make it a point to establish that I dislike others disclosing my condition on my behalf. I consider it a massive invasion of my privacy, not to mention a potential step backwards for wider acceptance of autism. One coworker made this mistake with a customer, so I informed my boss and she read this coworker the riot act. That was the exact moment that I knew I had a sound disclosure strategy and had been accepted into my workplace culture.

I do, however, emphasize that I'm always open to discuss my needs, shortcomings, and strategies with anybody to whom I've already disclosed and has questions about how best to work with me. I figure that there's little point in disclosing and then blocking off communication. No boss or coworker needs that. I want to be somebody who is safe to speak with and work things out, I just need to be approached with a desire to understand, not a desire to put me in my place.

Overall, my number 1 priority in my workplace is job security, which is best accomplished by having positive relationships with my team. I make my decision whether or not do disclose based on whether or not I think disclosure will help me accomplish this.

I'm very sorry all this happened. Hopefully Featherstone gives them hell.

If there was a law requiring people to disclose that they have autism I feel like it'd be a smarter idea not to disclose that I have it... I can't imagine what reason that law would exist for, and I doubt it'd be a reason that's good for autistic people. I usually try to follow the rules since they make it easier to figure out what's expected of me and what I need to do, but this is one rule I'd probably break.

I agree with this. There's literally no reason that a bunch of politicians would get together and pass a law forcing people to disclose their disability unless that reason were a very bad and discriminatory one.

I'm pretty good at masking so I don't tell just anyone, but I also have epilepsy and even with that I'm a bit iffy on disclosing. I WOULD tell for a job though, because one time I didn't and it severely affected my performance in that job. But now I'm on disability and don't work.