Should you declare your Asperger's when applying for a job?

[wanderer03]

I guess you're right. It was just a thought. So it's just not a good idea to bring up autism during an interview then? Even if you have a formal diagnosis, but like bring it up but turn it into a positive thing? Maybe if you bring it up during the interview, you can make it into a positive, and also make them more likely to consider the disability quota thing. Having autism, it's an invisible disability too, so maybe mentioning it in the interview would give you more chance of getting the job. Or maybe not. I mean it's just different than someone with down syndrome or an amputee or blind person, autism isn't a visible disability. So employers would not discriminate against someone with an obvious disability, so why not disclose autism in a job interview so we get the same consideration and protection against hiring discrimination? Just a thought.

The general consensus here is that it is not a good idea to disclose during an interview! An interview is where you are selling yourself so you want to put your best foot forward. Most likely, the moment you disclose that you have Autism, the interview is over and the employer has made up their mind not to hire you. They already have a canned response to cover themselves legally. You cannot assume an employer will be friendly or understanding of Autism. Attempts to paint it in a positive light will most likely be disregarded as once the interviewer hears that you have Autism, he or she will have decided against your candidacy almost immediately.

 

[Butterfly88]

Is there anyway you can be vague about it? When I applied for my present job, I declared myself disabled without offering specifics. As far as they know, it could be a physical disability that I have. It forces them to tread more carefully.

They need to know I have a sound sensitivity and that I don't like to be touched. So I think it would be better to say why, so I don't sound like just a picky person, and that due to my ASD these things bother me. But if I achieve my dreams, I'll be my own boss so it wouldn't even matter.

 

[wanderer03]

They need to know I have a sound sensitivity and that I don't like to be touched. So I think it would be better to say why, so I don't sound like just a picky person, and that due to my ASD these things bother me. But if I achieve my dreams, I'll be my own boss so it wouldn't even matter.

There are neurotypicals that do not like to be touched so you're perfectly okay to express that you do not like to be touched. That is an invasion of personal space which has legal ramifications so it is a perfectly acceptable and legitimate request. Sounds may be harder for an employer to understand. Maybe you just ask for permission to use headphones because it helps you concentrate better. They don't need to know the exact reason, a little white lie here goes a long way. Again, there are neurotypicals that also benefit from using headphones too.

I am hellbent on becoming my own boss because I just cannot figure out the social dynamic of the workplace. I hate dealing with co-workers and bosses. I want control over my life and the only way to do this is to be as independent as possible. If it weren't for some good people like Sportster, Ronin82, and Warmheart I never would even be thinking about this, let alone planning. I think self-employment is a good option for autistic people. I'm even starting to learn some executive functioning skills along the way.

 

[Butterfly88]

There are neurotypicals that do not like to be touched so you're perfectly okay to express that you do not like to be touched. That is an invasion of personal space which has legal ramifications so it is a perfectly acceptable and legitimate request. Sounds may be harder for an employer to understand. Maybe you just ask for permission to use headphones because it helps you concentrate better. They don't need to know the exact reason, a little white lie here goes a long way. Again, there are neurotypicals that also benefit from using headphones too.

I am hellbent on becoming my own boss because I just cannot figure out the social dynamic of the workplace. I hate dealing with co-workers and bosses. I want control over my life and the only way to do this is to be as independent as possible. If it weren't for some good people like Sportster, Ronin82, and Warmheart I never would even be thinking about this, let alone planning. I think self-employment is a good option for autistic people. I'm even starting to learn some executive functioning skills along the way.

I've tried earplugs and headphones but I don't like wearing them for long periods since they hurt my ears. I buy and resell stuff on Ebay but as of now make very little money doing so. I am hoping to expand and maybe hire some other disabled people to help me.

 

[wanderer03]

I've tried earplugs and headphones but I don't like wearing them for long periods since they hurt my ears. I buy and resell stuff on Ebay but as of now make very little money doing so. I am hoping to expand and maybe hire some other disabled people to help me.

I have that same problem so I bought a large pair of headphones with lots of padding so I can wear them for longer periods. They're also bluetooth so cordless as sometimes the weight of the cord and wire can cause discomfort. Ear buds hurt my ears badly - I mean stabbing pains.

Have you thought about going out to garage sales and flea markets to buy and resell stuff on ebay? I once thought about doing that but got scared off by the sheer numbers of others doing it. I know another person that goes to outlet stores and clearance stores. She buys these items at the outlets and resells these products at profits on eBay. You might also consider working with a wholesale drop shipper where your customer buys the product and all of the shipping logistics are taken care of by the drop shipper.

 

[Butterfly88]

I have that same problem so I bought a large pair of headphones with lots of padding so I can wear them for longer periods. They're also bluetooth so cordless as sometimes the weight of the cord and wire can cause discomfort. Ear buds hurt my ears badly - I mean stabbing pains.

Have you thought about going out to garage sales and flea markets to buy and resell stuff on ebay? I once thought about doing that but got scared off by the sheer numbers of others doing it. I know another person that goes to outlet stores and clearance stores. She buys these items at the outlets and resells these products at profits on eBay. You might also consider working with a wholesale drop shipper where your customer buys the product and all of the shipping logistics are taken care of by the drop shipper.

I'll have to look into more comfortable headphones. I do buy and resell from garage sales.

 

[ezcare]

Is there anyway you can be vague about it? When I applied for my present job, I declared myself disabled without offering specifics. As far as they know, it could be a physical disability that I have. It forces them to tread more carefully.

A label in the hands of the wrong person can be just as lethal as a gun in the hands of a criminal. When you declare yourself "disabled" you automatically fall into a separate pool of employees who can be "used" to obtain ADA funding. When that happens, your value to the company is linked to a different color of money. [translation: the less valuable you become to the productivity goals of the company, the more money they are likely to receive to keep in a low level salary range even though you may be doing the same job that NT folks would be getting paid big bucks and better benefits to do.

 

[Mr Allen]

You're damned either way IMHO, if you declare you're disabled you're open to discrimination, if you don't, get the job and then they find out about your disabilities, they could fire you because technically you "lied" in your application, although under the Equality Act 2010 if you're terminated purely for having a disability you could, in theory, sue the crap out of the company for blatant discrimination.

 

[Rob]

Topic.

I'd personally say no, for the reason that not many people outside of those who need to know about AS for professional reasons have heard of it, and don't know what it is.

I've also been saying for years that current so called "equality" laws designed to protect us disabled people in the UK workplace aren't worth the paper they're printed on because the useless government don't enforce them and probably never will, hence I've had to be content with voluntary work since I left school nearly 24 years ago.

Anyone agree or want to comment on this?

It's unfortunate that your government does so little to enforce the equality laws protecting those with disabilities.
As a consequence, many businesses are unwilling to accommodate people with disabilities. It's all about business making money fast and pressuring the trainees to learn things almost overnight. No wonder it's not worth disclosing the fact that you have AS. But it also depends on the severity of the condition you have. On this forum you find a large variation in the severity of Asperger's from one member to another.

If you can find a business you are interested in working for, I would personally check out what the disability policy is for that business. By searching on the internet for that business's disability policy you can find a company that does not discriminate
against those with disabilities.

Thankfully I found a grocery store locally that has a generous disability policy and supportive staff. Though cashiering there is challenging, the trainer there is excellent. I am grateful to be able to find a store that can support those on the autism spectrum and spend the time and money to train them.

 

[clg114]

It's unfortunate that your government does so little to enforce the equality laws protecting those with disabilities.
As a consequence, many businesses are unwilling to accommodate people with disabilities. It's all about business making money fast and pressuring the trainees to learn things almost overnight. No wonder it's not worth disclosing the fact that you have AS. But it also depends on the severity of the condition you have. On this forum you find a large variation in the severity of Asperger's from one member to another.

If you can find a business you are interested in working for, I would personally check out what the disability policy is for that business. By searching on the internet for that business's disability policy you can find a company that does not discriminate
against those with disabilities.

Thankfully I found a grocery store locally that has a generous disability policy and supportive staff. Though cashiering there is challenging, the trainer there is excellent. I am grateful to be able to find a store that can support those on the autism spectrum and spend the time and money to train them.

Agreed. I like to accommodate businesses who are willing to work with employees with disabilities. I think that we all can help this situation by taking our business to companies with disabled friendly policies.

I would like to point out the fact that not everybody on the spectrum is disabled. I am not disabled and my AS is what has allowed me to do what I have done. While being on the spectrum is not always great, for the most part being a Aspie has allowed me to do things that others can not and I have made a pretty good living because of that.

 

[wanderer03]

Agreed. I like to accommodate businesses who are willing to work with employees with disabilities. I think that we all can help this situation by taking our business to companies with disabled friendly policies.

I would like to point out the fact that not everybody on the spectrum is disabled. I am not disabled and my AS is what has allowed me to do what I have done. While being on the spectrum is not always great, for the most part being a Aspie has allowed me to do things that others can not and I have made a pretty good living because of that.

In my profession, I don't dare reveal that I have been diagnosed as autistic. I don't even reveal that I suffer from depression and anxiety. That would be the fastest ticket to the unemployment.

I know that I am a safe, capable driver but Autism sends a red flag to the 99% of people out there that don't understand it.

 

[clg114]

In my profession, I don't dare reveal that I have been diagnosed as autistic. I don't even reveal that I suffer from depression and anxiety. That would be the fastest ticket to the unemployment.

I know that I am a safe, capable driver but Autism sends a red flag to the 99% of people out there that don't understand it.

And "most people" do not understand.

 

[wanderer03]

And "most people" do not understand.

Unfortunate but true! I might also add that some people fear and don't want to understand Autism.

 

[Rob]

In my profession, I don't dare reveal that I have been diagnosed as autistic. I don't even reveal that I suffer from depression and anxiety. That would be the fastest ticket to the unemployment.

I know that I am a safe, capable driver but Autism sends a red flag to the 99% of people out there that don't understand it.

If you are a great driver with good motor and spatial skills, there definitely is no reason to disclose that you are autistic. It all depends on the severity of the condition and if there are co-morbid conditions attached, as my case is.

Good for you that you are able to make a good living driving a truck.

 

[Aleksandar]

I shall give my expirience from Serbia,exactly it's same on all republics of ex-Yugoslavia.
To be honest, I was hide my disability, Asperger syndrome,because here autism awarness is on the low level. if you have autism, you should have a very small chance to be hired.
Before a few months, I was applied for internship in one company, I told them about Asperger diagnose, they answered me - 'they will reconsider my apply', also they said - 'we are choosing candidates whose are COMPATIBLE FOR OUR TEAM'. Compatible by which criterias? Just guess! Did I got any call after? No!
Also I sent my CV to other companies, they didnt answered me at all. I was contacted The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality office about all this, they answered that there are any traces of any kind of the discrimination.
Therefore I decided to work independently, at least I have enough for basic needs. Also I plan to start ASD coworking center.
More about it you can read here https://www.aspiescentral.com/threads/my-project-asd-coworking-center.17301/

 

[WereBear]

I told my employer. BUT this is after 15 years with the company, and considerable feedback about how well I was doing.

In my case, I had to explain why I don't go to weekend events full of crowds, which most of the other workers do at least a few times. I had the choice of appearing to be a bad employee, or explain my somewhat odd behavior.

Also, my boss has an IT background, so he's less likely to regard me as something alien. And I'm not telling anyone else at work, except for someone who is both a friend, and someone with a relative on the spectrum.

But during an interview? NO. Just be your best you, like anyone else.

 

[dragonwolf]

This was also true of the American Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act until courageous people like Dr. martin Luther King and Rosa Parks came along and said enough is enough! The truth is that Rights do not become part of the culture just because they are written into law. That is only the first step. We must also take the responsibility for ensuring those rights are enforced. If we causally walk away from that responsibility, then we can only blame ourselves for the resulting apathy.

Date issues aside, this is one of the reasons I've chosen to not hide my AS/D. The only way to change things, socially, is for people to start standing up and asserting themselves, instead of hiding.

Now, I don't necessarily announce it on most applications or in most interviews, but I also don't hide it (and I have started answering "yes" to the voluntary disclosure section). All it takes is a simple read of my blog to find out.

I've also found it more detrimental to try to hide it, because to hide it means to spend all day attempting to "pass," which is exhausting (especially in an office environment). That pretty much has invariably led to a meltdown to one degree or another. So, instead, I choose not to actively hide it. One of the things that has helped it be pretty much a non-issue is that I made a sort of list (it's not a concrete one, just in my head) of the work conditions in which I will and will not work and what environmental things I need to be effective. This allows me to filter out the bad environments before it even comes up, because it doesn't matter whether I hide or not, bad environment == crash and burn within about 6 months.

Now, I know I'm privileged by the fact that I'm a software developer, and so, my skills are very much in demand, and the field/community are riddled with mental health and other stuff, making it less of a taboo in the community as a whole. That, in my opinion, makes it all the more important that I don't hide, because not everyone is in a position to do the same, nor can they ever be until those of us in better positions in which to do it become more prominent.

You're damned either way IMHO, if you declare you're disabled you're open to discrimination, if you don't, get the job and then they find out about your disabilities, they could fire you because technically you "lied" in your application, although under the Equality Act 2010 if you're terminated purely for having a disability you could, in theory, sue the crap out of the company for blatant discrimination.

I can't speak for other companies, but in the US, the disability disclosure part is voluntary and has the option to not disclose. As a result, employers cannot (technically) fire someone for "lying" on the application regarding disclosure. Most states have a law that allows employers to fire employees for no reason (basically, employment is not a hard-and-fast contract that requires a particular reason for termination from either party, though it arguably favors the employer), which does complicate things in that way, but if you can prove it was due to discrimination of disability, you can fight back.