Do You Tell Your Employer You Have AS?

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do you tell your employer you have asperger's syndrome?

while ADA may provide some protections there can also be covert - even overt - actions or decisions which could significantly affect one's duties, assignments, and advancement due to ignorance, prejudice, or other concerns which may subsequently arise

1. have you every told an employer you have AS and, if so, how do you think it affected your employment situation?

2. if you have not told your employer why have you refrained from doing so?

i teach in a public high school and am debating whether or not is should disclose this information.
i was removed from being a department chair after 5 years in that position by our new principal which reduced my annual income nearly $10K per year.

If you get along fine, I see that it'd be up to your discretion (I wouldn't bother).

However, don't you have to inform your employer if you have a psychiatric illness/disorder? Of course, not knowing that you have it when you first applied for and got the job is a valid reason for not informing them at that time, but do they require it now from you at your place of employment?

If I told my boss anything personal, he'd use it to make fun of me on some level.

When I believe in something, there's little anyone can do, besides providing evidence to the contrary that can change my mind.

He sees this as bipolar and one time when I was training a new girl, she mentioned to me that she was nervous. I asked her why, and she said that he told her "You're working with Sue, be careful, she's bipolar."

So basically I guess, at my current job, I wouldn't share sh*t. (<-----he would even say that this sentence is evidence of bipolar)

I didn't realize I had Asperger's when I applied for my current job, and am somewhat reluctant about revealing that information now (almost 3 years later). I'm worried about getting passed over for a job position because they won't think I'm capable of doing the work.

I wouldn't unless there's some specific benefit to be had from doing so. AS disclosure is generally expected to be a negative piece of information. I find that people tend to turn even positive things I say about myself into something negative in ways I can't control or predict. Once the cat is out of the bag, you can't put it back. Actually, my current employers are the ones who told me I have been informally (not officially) diagnosed with AS by my professors and others with some medical background.

I always do. Or at least, I've done so far; I've only had two jobs.

In job interviews, I always tell the one who's interviewing me (quite often a boss or someone in an authority position) that I have an autistic disorder. When I say this, they always ask me if this might not be a problem on the job in some way, or if they have to take some things into consideration concerning my ASD. Negative responses have been minimal.

I think telling my superiors that I have Asperger's syndrome helps clarify behaviour that would otherwise seem strange. I won't have to explain myself afterwards. Telling them aids in the communication between them and me; as I have trouble with communication, I feel that I might as well maximise the smoothness of my interactions at work the best way I know how.

Now, of course, as I am in a subsidised workplace that's designed for people with all manner problems, it's not much of an issue, and it's going very well. On the next job I'll look for, I will most definitely mention my ASD as well.

I don't do it.

No way. Do not tell an employer, unless you are low functioning and your outward symptoms are obvious.

The less they know the better. Let the quality of your work speak for you.

I'm in the UK, so things are probably quite a lot different. I tell employers right away if I am asked/if there is a box for it on the application form. I don't put it in CVs/covering letters, as these are meant to be brief so I intend to leave it until interview.

I got fed up with my boss's projecting my future as a manager, so I told him. I later had to tell him about my official dx to obtain reasonable accomodations.

I've only disclosed it on demographic surveys that won't reach my direct supervisor's eyes (or my immediate co-workers).

I'm not very afraid of my current employer finding out (because it's the federal government, and they are considerably more "disability friendly" than many private corporations are), but I would prefer to make the best impression possible so that they get to know "me" first, and not base their impressions of who I am and what I can handle on a label that I've stuck on myself.

The problem is, disclosing a disability is never a "just to let you know, because I trust you" piece of information (at least, not to an employer). To an employer, it is ALWAYS a "something is wrong with me/my performance, because of my disorder" piece of information.

To an employer who hasn't hired you yet, it's a red flag indicating that you will be a "problem employee" if hired.
To an employer who HAS hired you, it's an indicator that the employee has bitten off more than they can chew, and finds the job too hard.

From there, the employer debates their options:

1. Fire/lay off the employee, and hope that they don't have the will/money to file a discrimination lawsuit.
2. Have "the talk" about job-sharing and on-the-job coaching with the employee.
3. Do nothing, but silently vow to never promote that employee.

Mind you, not EVERY employer is like that. But I certainly wouldn't disclose anything unless you are fine with where you are in your job, and don't care about moving ahead.

I currently volunteer at a local autism education center, so there is no way for me to hide the fact I'm autistic. When I worked at other jobs, I came up with ways to avoid explaining that I'm autistic. This is because those of us with autistic "disorder" are looked upon as "Rain Man" or simply "ret*d." It is sometimes very hard for me to cover up the fact that I am very different in many ways. However, most jobs I have gotten has been via recommendations of previous employers or people who know me. My work speaks for itself when I am given a chance.