Disclosure - Good Idea or Not?

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Personally, I wouldn't disclose for any reason. Let others perceive you as weird/geeky/dorky/eccentric/creepy all they wish to; they can't necessarily use those descriptors to terminate you. The moment they find out you're autistic/have Asperger's Syndrome, they will likely begin formulating reasons to let you go. Others may use the diagnosis as an excuse to degrade you or treat you like you're an imbecile. You may end up getting moved to a more menial position based on the inaccurate assumption that Spectrumites are intellectually handicapped. People will likely patronize you and invalidate any opinion or concern you may have.

I have a t shirt that says "I have Asperger's, what's your super power?" on it that I wear out and about frequently. I've disclosed to plenty of people, including my dad, three of my friends, and my entire psychology class, and I've never once gotten a negative reaction. The closest I got was one of my friends telling me he didn't think I had AS because I don't mind being touched, he just thought I was highly sensitive. That said, I would never disclose in a situation where I thought it might be detrimental, such as in a job interview, and especially not after I got the job, in case they started asking me things like, "Why didn't you tell us before we hired you?" Uh, because if I did you wouldn't have hired me! I've found if it's going to be helpful to you or get you something you need or get someone to understand you better, then it's better to bring it up, but if you suspect all you'll get is grief, I wouldn't bother. I'm safe with my aspie shirt because 90% of the average population has no idea what Asperger's is. It's sort of like a code, letting people who understand what it is know why I might act strange while enabling all those who wouldn't get it to go about their day wondering what that strange word on my shirt meant.