When to disclose: Job Interviews

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I personally will be a life long student. I intend to get a job at a university so I can take courses for free as a part of the benefits package, and acquire as much knowledge as I possibly can.

(Disclosure: I am an NT poster).

I can see pros and cons to this approach, which people have gone over well. The positive of this approach is that it turns the social skills component of the interview into a moot point and (hopefully) steers the interview towards an evaluation of skills and knowledge. It more or less says, "my social skills are not great and here's why but I do have this other set of skills which you will find of great use".

The negative of this approach is that it can put a fear in employers of what, beyond iffy social skills, they are getting themselves in for. Perhaps you have Autism Speaks and all those other groups putting out scary PSAs about autism to thank for that. Now when people hear "autism", a scare ad from Autism Speaks may be what pops into their heads.

It's a gamble either way.

But I can say this as an NT. Even if you think you ought to be judged purely on your skillset and knowledge during an interview, that's just not going to happen. This is what Padium has figured out and wants to jump right past via full disclosure. You WILL be judged on social skills unless it is a fellow Aspie doing the interview (which could happen). The disclosure approach risks that you will be instantly disqualified because it feels risky to the interviewer or that, if hired, you will be pigeonholed. But the non-disclosure route risks that you will be instantly disqualified based on social skills or, if hired, ultimately fired for not being a team player. With disclosure, if they hire you they are far less likely to fire you for not being a team player because, given the diagnosis, they have never expected you to be one.

I suppose it all depends on the job and how well you can "play the game" when needed. Job interviews test the outer limits of Nt social skills too, so if you are already at a strong disadvantage there, maybe Padium's gamble is worth it. There are positive stereotypes of AS too and putting it out on the table can bring to mind those positve sterotypes (which hopefully override the scary stuff Autism Speaks is always saying) and make the interviewer think "ok, not going to be a team player but is more likely to be very focused and won't fritter the day away texting friends". If you try to bluff social skills and fail, none of those positive stereotypes get a chance to work in your favor. And if you assume that social skills are irrelevent and you will be judged only on skillset and knowledge...not gonna happen. So Padium's gamble makes sense. But it's still a gamble.

Or, in simpler terms, it's a lose/lose risk you take.

Disclose - Good chance of it being held against you, but there's a chance the employer won't do that.

Don't Disclose - Good chance your lack of social skills will cost you the job anyhow, but if you do get hired not knowing about your autism might result in your future termination if it causes problems in the workplace.

It still boils down to what chances you want to take.

If I knew an employer was pro-disabled in hiring, I might choose to play the AS card and focus on my technical skills. After all, I'd be happier working alone most of the time anyway.

If I didn't know how an employer felt, I'd not disclose and hope to get the job. I could always disclose later IF co-workers start having issues with me over stupid stuff not job related (which is often the case I've faced in the past).

If a place won't take you because of autism, they would fire you for undiagnosed/undisclosed autism eventually anyways if you did get the job by not disclosing, and because you never disclosed, they can legally do that.

Maybe...maybe not.

There is no legal ground to say an applicant MUST disclose a disability during the hiring process. In fact I'm fairly certain the ADA would prohibit that position. I know some places asked for disclosure of disabilities that CAN NOT be dealt with via reasonable accommodation, but that was a few years ago, and I think that hit a snag because it was pushing the envelope towards what was prohibited.

If you get hired without disclosing a disability, it becomes a chess game. So long as there are no problems, you don't need to ever tell them, but once problems begin, it's time to either lawyer up, submit written notice, etc. (as you deem appropriate) so that the employer knows his/her duty under the ADA to provide REASONABLE accommodation. If you get your papers in order first, any termination will be viewed as retaliatory and illegal. If the employer axes you first on a claimed "non-disability issue" first, you will have the uphill climb to prove it was a pretextual termination.

Sure, they may notice it, but there are no legal grounds for firing someone because they seem "quirky" or "odd." But once you disclose, the word "disability" is out there, and at that point they are going to keep a very close eye on you to make sure you can perform the essential functions of the job. BEcause if you can't, they can let you go and the ADA can do nothing about it.

So again... I think disclosing is a bad idea unless your back is to a wall and you are pretty much forced to askfor accomodations to avoid being fired.

Nordic

They obviously don't have a 3 strike legal policy for employment where you are... Where I am, after probation is finished, an employer must have at least 3 documented cases where the employee has not been performing properly, and these must be signed by the employee (and the employee has the right not to sign it if it is unjust) within a certain period of time from the date on the documentation in order to be valid.

I don't know how Canada deals with employment rights for the disabled, but I do know absent some legal requirement under Canadian law, I'd only disclose once the disability poses a problem that could be dealt with with minor to moderate accommodations.

Canada or the USA, if they discriminate against you in hiring because of your disability, I'm pretty sure YOU have to PROVE it. Just throwing around the accusation isn't going to get anything done and employers learn very fast on how to get around requirements of law so that they can do what they should not do and make it look legitimate in an investigation.

Aren't there laws, like the UK's "Disability Discrimination Act"?

I do disclose it, but not the actual term. I just tell them I'm a little weird as a part of my creative process. When they ask me what makes me weird, I think about wrong planet and spit all the things that makes me Asperers such as I monologue, overly honest, volunteer too much info sometimes, very job oriented and hate office politics and gossip, etc.

I also try my hardest to follow their game in the process, like the firm hand shake, eye contact, etc. I go in with the idea that I'm talking for my husband, like when I send an email or write a cover letter for him. He's very short, to the point, and vague. But I can't control my urges 100% to go on for a little or volunteer info, so I kinda pick and choose my battles. I seem to do better at trying to manage myself rather than change myself all together. The other thing I do now that makes it easier that I do different from NT's is I don't think about it beforehand except once I pull in the parking lot for it. The stress and anxiety of worrying about it is one of my biggest control killers. So I don't think about it until I'm there, and then it's only like a minute do I remind myself some basics like making eye contact and being short and to the point and keeping myself a mystery (In other words, don't volunteer info). Kinda like a minute to regain my military bearing.

Also people don't like negative people. Yeah life has its negative moments, and many people's work history is full of them. But if you go in with the attitude that things worked out better in the end because of all those negative experiences, it helps for you to avoid going into any negative detail. Sometimes I forget and it comes out wrong because I have detached myself from it emotionally. But the attitude that everything has its pro's and con's, strengths and weaknesses, and it's about managing those things to work together for the common good that seems to impress people. So in a way, my Asperger nature to detach myself emotionally from situations has worked in my favor. I just harnessed it is all I did. My Aspie nature is also why I tend to dwell on negative things and become angry about it, but now I've learned how to detach myself from even that which has been a big deal in my way to approach people all together.

The other thing my Aspie nature tends to do is sell myself short. You gotta watch that too in interviews because a smile is contagious. Just like that smile, your attitude about yourself is also contagious. People are generally herding type in mentality, so if you lead with I'm awesome, they will generally follow with "he's awesome." Your goal in that interview is to get the other guy to believe that he himself is awesome, that you are awesome, and together you two would be more awesome. As silly and cheesy as it sounds, that's kinda the only reason for the interview. The resume answers the question, can this guy do the job? The interview answers the question, can this guy do the job with me?

Keep in mind too that some of your best social butterflies don't get the job because now a days, there is so much competition for them. People with Masters degrees are applying for positions that make less than 40,000 a year. I've had a lady bag my groceries who had a Bachelors.

There is a great book called "What Color is Your Parachute" that tells you ways to find a job without going through the old school process of responding to ads with resumes and interviews etc. Maybe you'd be more comfortable using some of those techniques. If you do go old school, my suggestion is to use your creativity to work through the loops rather than knocking them down or avoiding them all together. Also, apply for jobs you are over qualified for where you don't out qualify the manager.

You gotta watch using words like autism and aspergers. Most people don't know enough about it, not even the shrinks. I have yet to meet any professional who knew more than the wrongplanet members on the subject (except the Birth to 3 lady..she had some good comments to make on the subject). So when you tell them that, you risk being mislabeled. I feel for you though. I've had many a moment where I just want to start off with, let's cut the s**t and get to the point. But then I realized interviews have no point other than conversation. It's about getting an overall feel for you, nothing else. It doesn't matter what you answer those questions with as much as how you answer them and that you don't go overboard with the what. Like if they say what is your greatest strength and you reply with taking over the world, yeah that will get your resume in the trash pretty fast. But, if you don't know which reply is better like my ability to work with numbers vs my ability to multitask, it doesn't matter. But still, interviews are like cocktail hour before dinner. Or the get to know each other part of orientation. You can almost treat it like a first date without all the weird flirty kissing stuff. Keep in mind too, while they are trying to get to know you, you should be trying to get to know them. You don't want to work with a jerk, and you don't want a job where one month into it you start looking for another job.