@actuallyautistic #AskingAutistics i’m a late diagnosed autistic and wondering if anyone has any advice for self disclosing to an employer?
for context, i've been at my job for 5 years, get very good reviews, and am not intending to ask for accommodation unless my work from home status changes.
my employer has a good PR game on being supportive, respectful, inclusive, etc. but my immediate sphere is at times very toxic.
hoping self disclosure may give me some legal class protection.
@nohecate there is an brand new internal group but they are not in any shape yet to be of help.
based on past experience and things i’ve seen (here and in prior jobs), i am a wee bit leery of HR.
and while i do not think the behavior will change, it may add a different color to their behavior as it continues, to make it finally cross that HR would do something.
@filmfreak75 @actuallyautistic
My advice, and my own guideline, is to live authentically in as many places as I safely can. This applies in my case to being queer, nonbinary, and neurofabulous in different ways in different spaces.
What feels safe can change over time and I have to respect my own ability to sense danger. I gather information over time within each space, and with each person. I test the waters and evaluate reactions.
With respect to autism and work, my testing has been to disclose some bits of information about myself but not yet the label autism. For example, I say things like "minds like mine" or "I am really good at juggling one ball" instead of "I am autistic." I say, "My strengths come out when I can pursue the topics most interesting to me without interruption until they are complete" instead of "I want accommodations to prevent people from interrupting me."
I did eventually tell one of the partners that I am autistic, because there was a situation where someone was not getting the right sort of accommodation and I got involved. I could tell the partner did not understand why I was getting involved, so I told him. I think it helped resolve the situation.
We should always protect our agency about private information - private means it is our information to control, not that it has to be secret but that we get to decide who knows it. Authentic disclosure is empowering only when it feels reasonably safe, and it can be a benefit to those around us, often in ways we do not and may not ever see.
@GTMLosAngeles yeah, this is the issue -- i do not think it will change certain people's behaviors, but it might prove a shield if i move to make a complaint again, as it might be taken more serious.
Sean C.
nohecate
TheClothesHaveNoEmperor