To Tell or Not to Tell
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Recently I was with a group of Aspie friends and there was a common theme amongst them. Many of them shared that they had, at one point in time, been fired from their job. They all seemed to have accepted that being fired was part of the Aspie learning curve. Most were fired because they were unable to adequately fulfill the social expectations of their various places of employment. My work experience has been fairly different from others.
I’ve been employed for about two years at the same place and have had a few problems but have been able to work around them. All of these problems occurred before I informed my boss that I have Aspergers. Looking back I can safely say that some of those problems could’ve been avoided if I’d told my boss that I have Aspergers in the beginning. One such problem that I had was when my productivity was dropping off because I was distracted by my phone. Thinking back on that incident, I do believe that it would’ve been handled more delicately had my boss known about my diagnosis.
That incident, and a couple others, prompted me to consider telling my boss about my Aspergers. I recently had a needed conversation with my boss, telling him about Aspergers and how it manifests itself in me and how the company could accommodate my particular needs. Honestly though, I don’t think my conversation would’ve had as much of an impact if my boss and the company didn’t value their individual employees to the extent that they do. My best advice for other Aspies is to try and find a place of employment that values its employees and tell the boss about your Aspergers in depth in order to get any accommodations or help that you may need.