top of page

Autism Disclosure: What It Is, And How It Can Be Made Easier

Writer's picture: Annie KrollAnnie Kroll

Robot on a computer
Disclosure can happen online or in person

Autism disclosure is the process of telling others you have autism. This process occurs frequently for every new job, friend, coworker, and more. For my research, I read a study that used social media to analyze autism disclosure. This week, I want to break down the results, and how that affects autistic people. At the end, I will give some advice to help make this process easier for any autistic people in your life.


Providing autistic people the space and resources to disclose their autism is important because without it, autistic people are less likely to get the support and accommodations they need. In my own experience, I have had times where telling people I had autism greatly enhanced the friendship or working relationship because there was a better understanding of how I prefered to communicate and ask for certain accommodations. However, I have also had times where when I disclosed my autism, I was treated badly. In other cases, the relationships completely ended due to the other person not wanting to deal with the differences my autism would mean. There are four main themes with autism disclosure, shared by autistic people, that I want to share below (Edwards et. al, 2023).


1. People and society at large don’t understand autism, which can affect work, dating, healthcare, and mental health. This point is the most in-depth. Autism is not largely understood in larger social contexts, which puts the burden on me to explain my symptoms and needs to people. When I have asked for accomodations in academic and workplace settings, there often times are not systems set into place for me to use. This means that I am taking more time to design new mechanisms to get my needs met, compared to having systems designed by professionals. This has led to some misrepresentations of my character. For example, one of my strengths is I am really good at asking questions ahead of time, so when it is time to start the task I have worked through the logistics. However, I have been labeled as annoying, overbearing, and less smart because of the lack of understanding of how my brain works. This then affects my mental health, because I am put in positions to have to choose between understanding what is asked of me, or facing judgement from others who might not understand.


These perceptions can affect employment, because there is no clear way to regulate passive discrimination. While it is illegal to deny someone a job for being autistic, there is no way to nit pick an autistic candidate's resume a little bit more than a non autistic candidate due to a lack of autism knowledge and increased judgement. There is a huge battle I face when it comes to disclosure. I happen to disclose early, but I also am trying to make a career for myself where my disabilities are considered a strength. That is not possible in every industry, and has cost people jobs (Edwards et. al, 2023). There can also be misconceptions about autism that affect healthcare, as certain symptoms might be dismissed, ignored, or attributed to an incorrect perception of autism. My autism isn't always taken seriously by mental health or medical professionals because I do not fit the stereotype of autism. But, I am very confident that it was an accurate diagnosis and it has explained a lot of how my brain works.


2. Autistic people want privacy and respect with or without announcing their autism. The pressure to disclose can be harsh because without sharing an autism diagnosis, certain traits are more likely to be judged. I had an instance where I was being judged for asking for information for an assignment, and the only time the snarky comments were retracted was because I disclosed my autism diagnosis and expressed stress for having less than a week to do an assignment worth a large portion of my grade. While it was nice I got an apology after disclosing my disability to the professor, I wanted to be respected for my concerns regardless of if the person knew I was formally diagnosed.


3. Autistic people can provide valuable inclusion, knowledge, and representation. I have found that when other professionals disclose they have autism or are neurodivergent in a different way, I feel more understood because there are similarities. I have a therapist who has ADHD, and while those conditions are not the same, I find it easier to listen to some of the advice she gives me because I know we have similar strengths and weaknesses due to how our brains function. I also found that sharing my autism diagnosis gave me some opportunities. The research I do allows me to work with topics that affect my community. I get to share first hand experience, and use my autism as a strength to be able to relate to others who might interact with the study who have autism.


4. Non-autistic people can act as allies to help take the burden of disclosure from autistic people. Right now, the burden to disclose and access accommodations is on the autistic person. I think some systems could be put into place that could make it easier for autistic people, and people with other disabilities, to go through the process of disclosure. I am going to list some ways I would want someone to react when I disclose my autism.

1. Thank you for sharing that with me. I haven't really heard that too often, and usually it can be an awkward conversation. A statement like this would really help ease the tension, because for so long an autism diagnosis was framed to be a guarded secret.

2. Questions: When I share that I have autism, I am afraid of judgement and I am worried that communicating will be harder before it gets easier. I would hope that the person I am sharing with would be comfortable asking two questions. The first is: "Is there anything that would help make communication easier?" This question would help me be able to share that I thrive with direct communication. Any boundary that you have, I truly intend to respect it and direct communication helps me understand what is being asked of me. The second question is to the effect of, "Are there things or activities that are easier or harder for you to do." This question is vague because it needs to be reframed depending on if this is a workplace setting or a friend. For a friend, I might say that I am happy doing anything involving us hanging out one on one or in small groups, but I will probably bow out of any concert invitations. But please don't take it personally, I just don't love loud music and would rather hang out with you when we both are having fun. And for a professional setting, I would start asking for accomodations and highlighting my strengths. Asking follow up questions without being too invasive helps me to still have autonomy about what I share, while also guiding the conversation towards ways to set up expectations.

3. I hope that things become more friendly towards people with disabilities so that accommodations are less of a hassle for everyone involved. Now, ramps and elevators are included with most new buildings, so asking for help to get to a higher floor with a wheelchair isn't nearly as complicated as it would be with only stairs. I hope that tools can be integrated for everyone's benefit, so it is easier to gain equitable access.


Thank you for reading about autism disclosure and how it can affect autistic people. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out at @Anniekrollblog over on Instagram or Facebook. I hope to see you next week!


References:

Edwards, C., Love, A. M. A., Jones, S. C., Cai, R. Y., Nguyen, B. T. H., & Gibbs, V. (2024). ‘Most people have no idea what autism is’: Unpacking autism disclosure using social media analysis. Autism, 28(5), 1107-1119. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231192133

2 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Yorumlar


bottom of page