5 Top Tips For Disclosing A Diagnosis At Work
Sharing your diagnosis in the workplace can be a tricky decision to make. You might have contrasting thoughts about the scenario, which can put you off a disclosure completely. However - there can be some really good outcomes.
My personal experiences of disclosing my Autism diagnosis have varied from non-existent, to disappointing, to complete relief. In my first full-time role, I didn’t disclose my diagnosis at all. At the time, I felt as though people might treat me differently if they knew. I don’t even think I had quite accepted my diagnosis myself at that point either. But I definitely had lots of negative thoughts like ‘I may be seen as an inconvenience’ or ‘they won’t trust me with responsibility anymore’.
Over the next year or so, I began to accept my diagnosis. I felt more confident about who I was and started to talk more openly. So in my second role, I decided I wanted to tell my manager about my Autism. I had been experiencing some anxiety and difficulties communicating, so felt the time was right to explain why I may be feeling that way. Only afterwards did I realise that my expectations were extremely high. I thought that disclosing my Autism would fix everything — but it didn’t.
My approach was — give them the diagnosis document, let them read it, and wait for them to come back and speak to me about how they might make adjustments. However, that wasn’t the case; and of course, I started to think that it was because people didn’t care. The opposite was true; they cared, but they didn’t fully understand, and I gave them nothing to work with. How could an employer be expected to read a diagnosis and just automatically know how to make things better? I had so much learning to do.
I eventually decided to take a free course online from FutureLearn called Supporting and Engaging People with Autism. Within this course, I had a ‘lightbulb’ moment and realised that the way I had been disclosing my diagnosis at work was not the best way to do it
So after taking all of my learning into account, I decided to share my diagnosis in my third and current role; and I went about it a whole different way. I felt relieved and free! My line manager was really understanding and took the time to think about what they could put in place to support me. I was even encouraged with my decision to talk to the whole team about my diagnosis. I feel that I now celebrate my Autism at work!
So you might be wondering - what did I do differently? Well, here are my top 5 tips for disclosing your diagnosis in the workplace.
1. Are you ready?
This is a serious question, even though it makes me want to break out into a Taylor Swift song. Make sure that before you share your diagnosis with work, that you feel ready and are comfortable. For me, it was about acceptance and celebrating everything that came with my Autism. You want to make sure you feel happy to talk with someone about the ins and outs of your situation.
2. Expectations
Not everyone is going to react to your disclosure in the way that you want them to. This is one reason why feeling ready to share is so important! You have to prepare to potentially hear some interesting reactions (mine is always “you don’t seem Autistic”). So, make sure you set your expectations a bit lower. Some employers might not know what to say or what to do, so...
3. Come with solutions, not problems
There has to be some consideration for your manager/employer in this situation. Naturally, not everyone knows everything about every disability or illness. So we need to make sure that when we do disclose, we can first say what we might struggle with — but then follow it up with what your employer can do to help. For example, I find it difficult to use telephones, so I made it clear that I’d rather stick to email communications at work.
4. Make some notes
Before you attend a meeting or chat about your diagnosis, it’s good to list the things that you might find difficult at work (and some potential solutions as above). Create a table with two columns on a notepad; one column for the problem and another for the solution. If you’re not sure, then you can always chat it through in the meeting.
5. Be proud of yourself
Making the decision to share your diagnosis is huge, and you really should be proud of yourself. You are doing an amazing job, no matter what stage you are at, and if you’re not quite ready yet — that’s OK! These things take time. Remember — don’t be hard on yourself, and just celebrate all the things that come with diversity. What makes us different makes us amazing!
Written by Lisa Bone