Hi,
I'm delurking to ask this. I've worked as a TA and later HLTA in a state school and one of the requirements of employment was filling out a health questionnaire, which was followed up by a phone call from a third party asking for further details I think to confirm that I was fit for the job? It was many years ago so I don't remember exactly.
Anyway, getting to the point, I'm considering being assessed for ASD. Both I and my therapist strongly suspect I have it, and I'm currently a mature student at university (studying education, with a view to working with primary-aged children in some capacity, not necessarily as a classroom teacher) where having it recognized would be beneficial to me.
But -
- would I be required to disclose any formal diagnosis to the school/organization I wanted to work for?
- if I did, how likely would they be to view this in a very negative light and for it to affect my chances of finding employment?
It's my belief that having differences of my own has been a positive quality when I've been working with children with a variety of SEN. I know that I was good at what I did and my appraisals, comments from managers, etc, reflected that. I'm worried, though, that if I have to disclose it, future employers will see the diagnosis and not give me a chance, even if they can't officially 'discriminate' on that basis.
Any information or opinions from anyone working in education would be welcome!