April 15th: Do you work? If so, what is that like for you? Are you open about being autistic at work? Alternatively, how open are you about being autistic? Do you tell a lot of people? Or just a select few? How do people normally react when you tell them? If you don’t tell people, then why?
I do work, full-time. I’ve been working from home for about seven years now, and I love it. I really don’t want to have to go back into an office again. For this job, which I love, where I work for a company that I love, I probably would.
I’ve held a wide-assortment of jobs through the years, and some of them even felt like careers. I’ve had jobs that I liked, and jobs that I hated, but I always hated having to give up my time, my attention, my sovereignty in order to be able to eat. There’s been very few things that I felt that I couldn’t do; I seemed to pick up most new jobs pretty quickly.
I came out about being autistic to my manager and my teammates when I got diagnosed. The company, I think, just knows that I have a disability, but I haven’t asked for any accommodations, other than working from home, which actually started for different reasons. I’m pretty sure I’m far from the only oddball who works here.
In general, I don’t tell people unless it comes up in conversation, mostly when talking about my kids, or if I am seeking an accommodation for some reason. I’m a quiet and private person. I’ll talk about it if you ask, but I won’t volunteer it.