going public

[sammason]

A post on somebody's LJ got me thinking about how much we crips do, and don't, announce our disabilities. How this varies between contexts and how it varies between disabilities

Comments

[cat63]

I've worked in a lot of different places and there seems to be quite a wide range of what people think it's acceptable to ask questions about. Some folk have asked me things that I wouldn't dream of inquiring into when it comes to other people, because it simply isn't any of my business unless they choose to tell me.

I think that beyond what people need to know in order to provide any help or support you might need, it ought to be entirely your choice what information you give them about your disability, but unfortunately you're probably going to encounter people who have different ideas of boundaries and don't see anything wrong in asking personal questions. I'm always a bit thrown by that, and don't know what to say in response.

[farnam]

As far as I recall (working from memory here) there are only a very limited number of conditions that you are legally required to disclose to an employer. These are: TB must be disclosed to any and all employers, confirmed diagnosis of alcaholism must be disclosed to employers in some types of employment and circumstances, confirmed diagnosis of gambling must be disclosed in some circumstances to some employers depending on the type of job. And thats it. Anything else you are legally allowed to keep to yourslef if you wish. Obviously, if you need to ask for a resonable accomodation then you need to explain why, but otherwise you don't