It Depends
To disclose, or not to disclose one’s disability—it's a more nuanced question than you might think.
The Answer to Many Disability-Related Questions
I have owed
some thoughts about when to disclose one’s disability—presumably in the employment setting, but maybe in an academic setting as well. She even reposted an excellent article on the subject, How to Weigh the Risks of Disclosing a Disability, which I said I would respond to.I finally realized the other day that while general information and advice about disclosure (as in the above article) are a good starting point, they are missing something. It is missing the overarching advice written on my mug: It Depends.
It Depends
In my old job, I would begin answering so many questions with “It Depends” that administrators from other departments would start laughing (which is better than yelling) when I said it.
Looking specifically at the disclosure question, here are some considerations in the “It Depends” equation.
Do you have a visible disability or one that is not apparent?
If you have a visible disability, you have already disclosed. The question then becomes, do you want to tell them more about your disability? Do you have additional disabilities that aren’t obvious?
If you have an inapparent or “hidden disability,” YOU HAVE NO LEGAL OR MORAL OBLIGATION TO DISCLOSE YOUR DISABILITY! Sorry to yell, but this is a biggie. Your obligation to disclose your disability begins when you need to request an accommodation. Even if you know that you will need to ask for one or more accommodations, you are not obligated to disclose until you accept a job offer.
The type of job for which you are applying.
Why would you disclose if you are applying for a job that you believe you can do with no accommodations? We know that people with disabilities are under and unemployed more than the rest of the population. Why set yourself up for discrimination if you don’t have to?
Your (you, the disabled person) calculation about how your disability will become a factor if you get this job?
You have to be painfully realistic about how your disability will impact you in the course of doing the job you’re applying for. Because my disability is very visible, I always picked jobs I was ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN I could do. As a person with a visible disability, my work will very likely be under an extra high degree of scrutiny.
Is it a small company (under 15 employees), a start-up, or a big company with a big HR (Human Resources) department?
This can be really complicated. A big company has the highest legal obligation to accommodate employees with disabilities. A small company or a start-up may start out super-flexible but eventually lose all of that flexibility.
Do you know the person with whom you are interviewing?
If you have a casual acquaintance with the person who is interviewing you, they may already be somewhat aware of your disability. Consider this carefully; it can play out as an advantage or disadvantage.
Have you seen any signs that the company at least pays lip service to being “disability positive?” (I would look for these on their website. Examples would be a published administrative process for determining disability-related accommodations, a published DEI policy that includes people with disabilities), or mention of an employee interest group for disabilities would be good signs.)
If you are at their building, do you see any signs of wheelchair access considerations or Braille signage?
Did the job posting include a clause that says, “Please contact us if you need accommodations for the application process?”
Does the job involve serving people with disabilities? If so, you might want to disclose.
If you are interviewing with someone from a department that already works with people with various disabilities, they may well see your personal experience as a plus.
On the other hand, I worked with someone once, in just such a department, who said, “We don’t want anyone with kids or anyone with a disability,” when we were about to post a job. Nothing is certain.
A Couple of Examples From My Life
One of my first jobs was for Visa, the credit card company, back in the 1970s. (Yes, I am old. Yes, this was prior to any legal mandates about non-discrimination on the basis of disability in employment.) The job was to answer the phone and process approvals for merchants. It was completely within my wheelhouse.
The guy who hired me asked me about my disability in more of a curiosity sort of way—but again, there was no legal reason not to. It turned out that this supervisor had spent much of his childhood being sick at home. He was predisposed to having empathy for my situation.
Years later, at the same company, I was interviewed for a promotional opportunity by someone whose husband had a severe skin condition. She was also predisposed to giving me a chance.
The first boss I had in my “final job” ran our then-very small department, providing accommodations for students with all types of disabilities. After an initial honeymoon period, she hated my guts. She had expected that I would always agree with her opinion, and I didn’t.
I didn’t find out until a year after I had started that she actually despised people with disabilities. Her father had been disabled most of her life, and she thought of him as a malingerer. She had students she liked, to whom she gave whatever they wanted—her professionalism was a sliding scale.
Summary: It’s a Crap Shoot
Okay, I am partly kidding.
It is better now than it was 50 years ago, but not as much as one would hope. Like the last boss I mentioned in the examples above, you never know when the person interviewing you or making the hiring decision has deep-seated prejudices about people with disabilities. (Like racists or other types of bigotry, only the real diehards wear their prejudice on their sleeves.)
Or, in the past, a person with a disability worked for them and could not/did not do their job for whatever reason. If their sample is one, they are likely to be afraid to hire someone new with a disability.
But you never know.
If you feel a moral imperative to disclose your hidden disability because you think it is dishonest not to—more power to you. Of course, your new supervisor isn’t likely to disclose that they are an unrestrained bitch, or unreasonable with their expectations for EVERYONE.
Just sayin’.
Thanks for tackling this, Teri! I see what you mean now in terms of what was lacking from that article I sent you.
I do think there may be a further distinction to be made between invisible or hidden disabilities and ones that fall into that category but are primarily fatiguing in nature. Especially if the person will never be able to work more than an hour or two in a row, but could manage in a week’s time to work a 15-20 hour job. And especially if there’s a commute involved. Then I think disclosure may need to happen sooner rather than later. But hopefully once you’ve at least gotten the offer.