Autism in the Workplace: The Role of Disclosure in Recruitment

This chapter examines neurodiversity and self-disclosure during the recruitment and selection process. Autism has been called an “invisible disability” because, in some cases, it cannot be readily observed by others (Richards in Personnel Review 41:630–646, 2012). Unlike physical disabilities which may be visibly perceived and discernable, individuals with invisible disabilities such as autism and other neurodiverse diagnoses may choose not to disclose their condition (Clair et al. in Academy of Management Review 30:78–95, 2005). The fear that they may be stigmatized for having a disability may affect the decision to disclose. It is important to examine the role of disclosure during the recruitment and selection process in order to understand its effects on the job search and choice experiences of young adults with autism and other neurodiverse diagnoses. Over the next decade, 707,000 to 1,116,000 autistic youth in the United States will enter adulthood (Shattuck et al. in Current Psychiatry Report 22, 2020) and will be poised to enter the workforce. Generation A refers to the over one million individuals with autism who will reach adulthood in the current decade (Hurley-Hanson et al. in Autism in the workplace: Creating positive outcomes for generation A, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). While much has been written about the school-to-work transition of young adults with autism, relatively little is known about their experiences during the recruitment and selection process (Giannantonio & Hurley-Hanson in Generation a: Research on autism in the workplace, Emerald Publishing, 2022).