Disability employment legal rights clarification request - Asperger Syndrome

Googlewhacker wrote: »

As above, it seems to me that you are stressing the negatives of Aspergers far to much which I guess is coming across to employers.

Concentrate on the positives of Aspergers and you really need to learn stock answers for this so that you can bring this into an interview conversation.

It seems whatever I do I come up against a brick wall. I have decided that as it seems I have so much difficulty, that I need to divulge my Aspergers to employers and that consideration needs to be made of it - otherwise they will reject me regardless. Concentrating on positives and benefits and so on would not have helped in this particular instance as their decision related to the negative aspects anyway. As I said feedback said "[FONT=&quot]Candidate was technically strong and showed some good insights into related issues, his technical presentation was well researched and well delivered. He [/FONT][FONT=&quot]lacked evidence of some of the key competencies needed for such a senior position, notably team working and customer appreciation.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]" [/FONT]

The decision whether to give me a job or not in every instance has hinged purely on the negative aspects of my condition in every single interview regardless of whether I divulged the condition or not and whatever I said in the interview. If I do not mention the negative aspects (which I only do so briefly and concisely), then the negative aspects that become obvious in the interview will be far more apparent and I am less likely to get anywhere. I need to pre-warn them, so to speak, that I will not appear to be a normal person in an interview. Highlighting the positives will not help if they have the mindset that certain abilities are important, and that if you have a disability which prevents you doing well at these things then you may as well be unemployed all your life. The positive aspects of my condition are probably no better reflected than in the fact I got a first class honours degree!

Googlewhacker wrote: »

What do you hope to gain by going down the legal route?

I would like the law to be upheld, and feel that if I was able to create case-law, this may benefit not only myself - but everyone with a similar or related atypical neurological condition who finds themselves in my position. I think being nearly 31 and never having had a paid job is pretty **** and I don't want anyone else to end up in similar circumstances. In reality I realise employers will just tighten up making sure they don't divulge evidence for the real reasons for not employing someone - but even then at least I have achieved something.

Googlewhacker wrote: »

So on one hand you want it tailored to your disability but on the other hand you don't as its discriminatory?

You appear to have misunderstood, or perhaps I did not explain what I intended to get across well.

Non-disabled candidates all asked question 1
Disabled candidate asked question 2 instead - of which it relates indirectly to things they may have difficulty with due to their disability

There is something wrong in that situation!

Also take for example everyone being asked to complete a written test, and one of them happens to have dyslexia and is rejected because they did poorly on the written test - when writing is absolutely nothing to do with the job. That would be a clear case of discrimination.

I want a job based on my ability to do the job. From the above feedback it seems clear to me that they thought I would be good at everything but the teamwork and customer appreciation - two skills I have difficulty with due to my Aspergers. I feel I should be offered a position based on my ability to do it compared with the other candidates, and that this decision should not be clouded by things I find difficult due to my disability - which it clearly was.

heretolearn wrote: »

Employers still can and will make a decision based on your skills and abilities, whether these are under your control or not. They don't have to make allowances for this, their interest is in getting the best possible person for the job, and doing that is not discrimination. It would be discrimination if your disability made no difference to your ability to do the job (with reasonable adjustments if necessary). So a wheelchair user should be considered equally for a job where the only difference it makes is that they might need the office rearranged a bit, but a wheelchair user can't apply for a job that requires a different type of mobility, for example as a window cleaner, and then say that because their ability to climb a ladder is not under their control, the employer is discriminating if they don't give them the job.

Unfortunately, although your technical side was excellent and you could have coped with the communications side, there were probably several applicants whose technical side AND communications were excellent, so the employer was quite right and legally sound to give the job to one of those people instead of you.

And where does that leave me? All jobs out there expect these types of abilities, every single one, even if you think they do not. Should I give up applying for jobs? Am I wasting my time? I can't go on living life with no money and so suicide seems ever increasingly the only option, particularly if I have to accept your perspective.

You wheelchair user as a window cleaner is entirely different to me and the position I applied for. If the employer is able to consider deaf applicants for the post, as they said they were by offering a sign language interpreter, what is the difference where I am concerned? A deaf person would also have difficulties with those aspects of the job.

If I had been subject to the same evaluations when it came to going to University, I would never have got a First Class honours degree. Employers could be missing out on the best employee ever, without realising it.

If you look here http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/advice-and-guidance/guidance-for-employers/ I think you may find you are wrong.

Emmzi wrote: »

wantsajob, do you know how abrasive your posts appear?

Obviously not. I apologise (if that makes any difference). Maybe if you were in my position you would be the same.

Emmzi wrote: »

Every suggestion has been rejected/ tried it/ they were useless etc.

I continue to see the DEA and Remploy despite them having little obvious utility. I am willing to try anything and everything.

Emmzi wrote: »

How can you present yourself more positively for employers?

The negative aspects will be there regardless and will be obvious when I am asked questions.

I cannot consider how I could have presented myself any more positively for the last position. In fact I believe I performed far better in that interview than any other interview I have been to. This seems to be apparent in them considering my technical ability to be good. The only way I could have done so would be to be what I would consider "fake" and to lie and be dishonest and to try and suggest I have abilities that I don't by giving dishonest and disingenuous replies to questions. This seems to be what everyone else does, so maybe I should give it a go?

Even going into the usual list of positives about Aspergers.

• accuracy
• a good eye for detail and reliability
• an excellent memory for facts and figures
• the ability to thrive in a structured, well-organised work environment.

I would have considered these are all evident from the results of my educational qualifications.

Emmzi wrote: »

Or is it all about the law and rights for you? Do you not really want a job?

A job has been my ultimate aim for many years. What is so wrong about someone having legal rights and enforcing them? The rights are constantly ignored and flouted by employers - and the whole point which you seem to have missed about rights and laws is that they are about getting a job. I can't see how the two are incompatible. Faced with the apparent impossibility of getting a job, legal rights appears to be the only avenue open to further explore.

Emmzi wrote: »

I could offer lots of ideas but I don't want to invest the time if you are not receptive.

I'm investing my time here because ultimately I want a job, hence my username. Otherwise I would not be here, I'd be sat on the couch watching TV not applying for jobs like all those chavs out there who prefer to live off benefits. I would not have purchased and read three books on Aspergers and employment cover to cover.

I am receptive, but my situation is a particularly difficult and challenging one. Otherwise I would have managed to get a job.

Horace wrote: »

OP, you say that attending Remploy is a waste of time, I know that it isnt, one of my friends was unemployed for a long time due to having epilepsy and being made redundant from his previous job - he eventually found a job via Remploy with one of their employment partners John Lewis - he now runs the menswear department in his local John Lewis store. Remploy work with many firms and assist people with disabilities to find work within those firms.

They have only offered an opportunity to apply for one of their partners once. It was for Sainsburys collecting trolleys a couple of hours each evening. I thought long and hard about the opportunity, eventually deciding against it as by the time I have travelled there each day, travel costs would have taken an hours wages off, and with it only being a few hours a day... I'm still not sure if it was the right choice, but the choice has been made now.