Disclosure

Rules For A Good Disclosure

• Script your disclosure. Write it down and have it critiqued. Run through it with friends who are employers, with people in the working world.
  
  
• Rehearse your disclosure script until you feel comfortable and good about it, not only with your lips, but also with your body language.
  
  
• When you prepare your script, avoid being too clinical or too detailed. It may be of great interest to you, but the interviewer wants to know only three things: will you be there; can you do the job as well or better than anyone else; will you be of value to the company?
  
  
• Remember your script and be positive about your skills and abilities. The more positive you are, the more you will convey that you are you and "just happen to have a disability." Conversely, the more you discuss your disability, the more important it will become in the employer's mind.

Pros

• Reduction of stress. Many people report that "hiding is more stressful than telling."



• You will have "cleared the air" and will know what to expect.



• Release from the worry that a past employer or reference might inadvertently "drop" the fact that you have a disability.



• Full freedom to examine and question health insurance and other benefits.



• Freedom to communicate with your employer should you face changes in your condition.



• Disclosure may make you feel more "comfortable." That word is the real key to the issue of disclosure.
  

Cons

• Bad past experience(s): rejection or loss of a job because of the disability.
  
  
• Fear of being placed in a "dead-end job."
  
  
• Fear of being an object of curiosity.
  
  
• Fear that if something doesn't go right, it will be blamed on the disability
  
  
• Fear of being "different."
  
  
• Mostly, just fear of not getting the job.