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liquidmetalrob

Applying for TESOL course, should I disclose my Aspergers?

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Hi everyone, I'm planning to apply to do a TESOL course (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and when I was looking at the online application I noticed there was a section for "Disabilities". I know Aspergers is classed as a disability but then it's still my choice surely as to whether I disclose it. Just as a bit of background, I was actually only diagnosed six months ago, so this is still all somewhat new to me. What do you guys think?

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Hi

 

I do not have any personal experience of this however my own opinion is that it would depend on whether or not you feel you may need help with the course?

 

If you did'nt declare it now but found you were struggling further on it would be hard to get any support as they could argue you never mentioned it before.

 

Thats just my thoughts though.

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I'd say - and this is only my opinion of what I'd do if it was me - only disclose if you think you are going to need some adjustments making. You are under no obligation to disclose, and so it is your decision.

 

I haven't disclosed in my workplace, as there is no more they could reasonably do (and they inadvertently put me in an office on my own which suits me just fine). I am in informal contact with the DSO people, but hopefully this is all it will need to be. I'm guessing the TESOL course is reasonably short-term unless you are doing it part-time (I did one myself many moons ago)?

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Thanks guys. I've decided I won't mention it in the application, but when I have the interview I'll have a chance to talk about it if I feel it's appropriate.

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I'm having this discussion at the moment with my son. The question is usually phrased, "do you consider yourself to have a disability?". My advice to him was that if he felt his Asperger's doesn't affect him in any way, then he should say no. However, even though he hates to disclose or face up to his Asperger's himself, he did admit that he feels it does affect him severely in all circumstances. In that case, I said to him that he would be doing himself a disservice if he didn't disclose it and give people the opportunity to take it into consideration when dealing with him. Others could make assumptions about him that are not correct and it wouldn't be fair on him if they didn't know about his Asperger's and so then thought things about him that were not true.

 

Anyway, that's what I've said to him. You might feel yourself that your AS won't affect you in most circumstances and that you'll cope perfectly fine, in which case you'd have no need of extra considerations or allowances made for you (sounds patronizing, but can't think of another term).

 

Good luck with the course.

 

~ Mel ~

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Are you planning to teach abroad?

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Not primarily, I'm aiming to just teach in the UK. I'm not ruling it out, if I had a good offer to go and teach abroad for a bit I might well do it, but I'd want to come back. Why do you ask?

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I'm curious as to how one would go about accessing support services in another country. Would the DWP even know about their counterparts overseas or whether there are equivalent schemes to Access to Work?

 

My personal interest in this stems from having had a really bad experience as an Erasmus student, as mentioned elsewhere on these fora. I have often wondered how differently things might have panned out if I'd been diagnosed with Asperger's at the time. Would I have simply been told not to go? Also I have wondered to what extent I'm suffering from the consequences of that disastrous experience today. I know Asperger's is not caused by traumatic events, but I suspect my Swedish nightmare left me with an enhanced aversion to uncertainty. I remember declaring after I came back: "I never again want to just muddle through somehow. I want to know what's expected of me every step of the way!" Considering how often I've been accused at work of needing too much guidance, not much has changed there.

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