“That Would Impact how They View me and how They View my Ability”: Understanding Workplace Structures That Facilitate and Hinder Autistic Employees’ Disclosure of Their Diagnosis

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Puma, G., Libster, N., Moura, I., Durrani, E., Herbert, G., Mueller, S., Taylor, J., & DaWalt, L. (2026). “That Would Impact how They View me and how They View my Ability”: Understanding Workplace Structures That Facilitate and Hinder Autistic Employees’ Disclosure of Their Diagnosis. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 65(2), 197-207. https://doi.org/10.1177/10522263261467031

Publication date: 21 Jul 2026 Added to AutiHub: 22 Aug 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
8
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 8 (12.5%)
  1. Gabriela Puma
  2. Natalie Libster
  3. Ian Moura *
  4. Eman Durrani
  1. Grace Herbert
  2. Sophia Mueller
  3. Julie Taylor
  4. Leann DaWalt

Abstract

Background Autistic adults experience barriers to employment, including inaccessible sensory conditions in the workplace, inflexible expectations and miscommunication with employers and colleagues. Disclosing their autism diagnosis to their employer may result in beneficial accommodations and supports, but may also lead to experiences of stigma and discrimination. Objective To improve workplace interventions and employment supports for autistic adults, there is a critical need to consider factors that facilitate and hinder disclosure in the workplace. Method The present study uses qualitative analysis of interview data of a sample of 92 autistic adults who participated at the initial timepoint of a longitudinal study examining the vocational trajectories of this population. Results Through our coding process, we identified three types of disclosure described by participants, which we linked to the levels of the Social Ecological Model: 1) Instrumental disclosure (Institutional); 2) Explanatory disclosure (Interpersonal), and 3) Identity-mediated disclosure (Individual). Conclusion We built on the Social Ecological Model to consider multiple levels of influence on autistic employees’ disclosure related decision-making and created a framework to support autistic adults, their employers and supported employment specialists in improving disclosure experiences.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 12 Sep 2026 01:04.

Cited references
33
With a DOI
30
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
3
2 / 33 (6.1%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 33 (3.0%)
References with detected author names
32 / 33 (97.0%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
107
From DOI or external metadata
107
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
45 / 107 (42.1%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 62 / 107 (57.9%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
2 / 107 (1.9%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 2 / 45 (4.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 2 / 93 (2.2%).
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