Autistic Counseling Psych PhD Applicant

[noncompliant94]

Hi everyone! I am an autistic woman who is applying to counseling psychology PhD programs. I was recently accepted to one of my top choice programs.

I did not disclose the fact that I am autistic during the application. I have disclosed it in essays I've published online but I'm not sure whether the program google searched me or not. 

I'm not sure whether this is something I should disclose or not before I enter the program? I may need accommodations in terms of testing, and it would be nice to just have a little bit of understanding in case I get overwhelmed/need to take a break from class/come off as slightly awkward or fidgety. But I'm also scared that this means I will be assumed to be a less competent clinician or researcher.

I did speak a bit about doing autistic rights advocacy work in the application process. And I put forth some critical perspectives on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in my interview and the writing sample that was required during the interview. The people I spoke with seemed relatively open to this...I mean, they still accepted me as an applicant!

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[AnxiousNerd]

I would maybe get in touch with the disabilities accomodation office at the university and get their opinion. I personally do not think you would need to disclose it beforehand, as they accepted you based on your merit, not your social skills or ability to stay still. But if you do need extended time on tests and breaks during class, I would talk to the office of disability accomodation, maybe get something in writing from them, and then ask for a meeting with the DGS before classes start. I am interested in hearing the other responses though! Good luck and congrats!!

[noncompliant94]

28 minutes ago, AnxiousNerd said:

I would maybe get in touch with the disabilities accomodation office at the university and get their opinion. I personally do not think you would need to disclose it beforehand, as they accepted you based on your merit, not your social skills or ability to stay still. But if you do need extended time on tests and breaks during class, I would talk to the office of disability accomodation, maybe get something in writing from them, and then ask for a meeting with the DGS before classes start. I am interested in hearing the other responses though! Good luck and congrats!!

Thank you so much! This is very helpful.

[Clinapp2017]

Congrats on getting into a program! That’s a big step!

 

My main question/concern centers not on your academic merit, but working with clients? How do you feel about that type of social interaction?

[noncompliant94]

47 minutes ago, Clinapp2017 said:

Congrats on getting into a program! That’s a big step!

 

My main question/concern centers not on your academic merit, but working with clients? How do you feel about that type of social interaction?

I feel good about working with clients. I feel that being autistic and experiencing the ableism and exclusion that comes with has given me more empathy for others experiencing exclusion and marginalization. Also, I think that my ability to take a critical look at the arbitrary nature of social norms helps me be a lot less judgmental and more accepting toward people. My friends, family, and the people I work with comment that I am their go-to person for if they need to tell someone something about themselves and be guaranteed a nonjudgmental ear. I do have 2 years of experience working directly with people with mental health challenges and am constantly providing informal peer support. 

My question is more about me being assumed to be a less competent clinician due to being autistic. Will I constantly need to be justifying/explaining myself if I disclose that I am autistic?

[Clinapp2017]

6 hours ago, noncompliant94 said:

I feel good about working with clients. I feel that being autistic and experiencing the ableism and exclusion that comes with has given me more empathy for others experiencing exclusion and marginalization. Also, I think that my ability to take a critical look at the arbitrary nature of social norms helps me be a lot less judgmental and more accepting toward people. My friends, family, and the people I work with comment that I am their go-to person for if they need to tell someone something about themselves and be guaranteed a nonjudgmental ear. I do have 2 years of experience working directly with people with mental health challenges and am constantly providing informal peer support. 

My question is more about me being assumed to be a less competent clinician due to being autistic. Will I constantly need to be justifying/explaining myself if I disclose that I am autistic?

Given that there are pros (which you've noted) and cons to social skills in autism *generally* across most people with ASD, I think that is where the biggest barrier will lie potentially with supervisors for clinical work whom are aware (or not aware) of the condition. This is by no means professional advice, as I would seek out clsoe mentors to talk to this about more closely, but by not disclosing you run a risk that IF your social skills are an impedement to treatment, your supervisor may be concerned not knowing that there is a justification. 

 

Personally, I think knowing yourself and working on strengthening your pros and addressing cons is great, and probably best achieved by discussing this with people you trust. I am sure you are not the first person with ASD in the field, so obvious some people have done this. 

[birdy-bear]

On February 7, 2018 at 2:29 AM, noncompliant94 said:

I'm not sure whether this is something I should disclose or not before I enter the program? I may need accommodations in terms of testing, and it would be nice to just have a little bit of understanding in case I get overwhelmed/need to take a break from class/come off as slightly awkward or fidgety. But I'm also scared that this means I will be assumed to be a less competent clinician or researcher.

My understanding is that in order to receive accommodations, you will disclose your diagnosis to the disability office, but the disability office will ONLY disclose your accommodations (not your diagnosis) to the faculty members in your program. I don't know if this is a legal requirement or if it's true for every school, so I would check with your school's disability office. If this is true for your program, at least you can consider your legal rights separately from the social piece. 

As for the social piece, this is deeply personal decision that would and should vary from person to person, but I can give you my perspective! I generally prefer to disclose my diagnosis (and learn about someone's else diagnosis) after I've gotten to know someone fairly well, for both reasons you stated: Waiting provides them the opportunity to get to know me before my diagnosis (or vice versa), and theoretically lessen/challenge biases and preconceived notions... and... Eventually disclosing gives the person empathy for the challenges I'm facing and context for why I am the way that I am (or vice versa). It's the best of both worlds. I do also think it helps to have already built a relationship where we have an actual, meaningful conversation about my diagnosis (or theirs). That can be tough ground to break meaningfully in a first conversation. 

However, with your work in autistic rights advocacy and the fact that autism came up in both your interviews and writing sample, it leads me to think that autism is an important part of your identity, and I think that would factor into your decision to disclose as well. You know yourself best, but if it's an important part of who you are, I wonder if you'll feel like you're hiding your true self if you choose not to disclose.

You ask if you'll constantly need to to explain/justify yourself if you disclose that you're autistic---there will be people who will judge your clinical skills based on actual performance regardless of disclosure, people who may initially default to biases that will lessen as they get to know you, and people who will always see you and your clinical skills through their prejudice-colored glasses. If you want to disclose early, I think your current approach--talking about related topics and gauging your faculty and colleagues' responses--is a smart way to get a feel for potential biases or pitfalls ahead of disclosing.

Edited February 8, 2018 by birdy-bear

[PokePsych]

Would it be an option to talk with some person on the staff about this, or maybe a fellow student who has been there longer to talk about the general 'openmindedness' of the department to those things? (or even ask if there has been students like that in the past).

One way or another - I'd personally go for telling, but that's on my experiences. I have a younger brother with autism (albeit I'd say a mild version) who studies Social Work (yep, also helping people). He attended a different university and major before where he did not disclose his autism. Not only did this result in both the department, university, and classmates be increasingly not understanding, it also led to a lot of irritations between him and the people he had to deal with. Furthermore, the fact that he could not have some quiet space every now and then and other (small and big) accommodations that he needed were not in place led him to drop out of this program. Big part was because he did not disclose which led him to perform very suboptimal and he was very tired (physically and mentally) trying to hide his autism. 

This time around he choose to disclose the first day. He asked everyone to gather around in his year, and staff was invited too. He explained about himself and that he's not crazy or weird - just he perceives the world a bit different sometimes. He then allowed people to ask questions. (Never have I felt more proud of him <3). Maybe because he studies social work - I don't know - but this department, as well as his classmates, have been extremely accepting of him being a little bit 'different' and they are totally inclusive of him and occasionally praise his different point of view. I think the fact that he was confident enough to make such a bold statement and has shown that he's not that different really from any guy his age (even more mature in some ways due to the challenges he had already overcome) has helped him with this. He's very much blossoming at the moment and is very happy to feel very included in this group of people. However the people are accepting BECAUSE they told him - they understand why he sometimes doesn't want to talk, why he fidgets, etc. They make jokes about it together etc. 

Question two that pops up now; Do you think it will affect your performance in the program if you don't have the things you need in place?