Disclosure: Resources for Self-Advocates

In the past I posted on disclosure and legal protection and some possible rules for disclosure. The U.S. Office of Disability and Employment Policy has published a page on Advising Youth with Disabilities on Disclosure: Tips for Service Providers, which includes a tidy table of some advantages and disadvantages to disclosure.

More interesting for the self-advocate is the The 411 on Disability Disclosure: A Workbook for Youth with Disabilities, put out by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability (a treasure box of information on disability and employment in general). The 411 is a huge workbook that covers the topics of self-determination, the importance of disclosure, advantages and disadvantages, disclosure and the law, accommodations, and disclosure in post-secondary education, employment, and community settings.

I must admit I did not read the 99 page workbook in huge depth, but my impression was very positive. It seems to do a great job of being relevant to any type of disability, including autism and any sorts of associated learning disabilities. It was understandable to even my semantic/pragmatic quirks. And while it's geared toward "youth" I think the information in it is fully applicable to many older adults--the issues with, and strategies for, disclosure don't really change between age 19 and age 29 or beyond. My one major criticism is that the workbook is that it does not include any images to assist visual learners in understanding the material.