Hi Harriet,
As Caroline mentioned, in employment, in the same way as education, the individual has the right to not disclose to colleagues. As far as I understand, according to the Equality Act, sharing information about an individual’s disability without their consent is indirect discrimination. This would also be a breach in confidentiality.
On a more general note, when there is a wider knowledge of ASDs within the general population and student population, hopefully fewer of these kinds of issues will arise. Perhaps this may be a useful situation to encourage this department to promote awareness of ASDs amongst their student population in general.
I hope this is of some use.
Eleanor
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