As a professional who provides services such as occupational skills training and job readiness training, you need to know how to help young people decide if they should share information about their disabilities. Disclosure is, by law, a personal decision that individuals with disabilities must make for themselves. As a person who works with youth, you may be in a position to assist youth with apparent and non-apparent disabilities to decide if, when, and how to disclose their disabilities. Understanding disclosure is especially important as youth transition from the K-12 education system to employment or postsecondary education systems. In this transition, they are leaving a system where they are entitled to receive services, and entering another where they may be eligible for reasonable accommodations if they make their needs known, and they are covered by the law.

In a disability context, "disclosure" means that people with disabilities share personal information about their disability for the specific purpose of receiving accommodations. There is no standardized form or set of requirements regarding what people must share about their disabilities. Thus, youth need to decide what, if anything, they want to reveal. Disclosure of a disability can also mean different things depending upon the type of disability. Youth with non-apparent disabilities must make the decision whether to disclose they have a disability. These youths should decide to whom they choose to disclose to and how much information to provide. Generally, youth with non-apparent disabilities find it most beneficial to disclose information only if they need accommodations.

To receive accommodations at work or in postsecondary school, information about disability must be shared with the relevant authorities. An accommodation is an adjustment to an enviroment, which makes it possible for people with disabilities to participate equally. While youth with disabilities may be familiar with accommodations, as they may have used them in grade school, they may not be familiar with the art of disclosure. Unlike in grades K-12, it is a youth's responsibility to personally disclose his or her disability to someone who has the authority to provide accommodations.

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