Published on 12, July, 2020
I would like to know if there are any autistic teachers here.
I would like to know...
How has autism had an impact on your teaching (in and out of the classroom ....positive and negative)
How has the job affected your autistic life? Im thinking here specifically in terms of the non-classroom elements of the job. For example how does the paperwork and planning affect you at home and your routines? How do you cope with the stresses of the job and a changing environment? How does it impact on your worklife balance as an autistic person? Do you have many meltdowns shutdowns or burnout episodes? Do you have any sensory problems at work such as information or social overload? How do you cope with these?
Why did you decide to take up the profession and did you know you were autistic before you started teaching?
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I am self-diagnosed and can relate to many aspects of autism throughout my life. Since self realisation i am able to use coping strategies Im an adult tutor and currently this is the only teaching job ive had so i cant compare with other teaching roles. I would be interested to know how much of my job is general stress and how much could be down to being potentially autistic which compounds any stress. But i also would like to know your positive stories and experience!
I've been a teacher for five years and I think I have ASD. I've been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and my doctor has tried a few different antidepressants but I haven't had any luck, and I think there is something more. I have always felt different than others, find it hard to make friends, and have never had a romantic relationship, but teaching has made me question a lot more about myself and has made me wonder if I had ASD.
I am a fully trained teacher with a specialization in Art (I have a bachelor of fine arts) and teach at a k-12 school. For 3 years I was the art teacher for every grade and loved it, until we got a new admin who took my classroom away, then switched me to teaching from a cart, and then the DAY BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED this year she switched me to a homeroom teacher and High School teacher. Second semester she put me back to half teaching art, but no longer with the whole school, and I'm also teaching English, social studies, and health for one grade, and teaching high school courses as well. It's been really hard adapting and I've gotten no support from my admin.
Constant change of schedules, courses, classes, losing classrooms, moving to an art cart...etc have been really hard for me. Not to mentjon all the stress of covid changes at school. I suffer from burnout often, and have had to take many days off this last year for my mental health. I know these changes have been hard fo my coworkers as well, but I feel like I haven't been dealing with it as well as they have. This has really made me question if I have asd.
I find it really hard to do the paper work involved with teaching like yearly planning, lesson plans, and marking because I think they are useless and they don't help me in the classroom. My admin this year was insane about planning and told me if I didn't do themed, I wasn't doing my job or being a good teacher. This caused me and other staff so much stress over something so pointless, but again I feel like I don't handle it as well as other coworkers have.
Now for the good:
After 4 years in the same school the students know me and they know I am there for them, and that I'm trying my best to teach them, care for them, and help them. I can easily read their emotions and communicate effectively even though English is their second language and I don't speak their first language at all. We are from totally different cultures and generations but I care and they know.
I ended up helpg to start and run the local food bank, and get a food program into the school. This all means though that's I'm trying to do too many things and again, burn out. Compassion fatigue.
I love the research and lesson planning part of teaching, and I love hanging out with kids and teens all day.
Idk if teaching is for you, or for me long time. I feel like I care too much and get burnt out too much for the current way schools are run. I really don't know how long I can keep this up.
Sounds like you enjoy the teaching side of the job! Thats probably true of most teachers. Why do you think you might be on the spectrum? Now I have got my diagnosis, I can see how executive function difficulties can play a part with the non-teaching side of things. And also ruminating thoughts (ie struggling sometimes to switch off after work although this has improved massively since I first wrote this post 2 years ago). Also when I have been asked to change from my usual classroom or work in a different centre that can be diffcult. What's teaching from a cart? is that where all your resources are on a trolley and you just have to go into any classroom? I think I would find that difficult. I don't know if I could hang around with the students all day! It'd drive me mad I think.....need peace and quiet when not teaching!!!