Are you an autistic teacher?

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Hello,

I am 74 and only recently realised I am autistic, I have suffered 70 years of hell and autism is the only key to unlock my life's experiences.  I am currently waiting to be assessed.

In 1986 I applied to be a Instructional Officer with the Skills Training Agency at Portsmouth.  After two exceedingly hard assessments I was accepted and undertook their training course, amazingly I fitted the role without any hiccups.  I then took over at Portsmouth Skill Centre teaching Industrial Electronics to adults.  This was a 38 week course using what was known as accelerated training to move people from nil knowledge to Level 2 C&G 224 in electronics.

I loved it and found that a semi formal relationship with each course was best, calling each other Mr. sadly we never had any ladies join.  This instilled some basic respect for each other, but it did not prevent the fun we all had.  I could empathise and communicate very easily with the students, delivery of the subject matter was straight forward and I thought I was part of a theatre rather than a grumpy master and "slaves".

I created more projects for the groups to expand their skills and a weekly test on a Friday morning.  This instilled some acceptance of tests as a natural event, because I made it fun on a Monday to review it.  When it came to the C&G exams they were all better equipped to sit and work on their papers, that is not to say there weren't a few of them in the toilet some time before the start!  Students from my mate's class Radio & TV had a similar exam for their C&G and they were definitely disadvantaged by not exploring exam processes.

The problem with generating more is the following paperwork maintenance, marking all day Saturday for instance.  During my time in the civil service I took more qualifications to head up towards full teacher status. 

It was very rewarding to change peoples lives completely, I assisted them in doing c.v.'s etc and moving into full time employment, so in a year they had gone from dole queue to jobs and stability.

Unfortunately the government in its wisdom thought the Centres were a waste of tax payers money and shut the lot.  The U.K. lost the finest training organisation in the world.  You could learn any skill you wanted, you needed to make the effort to live where the training was available, in Radio & TV, a chap came up from Cornwall to study, living in a caravan because there was no Radio & TV in his area.  On our site you could learn bricklaying, hairdressing, white goods maintenance, welding, milling, turning, car bodywork, carpentry, plant maintenance, car mechanics, h.g.v. maintenance as well as the two electronics topics I have mentioned.  The other day I discovered the man that cuts my hair was trained at Bristol S.C. he is very good and I knew that before he revealed his training.

So in in 1990 I was thrust into commercial training and worked freelance until 1992 when I obtained a full time position as an Electronics Tutor with Portsmouth Itec.  Again, I did not have any issues delivering the topic, this time the students were 16 years old straight from school.  The ethos there was to be budy, budy, on first names, which in my opinion did not work on any level.  There was no respect from the students and they did not come to grips with the reality of a working life, they had two years to gain qualifications and many of them were pushed through by the management's needs rather than expert skill.  I continued my studies and eventually gained a Cert Ed from Portsmouth Uni.  Redundancy loomed again when Portsmouth City Council dumped the Itec in 1997.

During this period I had joined the Adult Literacy Basic Skills Unit in Portsmouth (ALBSU) and took their qualifications in teaching.  I taught people with literacy issues some basic skills in computing, they loved it and so did I.  I qualified as a teacher of English because there was no relevant option and I had to be qualified in something.  The students were all ages and all educationally challenged, it was the best Wednesday evenings ever.  ALBSU was again dumped by the establishment and given over to colleges to provide the service, so I became a college lecturer, it was enjoyable I had no problems with teaching and the students, only with the management and we parted company.

So in 1997 I started work with an engineering training organisation, which I will not name to protect the guilty, it was very hard word as a manager trying to pull together a failing department and deliver the education needed by apprentices in various companies.  I had no problem with the hard work required because I work hard naturally, the unit I managed slowly came together and I managed to survive some intense assessment for a quality qualification the company needed.  However the upper management were bullies and their actions towards me lead to my total meltdown on Friday 13th November 1998.

I have never worked since, I did engage in thereaputic work to overcome my mental health problems and became a tree feller.  The thing that is now annoying me is, the medics pulling my head apart had all they needed to see I was autistic but never made the connection.  It may have changed they way I have been treated since.  To sum it up, as an autistic person I loved education and teaching, I found it difficult to be an academic chasing qualifications because of ADHD and Autism, schooling was a nightmare but that is another more harrowing story.

Education is not for many autistic people, even those like me on a high function rating, during your practical experience on training courses think long and hard about how you fit, how do your wiring traits match the work load you face and do not underestimate the paperwork load, today all jobs are about proving you have done the job rather than did you really do it.  It wrecks the careers that people really love to do, take nursing, how much actual nursing takes place and how much is paperwork saying it is done.

Have a look at first-rate-teachers.org and download their papers, it offers what you need to do a good job.

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. 

I can parrot what many other have said here for sure. I have been teaching for over 10 years (secondary science, most recently chemistry) in the US. I have recently completed my masters in education from a local top university. This past year (pandemic hybrid teaching) resulted in my first major meltdown (breakdown) since I’ve been teaching and my first in probably upwards of 15 years. I had managed coping mechanisms that helped me balance successfully including copious amounts of running and an extremely supportive family. That wasn’t enough this year and after an extreme breakdown it became apparent after I was forced to solicit professional help that I am on the spectrum. All my (lifelong) challenges immediately fell into place. 
Regarding how this manifests in my classroom: I require a lot of structure and organization. When I move into a new classroom (which hasn’t been that often in my career) my mom helps me label and organize. As a science teacher I have a lot of materials that I need to be able to lay hands on sometimes at a moment’s notice. I have a paper planner (with daily to-do lists) that I live and die by. I also have a website that I use to organize my digital content and which children around the world use to learn and review. It helps me stay organized but it’s also useful for the children. I work really well typically with high fliers than those with reading and maths deficits which is why I switched recently from middle to high school. Another reason for that switch is that the middle schoolers are very scream-y and with my sensory issues it was just awful. They also are more prone to “surprise hug attacks.” As many folks have mentioned, I am great when my door is shut and it’s just me putting on the day’s science show. Interactions with parents and admin are very difficult for me and I can’t do the “interoffice politics” as I do not make unspoken connections and I don’t pick up unspoken communication. This year being on zoom all the time, I had many meetings where I arranged to meet with a student and when it came time for the meeting it was in fact a parent that showed up. So…I was unprepared and it showed. They used that to complain to admin that I was a crap teacher. Where admin never found any issue with my teaching (that they told me of) and my observations have ALWAYS been top rate. Hence the autistic breakdown. I am grateful for it though because it forced me to learn about myself and I think that this can only be beneficial. The other thing to note is that I do not process emotions well at all. This has been beneficial in crisis situations that sometimes arise in the classroom. I have diffused and broken up fights easily because I don’t become emotionally involved. I have dealt with insects (some poisonous), bats, snakes, etc because I remain calm. I am the person that everyone comes to when they need a level head. I think it’s partly just because I’m the science teacher but also partly because I am like a robot and they know I will keep my whits. 
All that being said, I am terrible with paperwork. The school secretaries HATE me. I have horrible executive function and consequently taking a day of for me is not really favorable because I can’t follow their list of hoops to jump through. 

That's nice. How long have you been teaching? What age group do you teach,  or is it adults? What do you like most about your job? What sorts of things do you make with your students? 

hi im a autistic teacher and i find teaching wood work very easy and i enjoy teaching others wood work.

Yes, I'm happy to take part and answer some questions about autistic teachers.  I'm thinking of doing a masters as well and would be happy to answer questions about autistic teachers.

Hi, I have been reading your thread with interest as I am an autistic teacher who is now doing a masters in education, my subject focusing on whether we value our autists in education. I was hoping that you might be interested in taking part and answering some questions or possibly being interviewed using zoom?  Thanks. 

Hello!

I am currently student teaching for choir and general music in the United States. Here is my experience so far:

To be honest, until I came upon this thread, I did not think about even researching into teachers that are on the autism spectrum. From what I have noticed, I tend to have an issue with relating to the kids sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes. It can make a difference in how I am perceived in front of the class, but I just roll with it. Another thing I have noticed is that I have trouble making decisions on the fly in front of the class. Something I can relate to a lot in regards to other people's responses to this thread is that they tend to be perfectionists. Even as I type this response, I need to make sure that everything I'm saying is correct lol. In regards to in front of the class though, I feel like when I do have a good, structured lesson plan, my whole lesson and teaching feels rigid and almost robotic, and when I have a more free-flowing lesson plan, I tend to get stuck as to where to go with the lesson next as I flounder around to find the perfect thing to do with the kids. This is especially important as I am a choir/music teacher. Music is not meant to be a robotic and rigid content area. It is meant to be expressive and a great outlet for kids, so I really want to help them to enjoy that experience.

I always knew I wanted to teach. My teachers were amazing people who helped me to discover myself, so I really wanted to do the same for kids. I am also a fairly proficient musician, so that ultimately helped me to decide on choosing music as my content area. I was diagnosed with autism at a fairly young age. I believe it was around like 2 or 3 years old. I don't really remember exactly. My parents said I was not reacting to my surroundings as a traditional toddler would, so they took me to my doctor and, from testing, they determined it was high-functioning autism. Later down the road, my primary doctor though I might possibly have ADHD as well, but it was never formally diagnosed.

For the most part, I enjoy being with the kids and seeing them have the same joy I have with music. It is amazing to see how their lives improve through it, and additionally, I get to have a job in a music related field. The only tricky part is keeping them engaged in my teaching even when I stumble and can't come up with a solution right away. I feel for the kids, and I want them to have the best learning experience possible.

If anyone on this thread has any resources about being a teacher with autism, I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Hi, apologies but I didn't get a notification of your message. What age do you teach? I teach adults and we don't have to do events or anything like that so I'm very lucky. I can just about manage with class parties at the end of term! 

What do you mean when you say you struggle with consistency? 

I've learned to be kind to myself, ask for help if I need it amd if I haven't got mental capacity to do something like marking, I don't do it until I feel able. The world won't stop because I haven't given the marking back on time. My managers know I have anxiety and are very supportive. 

I am an adult with autism and a 6th - 12th Grade music teacher. I have HFA and don’t struggle terribly. I’m very lucky that way. But I get dreadfully overwhelmed and stressed over events I have to host and with middle school students. I know they’re tough no matter what kind of person is their teacher, but I WANT to be good at teaching Middle School. At all grade levels, I struggle with consistency (especially when I’m overwhelmed or stressed about something). Any and all tips for success in this would be greatly appreciated. I’m considered good at teaching and at making relationships with students and co-workers. But definitely NOT paperwork, organization, or consistency in classroom management.

I am relatively lucky then, being self employed. I dislike office politics too. I worked at a secondary school last year, though as a very part-time employee, at a primary school at the moment, this time via my business. Last week the printouts for the lessons we were supposed to do mysteriously disappeared and using a computerized register can suck too if there is a glitch. 

One problem I have is many students don't like me to give them invoices here, so I have to keep finding ways to show there actually is work on the books. I have to pay a flat rate of  about 150 pounds a month in tax, then bills, before thinking about eating.

Language schools can be pretty miserable, as if there is a complaint, however unfair, the school will take the side of the student if they complain and are not really supportive of the teacher. The students are often two-faced in that they moan to the school and not to me if they don't like the book or have some other kind of problem. That's why I prefer to have of all to have students at home. But the pressure of finding students and keeping them can because problem and students can drop out often, or cancel at the last moment.

So there are always the hassles of running a small business too. 

I think I was really lucky in that the first teacjing job I applied for I got and the managers are incredibly supportive. So I think it can work for you providing you find the right place. Like Fall Out Girl said. Having said that it's still stressful and I've been quite ill with it lately.

I teach adults so supply isn't really an option to take but I don't know I could do that.  Going to a new place and not knowing what to expect!  It was hard enough when I was given a new centre to teach at within our organisation.

There are many reasons I think I'm on the spectrum but I've highlighted here how I feel it affects me at work. I do think a lot of the stress when I started was due to possibly being on the AS.  I am aware being a teacher is stressful for everyone but the effects and outcome of the stress are possibly different. I also think there may be some alexithymia at play because for the first few years I didn't actually realise how stressed and anxious I was and I think this is true even now. I seem to go along with crap situations for much longer than friends who I consider "NT" would.  I'm still reading up about alexithymia. I did a test online but it was hard to complete because I couldn't identify which answers to choose sometimes.

Oh my gosh I relate to so much of this! I am a primary NQT and just starting to realise I may be on the spectrum. I love teaching young children and planning the lessons, but I find some aspects of the job really tricky. E.g. unexpected timetable changes, unstructured activities (such as ‘discovery time’), interruptions/ noise from other teachers during planning and preparation time, dancing/ performances, dealing with ‘office politics’ and judging the impact of my responses when colleagues are acting strategically, finding positive ways to express problems/criticisms (rather than just straightforwardly stating them) etc. I have actually left my placement school after 1 term and am looking for a school with better support to continue my induction. I do really enjoy teaching though so am committed to continuing in this career. Currently I am working as a supply teacher which is much more challenging in lots of ways! It’s a culture shock every time I go into a different school, but then there is no obligation to socialise with other staff and I can just go in, teach, then leave at the end of the day, which is quite liberating.

I take anti-anxiety tablets to balance me out and, generally, they do. But they're not enough when I hit full meltdown.

Teaching is a really difficult job at the best of times but it's so much harder when you have ASD. I've decided that I'm not going to work full-time anymore. The days are intense and then you're working every evening and there's no time to decompress so it builds and builds. I've got to the point where my mental wellbeing has to come first. My plan is to work in school for 3 days and to leave 2 days for 1-1 tutoring and/or daily supply

I've been teaching for ten years and have self diagnosed awaiting an assessment. I also have Alexythymia and struggle with expressing my feelings and emotions. I am struggling to accept it. I have been masking for years and managed to work gard to get on our leadership team. However, the social relationships of the team caused me such great anxiety I had to step down which I'm finding so hard to cope with. How have you managed to cope with accepting any limitations you have? 

I think im in as good a setting as i can be. Managers are supportive and colleagues are extremely helpful and understanding with each other.  Although ive been really struggling these past few months. More so than when i first started teaching. I csnt maintain this level of how i currently am without having some sort of breakdown. I was struggling last year too but not becausr of my job. It was stuff at home instead. I think my brain latches onto anything it can find and at the moment its work. My doctor said to consider anti depressants to balance me out. 

I used to teach GCSE English to adults when I worked at an FE college and I enjoyed that but then I was asked to teach on the Initial Teacher Training Programme and it was a nightmare. It was one of the main contributing factors to the meltdown I had that resulted in my leaving that job. It's all so dependent on being in the right setting.

Have you considered teaching adults?

I am. I've always struggled with classroom management and I've realised since my diagnosis that it's because of my autism. My communication skills mean that I'm easily talked out of issuing sanctions. I've been doing daily supply and 1-1 intervention work which I find so much easier. I also tended to be working all evening every evening when I was full-time and I had no down time at all.

I had a serious meltdown/burnout about 3 years ago and that was when I left a long-term job and turned to supply. I do sometimes get sensory overload during the day and I tended to avoid the staff room and eat lunch alone to give myself a chance to recharge.

I have always enjoyed working with young people and that's why I started teaching but have found that a classroom full of them overwhelms me.