I am a primary school music teacher. I have just been diagnosed and have a meeting with my head this afternoon about putting strategies in place to help me.
What reasonable adjustments can I ask for ?
I feel really anxious about it as I have been doing this job for ten years (they know I have struggled) but now there is a legal reason they have to help me but I just don't know what I can ask for.
Any ideas welcome !
Of course, in an ideal world I would love a teaching assistant with me but it's all about money so that's not going to happen !
I would not say that you would definitely get a teaching assistant to help you, but the top rate of funding from Access to Work would definitely cover the cost and more besides.
So if you think a teaching assistant would help, don't be afraid to ask an Access to Work assessor. They may not provide one for all your lessons, but might for some of the ones you find most 'difficult'. But one thing is for sure, if you don't ask you won't get! In my opinion this would be just the thing that Access to Work is designed for as it is for adjustments that are an employer would not normally be expected to provide.
Please also see my reply below Bookworms comment as some of that is of use to you.
Thankyou Bookworm for your comment! It is much appreciated that you understand somethings I say can be useful!
I would only add to what has been said already by saying that Reasonable Adjustments have to be funded by the employer. Access to Work will prepare a report of what reasonable adjustments should be put into place and provide funding for things over and above what would not be considered reasonable for an employer to provide. For example, in this case if some equipment would help the employee that ought to be provided, the employer would be expected to foot the whole bill.
However, if the employee has difficulty travelling to work, Access to Work may provide funding for a taxi as this would be outside 'reasonable adjustments'. A Support Worker is probably outside normal 'reasonable adjustments' and also training for staff and managers but these are routinely funded for autistic employees by Access to Work. And allowing Access to Work into the workplace (or any other assessor for that matter involved with ascertaining help that could be given) is a reasonable adjustment in itself.
Adjustments that are reasonable would be allowing someone in to accompany you to any meeting with your manager (a support worker, or a union representative for example), and reasonable time out of work to attend appointments for autism support or support for co-morbid conditions. You could also get more time to prepare lessons if that can be reasonably fitted in, or if the lessons are too noisy, having some equipment which would lessen this would be 'reasonable'. You could also have uninterrupted time when preparing lessons. But the main 'reasonable adjustment' in my opinion would be to not make any changes to your work without involving you fully in the process. This means proper meaningful consultation, not just saying 'we have now decided this is what we are going to do' without any consideration of your input.
Hi raindrops - I'm a secondary teacher
have a read of this doc that has some useful advice (P22/23 has examples of reasonable adjustments): https://www.atl.org.uk/advice-and-resources/rights-and-conditions/atl-equality-guidance-disability-issues
Also this one, Page 26: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Autism.pdf
For me, I struggle with meetings, so adjustments that have helped me have included changing venues/typed of meetings (smaller groups, quieter room etc). Also having someone to talk to who understands is really helpful. A couple of times I've just had a wobble and they have helped me. Eg giving me permission to opt out of elements of an INSET day, for example.
Other reasonable adjustments I have discussed (appreciate some may not be applicable to a primary situation) include timings of free periods, continuity of only teaching in one room, etc
Your diagnosis is the start, please use that as a starting point for the discussion with your Head Teacher as the whole process should be continuously reviewed as other things become clearer in the workplace. This continuous review/update is where both you and your head can hopefully build on the understand of the condition and how it affects you along with some personal/group coping mechanisms.
Good luck with it all
I don't know what they are
It sounds like she's trying her best, as she wasn't sure what to do so is going to go off and do some reading.
I've found that line managers are often like us and don't know what would and what wouldn't help as they have little experience in this area. In fact they tend to have less knowledge as its difficult for them to fully understand why certain things causes us so much distress and why.
Did you mentioned an A2W or a NAS workplace assessment or are you leaving that for now?
So that gives you time to prepare.........read the NAS page yourself so you know what she knows & you can refer to it?
Hopefully you are feeling a little less anxious now?
So it was a bit of a non meeting in the end. She said we didn't really have time to do much today. She wrote down when my most difficult times are and said to give her a copy of my timetable. She is going to read the n a s page for employers and we are meeting for an hour when schools get back after Easter.
Of course, in an ideal world I would love a teaching assistant with me but it's all about money so that's not going to happen !
So I just need to tell my head where my biggest issues lie and hopefully she can suggest solutions. She is really nice and we get on really well.
I just need to know that there are things in place to help me if I need them. I need to stop worrying that my diagnosis will make me act more autistic as all of my issues have always been there and the school knows.
I just need a clear list of what to do and when so there is an action plan in place
The reaction depends on your managers personality. I've worked in the same post in three different institutions since my diagnosis and have completely different reactions from each line manager in regards to the RA I've requested.
Please don't feel guilty about asking for support, your having these issues as many workplaces have been designed in a way that isn't suitable for autistic people. If our needs were thought about at the start we wouldn't need as much help.
If you don't know what do ask for this afternoon, rather than quickly come up with a list that hasn't really been thought through, it could be useful to state that to your manager that you don't have enough information yet to make an informed decision so you'd like a workplace assessment (NAS can do these) to explore your needs and what RA could be put in place. A2W could also fund a workplace assessment (although it will be a generic disability assessor rather than an autism specialist), plus they can fund RA in the workplace. This could include a mentor to help you to develop strategies around your need for control.
Well, the "reasonable" part of reasonable adjustments means that your employer doesn't have to do something that causes them a huge headache; so putting it the other way round, anything that they agree to is no (maybe a little!) hassle for them - so no need to feel guilty.
So - for example (& I'm having to guess here) if the thing about that half hour before you start is that you have nothing productive to do and hence feel anxious, potentially the head would agree for you to spend that time in a quiet corner somewhere, or reading something useful, or helping out elsewhere in the school, or tidying up your classroom? (I'm having to guess wildly here but hopefully you get the idea? - something that's good for you and a minor hassle for the school is good for everyone).
I am feeling guilty for having to ask and don't know how much I can realistically ask for without being seen as over reacting!
Hi Raindrops, that's a good start.
I can try to help you unpack that a little bit if you like - which might help you put your finger on something that would help?
As your meeting is this afternoon, it's probably worth thinking over that you don't have to get everything 100% clear today; starting the conversation and explaining where you are at will be a great step forwards. Tell the story of how you experience autism and let the conversation evolve - which it will over coming months. It is a journey (and a freeing one as you get to know yourself even better).
I know that is difficult if you don't like feeling out of control - same here (I want everything decided *now* -:) ).
I struggle in the times before I start teaching (half an hour to forty minutes which isn't enough time to really do anything)
I don't like the transitions between classes and at the end of the day when I am not in control.
I don't like feeling out of control.
Hi, it depends on how and where you struggle, so I'd suggest starting from there. People struggle with so many different things that it's hard to generalise, but you might want to ponder on each of the common areas maybe? Sensory processing, Executive Function (Planning, cognition, memory), Social interaction......).
I started the path to diagnosis because I knew I had sensory and executive function issues alongside social limitations, so I had a starting point there. I expanded that into a big list of common situations / tasks at work and colour-coded them to indicate how much stress they caused and what the payback in job satisfaction was, then prioritised the most beneficial changes.
For me in your situation it would be "keep me away from kids and noise" which wouldn't really be practical for a primary school music teacher :-)
What specifically causes you issues? For example, I find noise incredibly difficult to deal with so in one post I had a working from home day each week. I now have my own office instead
