Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone,
I recently had my first day as a teacher trainee at my second school placement, however I have an issue with the male staff dress code at the school and I'm looking for advice on reasonable adjustments.
My school mentor has asked me to wear a tie, and I have explained to her that I am autistic and find it extremely uncomfortable to wear them. I'm not sure why, but wearing a tie just diminishes my confidence and makes me feel emotionally and physically exhausted.
(This is an absolutely non-negotiable issue for me - I'm not even open to compromising on wearing a clip-on tie or even a bow tie.)
Would it constitute a reasonable adjustment for the school to excuse me from wearing a tie?
Jordan
Other Notes
I have explained to my university tutor that I believe it constitutes a reasonable adjustment, however she still believes I should wear a tie if my school is asking me to. I have also explained the issue to the disability department at my university, who believe that it is certainly reasonable for me to ask the school again to excuse me from wearing a tie.
In a supervisory position I simply wouldn't make an issue over this triviality, but from what you say, they are doing. Not very smart of them. I have never worked in education but I offer these thoughts from a general management perspective.
If I worked in a place where I had to enforce this, irrespective of my own views, I'd have these issues.
1. Do you have any kind of clinical back-up for your case? A note from a doctor, psychiatrist, psychiatric or mental health nurse? If you did, then ignoring your request for 'reasonable adjustment' would become exponentially more difficult. In fact, it would be a nightmare.
2. Are there any (known) autistic pupils, or other members of staff (academic or otherwise)? If I was the parent of an autistic child, and thought that an autistic teacher was being unfairly treated in this way, I'd be pretty concerned ... for my child's welfare. I'm not suggesting that you round-up 'supporters' (don't do that). But gently and diplomatically pointing out that a more enlightened approach to autism might be seen as a sign of a more progressive-thinking school could help your case.
3. Back to the scenario in which I was the one enforcing this: If an adjustment were made, then in discussion with you, I would feel obliged to find some way of letting other members of staff know why you, and only you, are excused from the dress code, because otherwise they'd be thinking if you are excused, why can't they be? This might be a difficult issue for you and raises privacy concerns unless you have already told people you're autistic, so I'd be exploring it with you to see whether you regard your autism as a private and confidential matter; I'd be very careful not to pressurise you in that situation and would probably do it in writing or with witnesses (having said that, I'd also be back-channelling the view that this rule is a bit archaic and should be dropped, but I'd do that privately, without your knowledge).
It's a difficult situation based on fatuous rules but try to keep calm and professional about it. I wish you all the very best.
Thank you for your support!
Unfortunately I don't have a clinical confirmation of my specific difficulty, however I do have a formal autism diagnosis. So I hope that the school is able to realise that autism is always going to present itself different and that they need to be prepared to make reasonable adjustments if (as you say) they want to present themselves as an inclusive school to prospective students.
I'm currently seeking legal advice from Unite the Union about reasonable adjustments, because the whole issue is so blatantly rude and quite possibly illegal.