Published on 12, July, 2020
I left my teaching job before the summer holidays due to autistic burnout and a complete and utter mental breakdown
I dont want to sit around doing nothing for ever and I want to do some work ( I need to to pay the bills and help my family as well, at least till I know what will happen with my UC and PIP)
Im the sort of person that needs to be busy. I go into my head when Im sitting around doing nothing and start having paranoid imaginings and all sorts of mental health issues
I do freelance writing but Im not getting enough work at it to keep me busy and pay the bills so I signed up for a couple of teaching agencies thinking if I just do a couple of days a week in a school then I can cope with it.
Heres the thing though, now its come down to it and its real I dont want to do it. I dont know if I can do it. Im remembering all the awful experiences I have had working in schools and how ill I was before the summer. I am still struggling a lot but feel I have improved a lot and slowly started to put myself back together since then and this could send me all crashing down again. Just thinking about the pressure and sensory overload of being back in a school I want to curl up on the floor again which is what I used to do every evening when I was at work. My wife would have to physically drag me off the floor to get to bed.
Yet there is another part of me that wants to put on a tweed blazer and try and inspire kids and get teaching again. So confusing!
I wonder if theres something else I could do part time, maybe work in a bookshop or for a charity a couple of afternoons a week.
Maybe theres even something at universities? Or with animals. I dont know
Anyway anyone who has any similar experiences or been through similar stuff or has any advice would be really helpful
I do kinda get this. I sort of had a career opposite to yours... I'll try and explain. It might give you some other career ideas.
I was a trainer for many years. I feel it calling me back actually.
Training adults was great. Big social drain on the old autistic social resource...but I was good at it. All the plan and prep was in work time at least. 35 hours meant 35 hours. And when you learn one course, everything is scripted in the head to do the following week. Also, whatever the difficulties of adult learners, there is less real time information processing in the class room. No looking out for Jimmy pulling Jane 's hair while trying to lesson time and write on a wipe board simultaneously.
I have QTLS status, gained as a trainer and that qualifies me to teach in school. When I moved north I worked in a school for a while. NEVER again!!! The bells! The bells! Not only did that sound, and the super quick task switching have me in a teary puddle by the end of every day, I just couldn't keep track of everything happening around me or ever get enough time to plan adequately AND do basics - like errr eat and sleep!
I think what I am saying is, school as a teacher is an effing nightmare if you are autistic. Stay the Hell away. But, there might be some brilliant outlets for your teaching talent nonetheless.
I also tutored one on one in an FE college for dyslexic and autistic kids and loved it. I am also a good trainer of adults - and on some tough topics, too
You can yet make a career out of teaching, but school might not be the place. There is one to one tutoring through agency work, FE work with adults and corporate trainer L&D jobs.
You can inspire and make a difference - errr, but not In a school. That's enough to cause a nervous break down in many NT teachers, never mind us.
Oh God, the bells!!! The lesson changes!!! Ahhhh!
But there are other ways to teach.. think outside the box
Me...I was going to retire, but MH, GPs and other public services haven't a clue about autism, do they?...so, think I might be spending my retirement training them for free. Lol
What an interesting idea. Using my teaching gift but somewhere other than a school. I like that idea.
i have worked in an FE college for the last 3 years and certainly enjoyed it and lasted longer than in a school but it was still 16-18 year olds and football academy lads (who are the worst) so the behaviour was still an issue. In the end I burned out from the social side and the 3 and a half hours travelling every day.
Adult education though, that is something I really think I could do. I did as my first work experience and I think I could do it as a job
I like the idea of having less to process because there is no behaviour to look out for. I think having too much to process was a big part of my metldowns and burnouts as a teacher
I dont have QTS status, I was a Cover Supervisor / Cover Teacher in my previous jobs but I think i could still get a job in adult education. I will certainly give the idea some thought
As for your situation, I am sorry that your GP and other services are not helpful or understanding of autism, it is horrible when that happens.