Autistic Teacher Accommodations

Hi Marian,

I'm 44 and have been teaching for 16 years in a state school. I've never had a formal diagnosis, but I know I am an Autistic person. I think in the early part of my teaching career, I coped well with teaching but as I've got older and masking has become more difficult, there has definitely been more times when I haven't been able to cope.

Like you, I like the rigid structure with periods lasting specified minutes and every week it's the same. I also enjoy teaching my subject. I enjoy the interactions with pupils and it's the job I believe I was meant to do. Covering classes is awful and I get stressed heading towards then, thinking about what hell awaits. It's especially bad when the work left for them is rubbish or doesn't last the period.

Recently, things have been getting worse. There's more a focus on attainment and I struggle to understand why we're being compared to a "virtual comparator", which is just a made-up number that we use to bash ourselves. I don't understand the politics that go on behind the scenes. I've also spent years trying to get the best lessons but doing so has meant pushing against the system. A lot of the time I've simply been told no and there's been no explanation. I need that explanation because without being told why, I fixate on it and don't let it go. I'm sometimes too blunt when talking with management about what I need to do my job and whilst my head teacher accepts that I'm autistic, I don't feel that my environment is really kitted out to make my life easier. I have a badge on my lanyard that says, "I'm autistic, not rude". My head teacher did pull me out of a whole-school training policy and create a more 1-to-1 approach that really helped me cope, so I'm grateful for that.

Parents evenings are just brutal. Multiple teachers in a big hall with loads of parents/carers and conversations and noise and smells and heat. I find it really draining to do that and I just stand in the shower when I get home and put my fingers in my ears (so relaxing). Here's the irony - I hated the online parents evenings as I couldn't engage in the back and forth rules of a conversation - it was just one-sided (all me). I longed for the face-to-face parents evenings so I could have proper conversations, but at the same time, hated the sensory overload.

I've found using a colouring book at departmental meetings helps me focus and stops me getting angry at things that don't make sense to me. Going home to my family and talking through my day with my wife, or hanging out with my kids helps. Just getting time to sit and play a particular game on my phone, and disappear into my own world for 30 minutes really helps me reset.

I'm now at the point in my life where I just can't teach anymore. I love the kids - interacting with them and teaching them, I just can't stand the rest of it. It's not the same job anymore and I need to find something else that makes me happy.

I hope you continue to enjoy teaching - it is by far one of the more rewarding jobs out there.

Hi Marian,

I'm 44 and have been teaching for 16 years in a state school. I've never had a formal diagnosis, but I know I am an Autistic person. I think in the early part of my teaching career, I coped well with teaching but as I've got older and masking has become more difficult, there has definitely been more times when I haven't been able to cope.

Like you, I like the rigid structure with periods lasting specified minutes and every week it's the same. I also enjoy teaching my subject. I enjoy the interactions with pupils and it's the job I believe I was meant to do. Covering classes is awful and I get stressed heading towards then, thinking about what hell awaits. It's especially bad when the work left for them is rubbish or doesn't last the period.

Recently, things have been getting worse. There's more a focus on attainment and I struggle to understand why we're being compared to a "virtual comparator", which is just a made-up number that we use to bash ourselves. I don't understand the politics that go on behind the scenes. I've also spent years trying to get the best lessons but doing so has meant pushing against the system. A lot of the time I've simply been told no and there's been no explanation. I need that explanation because without being told why, I fixate on it and don't let it go. I'm sometimes too blunt when talking with management about what I need to do my job and whilst my head teacher accepts that I'm autistic, I don't feel that my environment is really kitted out to make my life easier. I have a badge on my lanyard that says, "I'm autistic, not rude". My head teacher did pull me out of a whole-school training policy and create a more 1-to-1 approach that really helped me cope, so I'm grateful for that.

Parents evenings are just brutal. Multiple teachers in a big hall with loads of parents/carers and conversations and noise and smells and heat. I find it really draining to do that and I just stand in the shower when I get home and put my fingers in my ears (so relaxing). Here's the irony - I hated the online parents evenings as I couldn't engage in the back and forth rules of a conversation - it was just one-sided (all me). I longed for the face-to-face parents evenings so I could have proper conversations, but at the same time, hated the sensory overload.

I've found using a colouring book at departmental meetings helps me focus and stops me getting angry at things that don't make sense to me. Going home to my family and talking through my day with my wife, or hanging out with my kids helps. Just getting time to sit and play a particular game on my phone, and disappear into my own world for 30 minutes really helps me reset.

I'm now at the point in my life where I just can't teach anymore. I love the kids - interacting with them and teaching them, I just can't stand the rest of it. It's not the same job anymore and I need to find something else that makes me happy.

I hope you continue to enjoy teaching - it is by far one of the more rewarding jobs out there.