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Now what?

Tabitha_Teacher

Hi, I am an Autistic adult - diagnosed 4 months ago at the age of 25. I am sure lots of people relate to that feeling of ‘Now what?’ 

I teach in a secondary school and my colleagues are really supportive but I feel like they want to help soo much that I feel pressured in to figuring out solutions to my challenges so quickly. I feel guilty when I say that I don’t know what support I need. I know I struggle both with the executive function side and with emotional regulation but I do a great job of masking. 

Outside of work is a bit easier as I don’t need to mask as much, but there is a lot of emotional baggage to unpack following decades of feeling weird or damaged or somehow insufficient. My self esteem has really suffered over the years and I know my diagnosis, although welcome, has definitely not solved anything yet. I am still working on unmasking around my siblings. Mum, Dad and my husband are the only people who see the genuine me, and they spend half their time dealing with the fallout of my masking, burnout an overwhelm.

I feel like I have a long road ahead.

Parents

  • Hi and welcome to the community. I used to teach English as a second Language and looking back on it I can identify what were my stressors, so perhaps that might help?

    1. Lesson planning. I spent an awful long time on lesson plans, worrying if they were good enough, trying to think of extra activities to make the lesson more interesting, trying to think of answers for any questions I might be asked, etc. If this is something you struggle with, how about scheduling a chat with your head of department and asking what ideas they have to simplify the process?

    2. Listening to individual students and giving feedback - I had to mark them on their spoken English which I found difficult, as it's easier for me to assess written text than spoken words. Unless you're an English Teacher you probably won't have to mark students on speaking skills, but maybe you get students talking over each other, or you feel you could improve your listening / verbal communication skills. If so, you could ask if someone could observe you in a lesson and give you feedback.

    3. The staff room /office - A busy staff room with lots of people talking, and having to queue to use a photocopier to print copies of lesson handouts were issues for me. Perhaps you could spend some breaks in an empty classroom, and get a printer set up to a smart board to print out any handouts you need?

Reply

  • Hi and welcome to the community. I used to teach English as a second Language and looking back on it I can identify what were my stressors, so perhaps that might help?

    1. Lesson planning. I spent an awful long time on lesson plans, worrying if they were good enough, trying to think of extra activities to make the lesson more interesting, trying to think of answers for any questions I might be asked, etc. If this is something you struggle with, how about scheduling a chat with your head of department and asking what ideas they have to simplify the process?

    2. Listening to individual students and giving feedback - I had to mark them on their spoken English which I found difficult, as it's easier for me to assess written text than spoken words. Unless you're an English Teacher you probably won't have to mark students on speaking skills, but maybe you get students talking over each other, or you feel you could improve your listening / verbal communication skills. If so, you could ask if someone could observe you in a lesson and give you feedback.

    3. The staff room /office - A busy staff room with lots of people talking, and having to queue to use a photocopier to print copies of lesson handouts were issues for me. Perhaps you could spend some breaks in an empty classroom, and get a printer set up to a smart board to print out any handouts you need?

Children
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