Published on 12, July, 2020
Can Autistic people be school teachers? I have been struggling with the sensory processing in the classroom, along with just being an unprepared teacher (due to never teaching before, nor having any teaching training). I am trying to consider if this is something to pursue or not. I know the first year is tough for every teacher even the neurotypical. SO how much am I overreacting to being burn out and just becoming numb inside. Thank you
There are some school teachers on this forum who might be more use than me, but phew! I could never do it, not with kids!
I spent many years training adults and loved it. 9 to 5 job, for starters. No one was expecting me to work until stupid o'clock at home. Also with training, you learn the course once and then adapt to your group. You aren't preping afresh every two minutes.
I have QTLS status with my post-16 PGCE and am qualified to teach in schools - yeah, I tried that once. Never again! A classroom full of chaotic kids was just tooooooooo much information to process. I can't track every tiny nuance of their behaviour, and navigate around my dyslexia and concentrate on the lesson plan.
Then there are the sensory issues etc in schools. God! The bells! The bells! and task switch every 50 minutes. And the stink of the dinner hall. No thanks! I was a nervous wreck by the end of the day.
I am considering going back to teaching grown ups though.
If you are feeling burnt out, you're not over re-acting. As a society we are burning out our neurotypical teachers, never mind our autistic ones - which is a crying shame as I think autistic kids could do with more autistic teachers. They get where they are coming from.
Thank you for your replies. I just joined this platform yesterday. :-)