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Bubbles137
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10 Aug 2012, 12:29 pm

Last year, I started a teacher training course but it didn't work out. I had no class control at all, found the noise level in the classroom really hard to deal with as well as the actual act of standing in front of 30 children and being able to communicate anything at all. It was horrible and I felt really trapped and overwhelmed every time I tried to take a lesson. I failed a couple of observations because of not hitting standards (lessons never really got past the introduction because I couldn't keep the children focussed and then the noise level went up and I couldn't get it down- none of the strategies like clapping/raising your hand/initials on the board seemed to work and I couldn't tell who was making the noise) and I wasn't achieving any targets. It was a bit frustrating because I could do the bits individually (plan, make worksheets, mark etc) and love that part of it but can't pull them together into a lesson and it goes out the window when I'm in front of the children. Then I get pulled up for 'not taking advice' or not trying to hit targets but it's really hard to focus on positive body language and voice projection in front of thirty people anyway, especially when you're focussing on trying to deliver a lesson! If I do that, I lose the lesson but if I try to stick with the plan, I've lost the kids. No idea how teachers do it- they seem to be born with some kind of sixth sense so they can teach, improvise, talk forcefully and keep the kids interested and still on the carpet as well as delivering a good lesson!

Since then, I've been doing voluntary work in schools (which I was doing before I started the course) and really enjoy it. I love TA work doing groups or one to one but can't keep a class engaged and find it scary talking in front of a whole class and get 'thrown' or distracted too easily when the lesson doesn't go to plan, which I know is probably experience but it doesn't seem to be getting any better; if anything, it's worse when the children realize that I don't have any control or authority because they say things they'd never say to a 'real' teacher! They're really nice individually or in groups though so it feels a bit like I've let them down in a lesson because some of them really do want to get on with the lesson but they can't because of the noise. It's horrible when children come up to you and say they're not learning anything or they can't work because of the noise- all I could do was apologise because I couldn't get the class quiet. I also found it hard to keep track of everything- I'm not naturally organised or good at multitasking so kept going into 'information overload' and forgetting everything even when I tried to keep track of it all at once. Writing it down didn't really help since I'd end up with loads of papers/booklets and couldn't find what i needed, then get totally overwhelmed and more stressed! Think teaching might be the wrong job, although I love writing lesson plans and worksheets (got told my lesson plans were too detailed!) and I like marking, but the practical side's a lot harder... I love working in schools though and like working with the children and the routine/structure of the day so I'm not sure what to do!

I'd kind of decided to leave teaching for a bit, but recently I've been thinking about reapplying for a teacher training course as I really like working in school and would like to do it fulltime as a career. I was talking to a woman whose children I babysit and who happens to be a psychologist, and she said that it would be worth mentioning Asperger's to the school. The problem is that I don't have a diagnosis- AS came up when I was seeing a psychologist for something else and I didn't get a diagnosis at the time because I didn't want something else I'd have to declare every time I applied for a job etc. Has anyone had any similar experiences? I don't think I'd be comfortable mentioning it to the school without it being 'official' but also don't want to get a formal diagnosis. Also wondering if there's anyone else here who teaches or works in a school? Any advice would be great!



namaste
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10 Aug 2012, 12:42 pm

i have worked in schools earlier
i faced same problem
i don't last long in good schools
but i survive longer in schools where teachers are needed desperately
where they are not able to pay well
the schools are located in slum areas
in such places i am able to continue teaching
because management doesn't interfere that much as they
see that i am doing other work properly though i lack class control etc.


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Bubbles137
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11 Aug 2012, 12:05 pm

Were you open about ASD? I'm not sure where to go with it...



RobertLovesPi
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12 Aug 2012, 6:43 pm

I've only very recently figured out that I am almost certainly an Aspie. I've also been a teacher for a long time, teaching science and mathematics. I'm about to start my 18th year, and I have some advice for any Aspies in, or considering going into, the field.

First, everything they tell you in "teacher school" is absolute crap. That's also true for educational research, which is a joke. If these things were NOT crap, schools would be better, now, wouldn't they?

Teaching isn't easy. It's also extremely rewarding. Don't try to be like teachers you had who were good. Instead, think of the WORST teachers you ever had, and use them as negative examples. Be as different from them as you possibly can be.

We're already different from other people. To succeed as teachers, we have to be different from other teachers. That doesn't mean "be like me," except for one thing: invent your own ways to do EVERYTHING. Otherwise, teaching is no fun at all.

I like finding new ways to make it fun, and I do. I don't let anyone stop me. Do they try? Yes, they try. Later, they regret having tried, for I can -- and do -- really make life miserable for those who interfere with my efforts to teach my students to the best of my ability.

I hope more Aspies take on the challenge of becoming teachers. The field needs us. We're smart enough to make it work, too. The key is simply to do things your own way. Having trouble with arbitrary rules, or petty authority figures? Well, that's a puzzle to solve, right? A challenge to face? A game to play?

Those are things Aspies are good at doing. We just have to do them in our own ways.

It's probably obvious that I take the position that we are simply different, with many advantages, and am NOT a person who considers being an Aspie to be a disorder or a disease. Therefore, I see no reason why it should be "reported" as a "medical condition" to any employer. I do not want, nor will I accept, any treatment. This isn't an illness. I like being who I am. I also have ZERO need for the approval of other people. I don't care what they think!

There is no book on "How to be an effective teacher as an Aspie." This is something we each have to figure out for ourselves. We're far from identical, after all. However, we CAN do this, and we can do it well.


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VAGraduateStudent
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13 Aug 2012, 8:49 pm

Is it possible to get into a situation (maybe in the future) where you could teach and then have an assistant who takes care of the things that overload you?

I think you should go ahead and get diagnosed so that you can officially mention it and protect yourself. This way if you need some kind of accommodation later (better lights, scheduling flexibility, etc), you'll have some leeway. If you like teaching and it sounds like you ARE good at it, you probably just need to find a method that works for you.

Lots of professionals, like the poster RobertLovesPi above, have learned to deal with their careers for years without a diagnosis, so it's not like being on the spectrum prevents you from doing certain things. It just may mean that you have to do them differently.



Bubbles137
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14 Aug 2012, 12:55 am

Thanks for the advice RobertLovesPi and VAGraduateStudent, it's really helpful and so nice to get some more positive reaction instead of what I had at the beginning of the year when it didn't work out which was basically what I had 'potential' but wasn't achieving it and had no idea why. I hadn't linked it to ASD until the mum of the kids I babysit brought it up (and I hadn't even mentioned to her about it- she said she'd worked it out when she first met me because that's her job as a psychologist). The reason I'm holding back on getting a diagnosis is because I already have one for an eating disorder which my mum thinks made people already negative before i started teacher training and don't want to make that worse- the AS is so mild that, if I can do it without one, I'd rather not get a diagnosis especially since it means getting parents involved and my mum hates 'labels' and pretends things don't exist. She won't even admit I've had an ED even though I was an inpatient three times and have been seeing people for seven years. It's not that she doesn't care, just that she's scared and doesn't like admitting things (my cat died recently and she went away for 10 days because she didn't want to be in the house).

I think the only way to get help with the 'overloading' would be to have an official diagnosis. I've got an unofficial assessment (a couple of years ago the psychologist I was seeing for ED wrote one as though she were going to diagnose me but I didn't get a diagnosis) and wanted to find out if I could use that without actually being diagnosed? Really don't want to have to declare that as well as ED on every application as there's still too much stigma even though there shouldn't be, and I'm rubbish at interviews etc so my application needs to be as strong as it can be. I think I'm going to as the woman who brought it up (her kids were in the class I was trying to teach so she's seen both sides) and ask her what she thinks. But I don't want to seem rude or like I'm taking advantage of the fact that she's a psychologist, but she mentioned it to me. I really want to teach because I love the structure and routine of school, the marking/planning and working with the kids- I can do everything individually but it falls apart in front of the kids in class. Thanks again for the advice.



Bubbles137
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19 Aug 2012, 2:19 am

Now possible considering training in a Steiner school...anyone have any experience of them?



elf_1half
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31 Aug 2012, 10:59 am

I'm studying to be a teacher and have some experience working in schools as a TA and substitute teacher... Have you considered working in special education? It sounds like many of the difficulties you face would be easier to manage in special ed. The class sizes are much smaller, you have classroom staff to assist you and most of the lessons are taught in small groups. You'd also have the option of doing 1:1 work (such as being a SEIT/special education itinerant teacher or doing early intervention). Also if you work with students with autism ABA classrooms are very small and structured and since your students will have sensory issues too creating a comfortable sensory environment shouldn't be a problem.

I'd highly recommend taking a class on behavior management. I had a hard time with behavior management too and unfortunately a lot of teacher's don't have a good sense of how to manage behavior, they just yell and punish students who act out which, is a quick and easy but doesn't address the underlying cause of the student's behavior or teach the student alternative strategies to modulate their own behavior.

Perhaps you should try being an assistant or an aid for now and try teaching again when you build up more experience. I think practice is really the key to how teachers are able to do so much at once.



realitysucks
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31 Aug 2012, 12:47 pm

I have Aspergers/ADHD and I had a pretty successful run as college Math/CS teacher. Again, remember that aspies are "little professors" and love to explain things. It is definitely a career to consider. I have anxiety and got bored of it so I moved on.