Can an aspie be a good teacher?

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I am in the Education early years program here in Canada and I've been asking myself if I would make a good teacher with my aspie's condition. The biggest question I'd have is would kids know that something is off about me or would they accept differences better?

Well my perspective is titled(is it?). I have always liked teachers who have stood out and done things their own way. One thing I really dis liked about school is how few of these teachers there were. Most are learn it my way or the highway. I like teachers who listen and will take different perspectives as that is how I am. I like teachers who are quirky. I am not sure if NT's do. I never understood many teachers besides the ones no one but me liked. Everyone else in my classes have always liked the opposite type of teacher. Not sure if that makes any sense but there you go.

I was a teacher for adults for four years. I love to teach, but, the atmosphere where I worked wasn't very accepting of my quirks.
That all being said, the students etiher loved me or hated me.
The only tough part for me was that I really disliked being talked about by the fellow staff. You could tell when you walked in the room.
A plus was I normally have low frustration tolerance. I didn't experience any of this while I was teaching.
Some of the other instructors, liked my inventive ways of putting the material out there. Plus while I was teaching I learned how to mess with the pitch (vary it).
I hope this helps

"Can an aspie be a good teacher?"

Yes.

Can an aspie teach a classroom full of children?
Now that I'd find much more difficult.

I've had very good experiences with individuals and small groups, young and older, and larger groups of adults. I'm assured that handling 30+ children is principally down to training in technique, but this aspie isn't convinced!

There are aspie strengths in the areas of planning, logical thought and ordered presentation, as well as the occasional unorthodox approach, seen from the conventional viewpoint.
But I confess, a classroom-full of children? I'd duck.

Bombergal, at which level do you want to begin? Elementary school? Junior High? High school?

i've been teaching for 17 years, so (from my point of view, and from the feedback i get), i'd say the answer is "yes".

I used to be an assistant teacher at a museum that had summer courses. I was mainly involved with the electronics/robotics classes for 11-13 year-olds, but also taught some younger students (down to 5) and different courses. That was the most enjoyable job I think I've ever had. Granted, it was doing something I liked and the kids were there voluntarily, which makes a difference. I often get frustrated/upset easily, but this ended up not being much of a problem. In fact, I was actually complimented on my patience multiple times - perhaps that has something to do with a greater acceptance of a wider range of behaviour on my part, or a better understanding of children's psychology. It was the most rewarding experience I've probably ever had and I wish I could still be involved.

As far as I'm concerned, I don't imagine myself as a teacher. Well, I can teach one person the things that are my obsessions (i.e. tube electronics), but a whole class would surely overwhelm me. Especially if this was elementary/ middle school, and here in Poland there are more and more teachers molested by children! Whoa, I was bullied when I was going to elementary and middle school (high school was way better, because it's one of the best schools in Poland and there's no violence at all), so no way! And I'm afraid of myself- when anger takes over me, I could strangle Darth Vader without batting an eyelash!

I'm a college sophomore and I'm currently thinking about teaching highschool math as a career. I know I'm good at helping people study in one-on-one type situations, but it's the whole class I'm not so sure of. On the one hand, a structured environment in which I would deal with people every day might help my social skills, but on the other I don't know whether I would be up to the challenge. This summer, I'm going to try tutoring groups at my college as exploration of this.

In theory, an aspie can be a good teacher. However, junior high kids, and to a lesser extent, high school kids, may start taking advantage of the teacher when they notice AS-like personality traits. Kindergarten, grade school, or elementary school kids are less likely to really take advantage of the teacher, although they'll think that the teacher is "nice, but a little strange".

For college professors, it's a completely different story. College students are far less likely to take advantage of the professor, except maybe to get extra credit or to justify wrong answers. Also, professors, expecially computer science professors, are expected to be a little eccentric (academia's term for "strange"), and the college environment is far more forgiving for aspies.

I hope so. I'm studying to be a teacher as well.

I've tried teaching both in-person (martial arts, yoga, computer hardware, operating systems, guitar) and over the Internet.

It was very hard to sustain concentration in front of a full class, and I also lost my voice after about an hour. A bit easier when teaching only one or two people, and no problem at all when teaching by distance ed. (It helped that I could re-read what I had typed before pressing the "Send" button, and I could keep track of the questions just by referring to the chat log on the screen.)

I think aspies can make great teachers, but only if you get the right students and teach the right subjects. The right students would be young children who respond to authority or anyone who is truly motivated to learn what you're teaching. I'd stay away from grades 7-12 unless you're teaching a popular elective or extra-curricular material.

One of the reasons I think we can make great teachers is because we are stereotypically very didactic (hence the "little professor" nickname). As long as it's a topic we are personally interested in we're likely to know a great deal more than is required about the subject, and students tend to respect teachers who know what they're talking about (and like to harass teachers who are just relaying information from a book).

Teaching isn't easy, though. There's a lot of prep work, and if you're teaching every day for several hours per day then you'll definitely not want to be crowd-avoidant or oversensitive to noise or else you'll get stressed out by being constantly surrounded by people. It can also tax your "theory of mind" because you always have to be aware of what your students know and what they don't know so that you can deliver the material at the right pace and keep it interesting.

I rarely teach (it's not in my job description) and most of the time when I get asked to do it I'm teaching work-related stuff to adults. The best experience I ever had was when I taught an aviation ground-school to a group of 15/16/17-year old Air Cadets who were competing for scholarships. I had a very good time teaching the class (2 hours a week for about 10 weeks), and they had a record number of scholarship winners that year. The key to my success in those courses was that the students were highly motivated to learn.

i'm an aspie - was informed by my daughter a couple days ago after her doctor told her she was asperger's - and i'm a teacher. my family often jokes that my purpose for living is to educate the masses <rolling eyes>.

i'm frustrated very easily, but for some reason, i have all the patience in the world when i'm teaching except when it comes to cheaters. i can't stand cheaters when learning is so stupid easy. if a student or group doesn't understand what i said, i keep presenting the material in different ways until i see the "eureka!" light on their faces.

my specialty is ESL students.

I really believe an AS person who really wants to pursue an advanced degree (Master's or Doctoral) can become a good teacher. There is the term "little professor" often used in autistic children who can talk about a subject of their fascination for hours on end, and sound very mature and professional, but admittedly can bore many people. Especially if the AS person teaches in a college environment, there is more autonomy, and when you think of the words "autonomy" and "autistic", they both mean "self", and it all makes sense that an academia career can be a safe haven for someone with AS.

Teaching at lower levels, say junior high and high school, though, can be a nightmare. It's at this age the students do anything they can to take advantage of the teacher. Elementary school is somewhat better, as the kids are too young to notice many eccentricities in people.