Wiped out after teaching

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Small classes are really hard to teach when you're on the spectrum. Large classes...it's an amorphous blob of people and they are far from you. Small classes, You have to personally engage each student and it kills.

If there are any other educators/professors/teachers out there who have any tips, I'd appreciate it.

Picture in your mind the entire audience naked.

see, that would work if I was nervous, which I'm not. And for a big class.

Maybe a good idea not to do that with a small class you know pretty well

I teach high school and have about 30 kids (ages fifteen to eighteen) in each class for a total of 5 classes each day. They seem attention starved and talk without ever seeming to take a breath, so I completely sympathize with you. Meditation has helped me let go of all the sort of energetic static they leave behind. My interests have helped too, which I have used as a way to calm my mind when I come home. My interests have to be pretty intense to help counter balance the constant sense of overwhelm. Ultimately, I think I just have to find a new job.

(edited for spelling)

when i need to set a distance from someone, i imagine myself wearing an armor, transparent blob that prevents others into my space.
also have a mind toy, current idea, topic of interest that will play inside the head while doing teaching. it lowers effectiveness but saves the person.

I taught small classes of 10-15 for 8 years. I had no interpersonal or much other energy left, so I quit. Sorry I have no better advice than it just doesn't feed our soul but drains it, it seems.

I used to teach high school a long time ago. I had to stop because I have chronic fatigue rather than because of ASD.

My advice is that since teaching is the rare interpersonal situation when you're in charge, you can try to structure the class in the way that works the best for you. For instance, instead of informal discussion, you could set up a more formal discussion structure. You could require, for instance, that students raise their hand when they want to speak, and have them address their comment specifically at the comment of another person who has spoken before them, and then give that person an opportunity to rebut. You could also break up the class into a couple of small groups (or more if there are enough people in the class), have them discuss the topic among themselves, and then present their conclusions to the class.

You can sometimes take yourself out of the equation to a certain extent by having the students take on more responsibility for class discussions.

I don't know what ages or subject you teach, so these are some very general suggestions.

Teaching at a High School and dealing with teenagers sounds like torture to me. How about doing one on one tutoring?

Teaching small groups is a headache.
I find that to engage each student individually, you have to watch their body, and make your body respond to theirs. If a student orients their body away from you, looks away, or seems to draw in on themselves, this is a sign of losing interest. You can draw them back out by turning your body toward them, looking in their direction more often, and directing your hand gestures in their general direction.
I hope that helps.

I don't think that I'd want to be a teacher, or a teacher's aide in a high school. I've hated high school, as it already was. I'm not high school teaching material.

I think that what you are teaching is as important as the setting - the big lecture is usually your interest, delivered at your pace and you are in control. The audience only interact when they want you to clarify something, so you are still in control. The tutorial group is dictated by the tutees needs, which puts them in control and puts you on the defensive.

Seminars that are on your own special interest, even when responding to fierce questioning or in very small settings, can be very easy.

If you can turn the small group around to a position where you are in control and you dictate the content, then things might be easier. For instance you could pre-plan a collection of topics and direct the session into those. You could request the questions in writing prior to the session, so you can prepare material in advance. Doing things differently does not make you a bad teacher, what matters is realizing your potential.

(The worst teaching experience I ever had was one week in primary school, which was absolute hell).