Any AS folks work as teachers?

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Thinking about what I should do, I really think I'm pretty well suited to be a High School Math teacher.

My mentality seems to go hand in hand with teaching, and I have few of the AS traits that would be ill suited to teaching.

Just wondering if any Aspies have this kind of job.

And if you do, any tips to getting into it... things to avoid...

Sort of....I am a TA at the Univeristy - chemistry laboratory session.

I am a PhD student (Chem Dept) so being a part-time TA helps offset my tuition and provides some income so I am not destitute. Anyway, I was a bit leery but I laboratory is my realm, as you already probably know, and I have my teaching plan completely scripted and written on the board so I do not have to speak much. The intro students in my lab session are really great and I actually like being a TA. However, teaching is very time consuming - know this. I probably spend too much time on this job when my priority is my academics.....sigh.

I watched (YouTube) about Vernon Smith. He is a HFA autistic (like myself) and just won the Nobel Prize for his work in mathematical modeling in economics. He teaches at the university and comments that he does relate to his students, perhaps better than to any others, since he can 'show' his realm and speciality where students can interactively share. You might to look up Dr. Smith on YouTube regarding this.

I think you would be a good teacher. I imagine Aspies could thrive in this field. Let us know of your plans.

I'm fairly certain that two of my teachers have AS (I go to a science and math magnet school.)

i am about to finish the PhD, then if i don't get any post-doc position i am going back to my native country and get a teaching position at the university i have done masters at (they ask me to come back). even if i get any post-doc, after completing it i am going back home and teach, so one day it's very likely that i become a lecturer

i have no experience yet, though. so no advice from me.

you shouldn't worry too much about that;

I'm a supervisor, and a large part of the time, I am training and coaching employees; very similar to teaching. The two main points of teaching are communicating concepts, and focusing on the matters at hand, and aspies can do both of these things quite well. I suggest, perhaps, you outline your teaching course before each class, and stick with the outline. Ask your students open ended questions, and allow them the time to ponder the questions, and answer them.

I've found I focus more on my coaching points than my NT cohorts, and I don't delineate from the objectives. Much of teaching and coaching is also repetitious in nature, stating points repeatedly, until the students/trainees understand what is to be learned...

good luck!

Mike George

http://www.myspace.com/mikegeorgemusic

I have experience teaching people how to use a scientific instrument. I really enjoyed it. AS-like qualities may have actually helped, because I made sure to explain all of the steps required to run the instrument. This is important, because if someone forgets those steps, the experiment will not work, and the little details that may seem obvious to experienced users are not obvious to people learning for the first time.

The two issues I see being most problematic (which I did not have to deal with) are:
1. Dealing with unruly students. This is generally more of a problem with younger students.
2. Grading, and dealing with students' emotions regarding their grades.

We also have to take precautions not to bore the students, but I think that is an equal problem for NTs as for aspies.

I am an elementary school teacher - so a little different than the area you are aiming for.

To be honest, it really isn't the teaching parts of my job that I find tough. Children like structure and like to know what to expect in their day/week. This is perfect for my mode of working and suits my style of teaching well. I discuss our aims for the week on a monday and our daily plan each morning at registration. The children also know that I have clearly defined expectations and that I will react to the *facts* - that my motives and reactions are regular. They know what to expect and the consequences of their actions. I guess this isn't stuff you need to know...

Anyway - in my working life it isn't the teaching or the children that I have problems with. The most difficult aspects of my working life revolve around having a manager who has a very unstructured mode of working and who expects the staff to accomodate any last minute change of plan or half thought out initiative, without thought for how this fits in to what we are *required* to achieve.

Basically - it's the adult interactions which are difficult, rather than the children!

In addition, it seems that I have success (possibly because of a natural affinity!) with children who are on the spectrum more so than other staff members. Maybe I just *get* them more than most people do.

If you are keen on teaching I'd say that the most important thing to consider is not your teaching ability or subject knowledge but your ability to deal with the constant last minute changes of plans and uncertainties from management. Although I think I'm a really good teacher I'm having second thoughts about my career because I am finding the stress caused by disorganised management too difficult to cope with.

On the other hand - if you are aiming to go into lecturing you will have far more autonomy - and in my experience the number of people with ASD working in colleges/unis if far greater. No-one bats an eyelid at *eccentric* lecturers/professors!

I taught middle school math and found it very stressful. The class sizes were huge, I had 35 kids in one class, and spent most of my time enforcing discipline, and some of the time trying to teach. My recommendation is to qualify to teach a high level of math, such as calculus. You will have smaller classes and more motivated kids.

Should an English instructor at university be called a lecturer? I am an English instructor. I have done it part-timr since first year at university. I was trained properly and after graduation, I am now working as a full-time English instructor. I think it is quite a good job, but I think I need more training so that I can feel more confident and handle the teaching job with less difficulties. So I am thinking of a master degree on Education, or linguistics. But I read somewhere that Aspies should not learn languages?!?!?! I found the most difficult thing in teaching is to understand the feedback from students, accept them and find a suitable teaching styles for different kinds of student. Building a repertoire of techniques is useful, and another is making and maintaining relationships with students. My class is usually 30 students, and I am having a particular problem with remembering their names (i will use name tags for future class).

I'm a lecturer at a law faculty. I think AS in itself doesn't have to be an obstacle to teach. It might even prove to be an advantage, considering that many folks who have AS are generally more structured and systematic than most people. In my experience, students like this; they don't want to hear a confused story from a teacher who rambles from one subject to another, they want clarity.
Also, exaggeratedly taking things literally might provide some good laughs which helps keep the atmosphere pleasant and relaxed - although I don't do that too much; I'm someone who teaches them things and I'm definitely not one of their friends.
Which is another important thing: don't ever think that you can become friends with your students (or at least, that's the way I see it). You can't. At the most, you can develop a relationship that is friendly and amicable, but that's not the same as "being their friend" or "being one of them". That is a mistake I made when I first started lecturing and I won't make that mistake ever again. Try to become "one of them" and they won't take you seriously anymore. Remember that you're still the boss, it's you who is running the show.

Other than this, I have nothing to add to what RedTape0651 says:

I was a TA's assistant for a calculus class at my university last semester and will be doing it again the following spring. I actually don't have much trouble explaining math concepts to other people unlike expressing my feelings. I think the best way to teach math is to have an understanding of what kind of problems students will face when shown a new concept. Also be very clear and write things out even if you feel it's redundant sometimes.

I taught ESL for a while, and my advice would be to try some student teaching or sign up to sub at the local high school to make sure that this is what you really want to do. My personal experience has been that for teaching at the grammar school level, personality is much more important than your command of the subject you want to teach. For instance, my girlfriend only speaks broken english, but she is such an empathetic and sweet natured person that she has been vastly more successful at teaching than I can ever hope to be.

im going to college to be a pre-school through 3rd grade teacher...or teachers assiasaint..(sorry my spelling is my weak point) the only thing that scares me or worrys me is not the children it is the adults my boss or just not being understanding of me...i always wanted to teach..just scared because of routine changes i dont do well with that...but im willing to try...i love children because they are not as judgemental at a very young age unlike most adults i know.

I'm going to college for this starting next month. I reason that overall it would be good for me, because:

1) I generally communicate MUCH better with kids/teens
2) Even if they don't like it, they have to listen to ME. Muahahaha.
3) If I know what I need to say, I can usually communicate it very well. Give me an outline and I will present the material in the most logical, direct fashion possible.
4) I am very blunt... I don't foresee TOO many problems with laying down the law.

All I ever wanted to be was a teacher. First I thought high school Maths, then I changed to thinking high school English. However, probably because I can be crap in interviews, I wasn't accepted into teacher's college (apparently they had enough Anglo-Saxon women applying to train as English teachers and wanted more Maori women, I was informed later). So after unsuccessfully working as an editor then a technical writer until doing the SAHM thing, I trained as an ESL teacher. Got the highest overall marks ever in the end of course exams (97%), and thought, "Well, this is what I'm going to be good at."

I was wrong. I am terrible at the creative side required for ESL teaching. I just want to find the required curriculum and teach, but one has to be VERY creative when teaching ESL. I taught ESL part-time at a high school for my first job, and they roped me into taking some RE classes (very interesting, as I'm an atheist LOL), which I found easier. Teach, test, grade.

I'm getting back into editing, but from home, next year. And helping an artist manage her business. I am happily staying away from teaching for now.

Fiona