Teaching and ASD

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Hi!
Can people with ASD become good teachers?
I understand that it is not black and white, ie ot is probably more complicated than a yes or no answer.

I ask this because I am at a place (for people with ASD and ADHD) where they have a music teacher with ASD. I thought he would be great for me but seems to have difficulties with people skills. I hope the can find another person for me.
This is not me saying that "normal" people would be great trachers. Some have it and some don't.
But this is only about ASD and teaching.

What do you think about teaching and ASD?
Have you been teaching people?

I think some of us can be good teachers and some of us can't.

Teaching is very different from most ordinary social situations. For one thing, a teacher has much more control over the situation. For another, the interaction is much more focused than, say, party chitchat.

For at least some autistic people, this makes teaching a lot easier than most other social situations.

A general lack of the kinds of social skills needed in most ordinary social situations does not necessarily make a person a bad teacher.

However, to be a good teacher, you need to be able to (1) explain things clearly, (2) quickly figure out what your students do and do not understand, so you know what needs to be clarified, and (3) avoid insulting your students. Some autistic people can do these things. Others can't.

I have only taught a few times. The classes were very well received, but I don't think I'd have had enough time to prepare and recover if I tried to do it daily. Robert Persig often regurgitated before class.

Should teachers control students?

Teachers are often required to "baby sit" students, which can lead to huge problems over control. For the students who are interested in the lessons, it is best to provide the information, but let the student learn it in their own way.

There seems to be some Aspies here who are teachers.

I could never be a teacher myself, one thing is that I have trouble containing information, and another thing is that standing up in front of a class of children or students is scary for me.

I was a sports teacher for 23 years and I was phenomenal at it. I have also taught other things as well and was very good at it. It's just that I taught sports as a profession. And I still teach now and am excellent at it. I now teach about Autism issues. I have been told by many people that teaching is actually my calling.

Last edited by skibum on 16 Jan 2023, 11:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

Control students, no, have and keep control over the entire situation, yes. So yes, the teacher should be in control and not allow the students to be unruly, but the teacher should not control the students as far as micromanaging and being a control freak.

To answer your original question: Yes, someone with ASD can be a good teacher.

My immediate family contains three teachers. I teach chemistry classes at a university, while my sister teaches at a high school and my mother is a retired grade school teacher. From my student evaluations and their placement scores, I have been told that I am very good at my job. At my previous place of employment, I had a reputation as the professor to go to if you wanted to truly learn the material. Over my career teaching, I had to learn that you can never please everyone and some students hold grudges because they did not get the grade they wanted. (They get the grade they earn from me.). I have been cursed at by students before, who later apologized when they had to take a different instructor for the same course. The other instructor really did not care if they learned or not.

I measure my true worth as a teacher not by what grade I assign my students or how they feel about me, but on how they use the material that I teach them. Many of my former students have become successful medical doctors, pharmacists, and even chemists later in life. Some move up to Ivy League schools to do their graduate work. They would not make it to there and survive if I did not teach them well in my area.

I think there needs to be an understanding when you say "Teaching" - to clarify the scope of this.

From a - can someone train or instruct someone? I would say 100% on point we can (that's some of my strengths). I do this a lot imparting what I know to my peers and other parts of the corporate organization. I also do well teaching and training with kids as part of Scouting and Martial Arts. Moreso as we can zoom in or out of the picture and present that at the appropriate level that the students require (unlike others who can't make the shift as easily).

For me, it's very easy with corporate training, as well as in scenarios where there is a spectrum of rules for behavior and known practices to control the discussion. It lets me put together material, train effectively, and convey the information to the trainees. However, I did try teaching in a "school" setting (elementary and HS), and found that to be miserable as the inability to come up with proper SCRIPTS on behavioral issues got in the way of being able to actually teach.

The biggest key with this is how much practice and control do I have over the creation, delivery, and management of the students. Provided I can focus on everything KNOWN, I can and do script out very engaging sessions. Where I fail on my face is the other bits - and so I use this weakness to ensure I have proper supports in there - someone else who can manage those trouble makers, or who can jump in and bring the discussion back - an MC {or moderator}. This way I can focus on delivery and doing what I know I do well, and have someone other to take over the rest.

i train new drivers on bus routes and how to drive a bus

despite my autism that affects my social skills i seem to be good at teaching things about driving a bus

I was mostly thinking about one person teaching another person rather than what happens in a big classroom.

I have found that for some teachers it is like this: "tell me what you are struggling with and I will help you!" (even for "normal" teachers)
I think many people with ASD, including me, can be good at being experts whom you can ask when you have a concrete problem.

But I am not so sure helping a person breaking down the problems or issues is easy for people with ASD. I mean, some people can be a bit messy and have problems that are difficult to break down and find what they are all about.
Sometimes being too methodical as a teacher won't work.

I actually instructed a person last weel on what key he should sing a tune in. All I did was acting like an expert and not a teacher.

I guess a person with ASD teaching another person with ASD might be problematic.
You would think that the teacher with ASD would be more understanding because og his/her own problems but...it's not always true.

I have always found teachers who are clearly NT (or very non-ASD in many ways) to be easier than people who are aspie-like although most NTs are not good at teaching.
But I hear a lot about how it can be easier for aspies to be around aspies but to me they seem to have too much issues.

Helping people break down problems is very easy for me and I do it naturally. I know a lot of Autistic people who are the same way. We should be careful not to generalize by saying something like Autistic people aren't as able to break down a problem to help people understand it as easily as nts can. In fact, I find it extremely rare to find an nt who can break down a problem well enough so that I can understand it clearly.

I taught university, AP classes with integrated IEPs, adult night school, and raised autistic children - meaning I taught them everything from crawling to potty training to how to drive a boat.

I never had a problem teaching.

I have never really met a person with ASD or ASD traits that were really that good at helping me breaking down task.
Most people probably think I am to messy and difficult to deal with.
Are you saying that you are good at dealing with messy people, ie people who don't say "here is my problem now help me."?

Most of the time I have found that people with ASD are more like "tell me your problem and I will tell you exactly what to do!". We seem to be better at that but not very good if we are not allowed to teach in an a very methodical way.

The teacher with ASD that I was refering to could not deal with me being messy. He doesn't really allow me to do reflections. It is like he tries to control me instead of letting me reflect on my problems with him.
He's trying to force me to not be myself in many ways. He doesn't have the skills to deal with certain people. He is too much "do this and just accept what I'm saying!".
This is so because he can't deal with messy situations.

What do you say?

Sure, all sorts of people can have difficulties with teaching but I have found that what some people call soft skills would be something that many people with ASD stuggle with.
I always like teachers with great soft skills.
Too many aspies are too much into the engineering mind, I guess.
This is not me saying that NTs have great soft skills. Some have and I seem to find them easier than other people.