Considering a career in teaching, need advice

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So I'm a senior now in college and I'm getting to the point in my life where I need to start thinking about careers. I'm an economics major with a good, not great, GPA and am pretty set on going to grad school (probably for economics, but I'm also interested in aspects of marketing, psychology, and sociology). I do know though that I want to have a career where I feel like I'm contributing to society in a very direct way, instead of just moving money around for rich people (not that I have anything against rich people, but it wouldn't fulfill me emotionally). I've been reading a lot lately about the U.S. educational system (particularly the public school system) and why it's failing and am very interested in that. I tutored for a bit at the Boy's and Girl's Club and although it was incredibly stressful it was also fun and rewarding experience.

I think there might be some problems with my AS should I choose this career path however. I don't demonstrate empathy very well and although I love small kids, I'm not good with them and dealing with their emotions. I've decided that should I become a teacher it would have to be at the high school/AP level, and considering I'm an econ major that type of thing would probably be only taught at high schools or advanced middle schools anyway. I love explaining concepts that I know well to other people, but I realize that to be a good teacher you have to not only change your language and your methods sometimes so that the students can understand, but also stop talking and listen. I tend to ramble a LOT and I would hate to be up there talking nonstop for an hour and have every student come away confused and not knowing anything.

Does anyone have any personal experiences with AS and teaching? Perhaps someone here is a teacher with AS or knows an AS person following a similar career path, I would love to hear any advice you guys might have (I'm pretty sure my Calculus teacher in HS was autistic, that guy was WEEEEIRD lol).

I've got AS, and I'm a 7th and 8th grade math teacher at a small alternatice (public) school. It can be exhausting, at times, because the job involves social interactions for hours every day. But students like teacher's who are passionate about their subject!

You will have to train yourself to constantly look for signs of student confusion, boredom, etc, For example, "Put your thumb up if you completely understand the strrategy I just explained, thumb side-ways if you're starting to get it, and thumb-down if you are feeling completely confused by it." Everyone has to show you a thumb.) Make sure you don't spend too much class time lecturing as opposed to other teaching strategies.

I don't 'out' myself as Autistic to my students, but my administrators and staff know. I hand out a letter at the start of the school year introducing myself to my students, talking about some of my strengths and weaknesses. (I have them write letters back to me, introducing themselves as people, as students, and as math students.) I tell students that I have a hard time reading social cues, so if it seems like I'm ignoring the fact that they are stressed out or upset, it's not because I don't care, it's just that I honestly haven't noticed! If students want me to know they are having a bad day, they can let me know and I'll do what I can to help.

I'm definitely 'weird', but that's ok - my students appreciate me, my passions, and my peculiarities. They understand when I tell them I can't work with them for more than 10 minutes at lunch, because I need some time to myself ever day. My co-workers always make sure not to schedule me to supervise assemblies, conerts, or any other events that would cause me sensory problems.

It's not an easy job, but it's fun, intellectually challenging, and makes a difference in teh world.

Good luck!

I was a teacher for many years, teaching English as a Foreign Language to adult business executives. Later, I worked at a private boarding school for at-risk teens, where the primary mode of learning was assisting students individually as they worked on a computer software-based curriculum.

Having taught small groups (no more than twenty) and individual students, I can definitely say that I preferred teaching one-to-one. I could focus better, be more responsive to the cues one student was presenting (rather than trying to read a whole classroom, which was exhausting), and I could plan more precisely to meet one student's needs.

What is also exhausting about teaching is the interaction with the other staff members. Meetings, stupid bandwagons you have to get on every year depending on whatever the government or the Principal is touting, power struggles, and so on--these can be very debilitating and discouraging. This is the nature of most schools, but public schools can be really terrible. You might consider applying for work in a charter school, where there MIGHT be less b.s. and you might find more atypical staff.

Having said that, students desperately need committed, intelligent, engaged teachers. Insist on learning good classroom management techniques and practice them over and over and over until they are second nature. The sooner you learn how to effectively manage your classroom, the easier time you will have teaching, and the more your students will learn. You will probably end up being a sought-after math and economics teacher, and will be able to offer AP classes and SAT Prep tutoring services, which can be a great and pleasant source of side income. Good luck!

Have you looked into the required credentials for teaching in your area?

State requirements for teaching licenses vary; however, most include:

A bachelor's degree
The completion of a teacher education program
Supervised teaching experience
The completion of basic writing and math skills tests

You're dealing with students, plus their parents, public school administrators, principals, "co-workers" (other teachers), plus the students.

The pay = often low.

How much student loan debt do you have? Could you afford living off a teacher's salary? What type of city do you want to live in? What is the teacher salary in that area, and could you afford a decent apartment/lifestyle on that salary?

What's the hiring need for teachers in your desired city?

Some cities have few open teacher positions, with tons of qualified candidates. Does your desired city even need teachers? Are you willing to move anywhere for a job, at any rate? Do you want to teach private or public school? Do you have any student teaching experience?

The hours = nice.

Well, sort of. There's lesson plans and grading, but...

Summers = awesome.

I wouldn't suggest teaching in an urban "at-risk" school at first. Some students simply don't care about their education, nor do their parents.
Having students like that isn't fun, especially if you're a new teacher. What's more, sometimes it's not safe in the urban ghetto. And, pay sucks.

^^^^^
I was just a sub, but this was my downfall. The people who teach in public schools seem to often be drawn from the same group of (mostly) girls who tormented me as a kid: the ones with really advanced social skills but only mediocre intelligence and a love for hen-pecking, backstabbing, cliquish social hierarchies. Ultra-conformist, too. Maybe that's unduly negative, but that's how it seemed to me. The teaching was the easy part.

I have been in schools where the staff was very clique-y, but not my current one. I've always kept my interactions with other staff to a minimum, and it seems to work.

I earn over 75k a year, which is plenty for me and my partner to live on, although less than I would be making in many states as a teacher. And certainly less than I'd be making in many other professions, with advanced degrees and 20 years experience.

That's way, way more than teachers make here.

The starting salary for teacher's is some states is $22,000 -- peaking at/under $50,000 by retirement.

I teach at the high school with ashtrays level. I purposely chose not to teach primary or secondary because, even though I hadn't yet been diagnosed, I just knew I would have a meltdown if I had to be around that many children so many hours in a row. This is a reflection on my own traits and quirks, not on my view of teaching children.

Positives: working with students is challenging and, yes, rewarding. The majority of them are appreciative of my directness and honesty. Working with developmental students is particularly satisfying, as these are the people who most need what I can offer. As it turns out, I am often helping others like me, so it’s a win-win proposition. The hours are great, as are the number of days off. Some of my colleagues are wonderful people whom I'm glad I've met. My ASD traits are problematic but oftentimes tolerated as higher ed is rife with eccentricity.

Negatives:
Working with students who are uncooperative, disruptive, and/or dangerous. Working in education has real dangers that should be considered by those who are thinking about joining. Besides the mass shootings, there are also individuals who threaten violence. Over the past twenty years, I've had two students threaten me with violence, one with death. Fortunately, the other students in the room and the administration acted swiftly and well. In one case, the student was deranged; in another case, the student was a bully, and in the other case, the student was on "roid rage." I've also had less scary experiences with students I've had to ask to leave the class or with whom I've had to ask to meet with me and the chair.

Students can and will be bullies if they are wired that way, and my ASD makes me a prime target, not only with students, but with colleagues as well. I've had to work really hard to not allow myself to get bullied while maintaining good relations in and out of the classroom. It's not a smooth process, and I’m not always successful with colleagues, but it's manageable.

Too many people. As mentioned before, the sheer volume of people we have to deal with daily is exhausting. I spend a lot of time decompressing. Some of the experiences are toxic, which is very difficult. For example, nursing and education exceed the norm in rates of bullying. There is a lot more politicking going on in higher ed than I’m prepared to meet. My response has been to spend as little time as possible around the “movers and shakers” and the contingent wannabes as possible. Some days I sneak on and off campus, only spending as much time as it takes to teach and take care of the students’ needs.

Anti-teacher movement: due to the anti-labor movement, teachers have been under the gun for decades. One main reason is that unions are legally allowed to act as a lobbying force, and because unions are comprised of non-wealthy people, this seems to pose a threat to monied corporatists. Even if you don’t want to be part of the politics and hate when things are politicized, it’s ipso facto part of the job: among other things, be prepared for people to tell you how terrible it is that you are getting paid way too much for such an easy job, that you enjoy far too many benefits, that you are getting a huge, undeserved pension, and that you don’t work hard.

The truth is that only tenured teachers earn a salaried wage placing them clearly in the middle rather than lower-middle class, have benefits packages, and get a reasonable pension. In higher ed, 70% of the teachers are part time, adjuncts, and do not have parity pay, benefits, or pensions. I don’t know the statistics for primary and secondary teachers, but I do know that schools are more and more relying on substitutes who work in the position of permatemps just like adjuncts. As far as the job—teaching is far harder than it looks, don’t let anyone fool you.

Job Availability:
The nature of teaching is changing. We are heading toward personalized programs reliant on technology for delivery. If this pans out, there will be far less need for teachers as we know them. There will be computer-linked facilitators engaged online with who knows how many students, and administrators galore to administrate (we already have way too many administrators per capita in the education system, which takes funds away from students).

As it stands, securing a tenured position is not an easy proposition, especially for someone on the spectrum. Saying the wrong thing at the wrong time is a heralded ASD calling card.

Keeping the position is also challenging, as my research into bullying in academia has revealed. As mentioned earlier, higher rates of bullying in the US exist in two fields: nursing, and, yes, academia.

Sorry this is so long and I don’t mean to be such an Eeyore, but I think it right to fully address the potential pitfalls of the field during the research stage. Are the pitfalls worth it? For me, yes they are.

Whatever you decide, remember to think in terms of this being about you and your life and what is best for you, not anyone else. After some research of your own, you should be able to make a solid decision as to what is best for your unique qualities and talents.

Thank you wee one for your post. My husband teaches 6th grade and I have both elementary and college teaching experience. There are a LOT of negatives, especially right now. Your post is exactly what I would want to tell someone on the spectrum. For me, it did not work out, and I am now retraining. I would also suggest volunteering in a classroom to get some idea of the environment. I worked in an elementary school classroom before getting a credential, and I was still surprised at how hard it is.