What would I have wanted teachers to know?

 





What would I have wanted teachers to know?


If I could go back to year 7, knowing what I know now about having autism, I’d have asked teachers to be patient. I would have wanted them to know that the reasons to why I took so much of their time were more than just being over emotional and not believing in myself enough. I would have asked them to think before they just suddenly changed the lesson or seating plan. I would have wanted them to know that this caused great anxiety and panic for the remaining time in the day. I would have asked them to not change the way they saw me or spoke to me or did things for me, but to just have a bit more understanding of how things might affect me differently to other students. How on a bad day, the slightest of unexpected noise, or change or unnecessary comment could have really been quite challenging. How I liked to sit near a window, so that when I was struggling, but didn’t feel able to show it, I could instead look out of the window and pick something to focus on to help try and distract and calm me down. I would have wanted them to know that if I was upset, I sometimes would just want to be left alone, that there wasn’t always a reason as to why I felt the way I did. I would have wanted them to know that my lack of eye contact isn’t something that I do out of rudeness but something that is common in those with autism. I would have wanted teachers to know that to spring a sudden test or essay without warning was not a good idea. I would have wanted teachers to know that it sometimes took me longer to think of answers to questions and that sometimes I would have to go away and come back the next day with an answer. I would have wanted teachers to know that the fire alarm was something that I feared a lot, something that when it went off caused great anxiety and panic, but that also it was something that took me a long time to calm down after, that I couldn’t just go back to class and carry on with the lesson as if nothing had happened. I would have wanted teachers to know that walking was a way in which I could calm down and regulate myself. That if they saw me pacing up and down the corridor or walking around the corridors in a circle counting how many laps I had done, it was nothing to worry about and that actually I was probably safer doing this then I would be if they made me go back to class. I would have wanted teachers to know that I appreciated every extra bit of support that they gave me to help me get it. I would have wanted teachers to know that on days where I was particularly struggling, things I said and did were not intentional. I would have wanted them to know that I am proud of who I am and who I’ve become, that although I might sometimes have felt shame because of the way in which I acted, I am not ashamed to say that I’m autistic.



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