Play & Book Excerpts
Learning from Autistic Teachers:
How to be a Neurodiversity-Inclusive School
(Jessica Kingsley Publishing)
© Jessica Kingsley Publishing
Discount code for SANCTUARY readers at end of excerpt.
Partial Chapter Excerpt
Chapter 15
How Being Autistic Helps Me as a School Leader
A SOLUTION-FOCUSED APPROACH
How Being Autistic Helps Me as a School Leader
A SOLUTION-FOCUSED APPROACH
Claire O'Neill
Introduction
Occupying a senior leadership role is not without difficulties, and, in my experience, being autistic not only amplifies these challenges, but also adds some unique complexities to the position. Nevertheless, autistic educators, given the right conditions, can bring unique skills to school leadership. Therefore, in this chapter, I will share with the reader my personal experiences of leading school communities. I will outline the unique skillset of an autistic leader, and by doing so, demonstrate why autistic teachers should consider and be deemed suitable for such an important position.
I have been teaching for over 20 years at primary, post-primary and teacher-educator levels in Ireland and have occupied a leadership role for much of this time. I am currently a deputy Principal Teacher in a school for children aged 4–13 in Cork, Ireland’s second largest city. I am also the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) and teach our Autism Class of six pupils. My daughter, who is also autistic, is a pupil in our school.
Before exploring my solution-focused approach, I will briefly discuss the challenges that being autistic brings to a school leadership role. The four main challenges that I have identified are: navigating and managing the school environment; the considerable workload; the effects of camouflaging; and trusting others with my diagnosis.
Environment
A busy school environment is likely to be challenging to most autistic individuals. Indeed, throughout my years of teaching, the bustling and dynamic nature of the school environment is the most common challenge voiced by my autistic pupils and their parents. This is not just the noise a busy school produces, but also the thronging and jostling crowds, the assault of odorous school lunches and the lurid and jarring colours often used in displays. A supportive and autism-aware school will make adaptations to the environment for autistic individuals. For this purpose, environmental audits to make school environments more autism-friendly are readily available
online. Examples of these include the ‘Sensory Checklist’ produced by the charity AsIAm (2018) and the ‘Sensory Checklist for Schools’ (Morewood 2021).
However, as a school leader, I am required to be in the thick of the school environment and be ready to cover additional supervision and dispersal times at a moment’s notice. This can be an extreme sensory challenge. As this is a regular occurrence, I have to plan carefully for this as much as possible and have clear procedures for break-times, moving classes and dispersal times. Being in a small school, with approximately 100 pupils, certainly helps me as an autistic school leader, as the yard and corridors are quieter and less chaotic than in a larger school. I also find it essential to have a self-care strategy at particularly frantic times like Christmas and Sports Day. Again, a significant part of this involves careful planning and setting clear expectations.
Workload and multiple roles
Occupying multiple roles and having a complex workload is challenging for anyone, but particularly autistic individuals who may have difficulty prioritising and organising. In my experience, an ability to occupy multiple roles and an appetite for a multifaceted workload is core to being a successful school leader.
Therefore, I have learned strategies over the years to help me plan and prioritise my day. It is key to my success as an autistic school leader that I primarily keep learning and teaching and my role as class teacher as my core priorities. Communicating this clearly to others helps me significantly in performing my role effectively. For example, many administrative and planning tasks can be done far more efficiently at home in the evening. I also spend time prioritizing tasks, and oftentimes I will give time to representing this visually as I find this reassuring and calming, and this practice ultimately leads to increased productivity.
These visual reminders are especially helpful when I am tempted to spend time on fine-grained policy tasks which I find deeply interesting. They also benefit my pupils, as they see an adult using visuals as a strategy to plan and prioritise their tasks.
Autistic camouflaging
Camouflaging, or masking, is when an autistic person consciously or unconsciously tries to hide their autistic traits, creates workarounds for what they are finding difficult, or tries to fit in socially with others (Pearson and Rose 2021). When masking, an autistic individual behaves in a more conventionally socially acceptable way, even though it would be more natural for them to behave in an autistic way. This process often requires immense energy and effort, and, as long-term masking is considered detrimental to well-being, it is thought to be a significant cause of autistic burnout (Pearson and Rose 2021).
In my early career, I certainly expended plenty of energy masking, often at a cost to my own well-being. I tried relentlessly to fit in socially with my colleagues. I was often baffled by staffroom dynamics and would spend too long ruminating over conversations and comments made by me and others. I frequently felt different, odd and on the periphery of the social life of the school community.
Now as a school leader, I find it a far more valuable use of my time to concentrate on the core features of my role, such as working in partnership with the Principal in leading teaching and learning, and building and maintaining positive professional relationships. This means I have less energy and time to expend on conscious masking. The result is that I have a surer sense of self and increased self-confidence.
This change in attitude did not happen easily or overnight. There are several factors that helped me to mask less. For example, it is of huge benefit to me that my Principal knows that I am autistic and is very positive about my diagnosis. This means I feel no sense of pressure to mask with her and this makes our leadership relationship trust-based, efficient and positive.
Trusting others with my diagnosis
Nevertheless, trusting others with my autism diagnosis, particularly in the school community and wider educational sphere, is a challenge that occupies my thoughts and energy. I still feel anxious when discussing my diagnosis, as it requires so much trust in the individual this deeply personal information is being shared with. Fortunately, to date, my experiences of disclosing that I am autistic have been overwhelmingly positive and supportive and have only benefitted my school leadership role. However, I have been selective with whom I have disclosed to in my professional circle. At the point of writing this chapter, I have not disclosed to my wider school community.
Occupying a senior leadership role is not without difficulties, and, in my experience, being autistic not only amplifies these challenges, but also adds some unique complexities to the position. Nevertheless, autistic educators, given the right conditions, can bring unique skills to school leadership. Therefore, in this chapter, I will share with the reader my personal experiences of leading school communities. I will outline the unique skillset of an autistic leader, and by doing so, demonstrate why autistic teachers should consider and be deemed suitable for such an important position.
I have been teaching for over 20 years at primary, post-primary and teacher-educator levels in Ireland and have occupied a leadership role for much of this time. I am currently a deputy Principal Teacher in a school for children aged 4–13 in Cork, Ireland’s second largest city. I am also the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) and teach our Autism Class of six pupils. My daughter, who is also autistic, is a pupil in our school.
Before exploring my solution-focused approach, I will briefly discuss the challenges that being autistic brings to a school leadership role. The four main challenges that I have identified are: navigating and managing the school environment; the considerable workload; the effects of camouflaging; and trusting others with my diagnosis.
Environment
A busy school environment is likely to be challenging to most autistic individuals. Indeed, throughout my years of teaching, the bustling and dynamic nature of the school environment is the most common challenge voiced by my autistic pupils and their parents. This is not just the noise a busy school produces, but also the thronging and jostling crowds, the assault of odorous school lunches and the lurid and jarring colours often used in displays. A supportive and autism-aware school will make adaptations to the environment for autistic individuals. For this purpose, environmental audits to make school environments more autism-friendly are readily available
online. Examples of these include the ‘Sensory Checklist’ produced by the charity AsIAm (2018) and the ‘Sensory Checklist for Schools’ (Morewood 2021).
However, as a school leader, I am required to be in the thick of the school environment and be ready to cover additional supervision and dispersal times at a moment’s notice. This can be an extreme sensory challenge. As this is a regular occurrence, I have to plan carefully for this as much as possible and have clear procedures for break-times, moving classes and dispersal times. Being in a small school, with approximately 100 pupils, certainly helps me as an autistic school leader, as the yard and corridors are quieter and less chaotic than in a larger school. I also find it essential to have a self-care strategy at particularly frantic times like Christmas and Sports Day. Again, a significant part of this involves careful planning and setting clear expectations.
Workload and multiple roles
Occupying multiple roles and having a complex workload is challenging for anyone, but particularly autistic individuals who may have difficulty prioritising and organising. In my experience, an ability to occupy multiple roles and an appetite for a multifaceted workload is core to being a successful school leader.
Therefore, I have learned strategies over the years to help me plan and prioritise my day. It is key to my success as an autistic school leader that I primarily keep learning and teaching and my role as class teacher as my core priorities. Communicating this clearly to others helps me significantly in performing my role effectively. For example, many administrative and planning tasks can be done far more efficiently at home in the evening. I also spend time prioritizing tasks, and oftentimes I will give time to representing this visually as I find this reassuring and calming, and this practice ultimately leads to increased productivity.
These visual reminders are especially helpful when I am tempted to spend time on fine-grained policy tasks which I find deeply interesting. They also benefit my pupils, as they see an adult using visuals as a strategy to plan and prioritise their tasks.
Autistic camouflaging
Camouflaging, or masking, is when an autistic person consciously or unconsciously tries to hide their autistic traits, creates workarounds for what they are finding difficult, or tries to fit in socially with others (Pearson and Rose 2021). When masking, an autistic individual behaves in a more conventionally socially acceptable way, even though it would be more natural for them to behave in an autistic way. This process often requires immense energy and effort, and, as long-term masking is considered detrimental to well-being, it is thought to be a significant cause of autistic burnout (Pearson and Rose 2021).
In my early career, I certainly expended plenty of energy masking, often at a cost to my own well-being. I tried relentlessly to fit in socially with my colleagues. I was often baffled by staffroom dynamics and would spend too long ruminating over conversations and comments made by me and others. I frequently felt different, odd and on the periphery of the social life of the school community.
Now as a school leader, I find it a far more valuable use of my time to concentrate on the core features of my role, such as working in partnership with the Principal in leading teaching and learning, and building and maintaining positive professional relationships. This means I have less energy and time to expend on conscious masking. The result is that I have a surer sense of self and increased self-confidence.
This change in attitude did not happen easily or overnight. There are several factors that helped me to mask less. For example, it is of huge benefit to me that my Principal knows that I am autistic and is very positive about my diagnosis. This means I feel no sense of pressure to mask with her and this makes our leadership relationship trust-based, efficient and positive.
Trusting others with my diagnosis
Nevertheless, trusting others with my autism diagnosis, particularly in the school community and wider educational sphere, is a challenge that occupies my thoughts and energy. I still feel anxious when discussing my diagnosis, as it requires so much trust in the individual this deeply personal information is being shared with. Fortunately, to date, my experiences of disclosing that I am autistic have been overwhelmingly positive and supportive and have only benefitted my school leadership role. However, I have been selective with whom I have disclosed to in my professional circle. At the point of writing this chapter, I have not disclosed to my wider school community.
References
AsIAm (2018) Sensory Checklist. Available at https://asiam.ie/check-sensory-checklist-tool. (Accessed 16/02/2021)
Morewood, G. (2021) Sensory Checklist for Schools. Available at www.gdmorewood.com/resources. (Accessed 16/02/2021)
Pearson, A. and Rose, K. (2021) ‘A conceptual analysis of autistic masking: Understanding the narrative of stigma and the illusion of choice.’ Autism in Adulthood,
3(1): 52–60. http://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2020.0043.
AsIAm (2018) Sensory Checklist. Available at https://asiam.ie/check-sensory-checklist-tool. (Accessed 16/02/2021)
Morewood, G. (2021) Sensory Checklist for Schools. Available at www.gdmorewood.com/resources. (Accessed 16/02/2021)
Pearson, A. and Rose, K. (2021) ‘A conceptual analysis of autistic masking: Understanding the narrative of stigma and the illusion of choice.’ Autism in Adulthood,
3(1): 52–60. http://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2020.0043.
Dr. Rebecca Wood
Rebecca will be a speaker for nasen LIVE 2022,
discussing the topics covered in the book. nasen is the National Association for Special Educational Needs in the UK – a charitable membership organisation that exists to support and champion those working with, and for, children and young people with SEND and learning differences. |
The Editors:
Dr. Rebecca Wood is a senior lecturer in special education at the University of East London and a visiting researcher at King's College London. She is Principal Investigator of the Autistic School Staff Project. You can read about the project and how it led to the development of the book HERE.
Dr. Laura Crane is an associate professor at UCL Institute of Education, where she is Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE). Professor Francesca Happé is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Director at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London. Alan Morrison is an autistic consultant to the Autistic School Staff Project (ASSP) and a teacher. Dr. Ruth Moyse is autistic and trained initially as a primary school teacher. Ruth is a Director of AT-Autism. Discount for SANCTUARY readers who buy the book! Use discount code Save5 on the “discount code box” at checkout: US READERS UK READERS Discount good through May 31, 2022 |
