Support for teacher with disability

[KaliOMalley]

I have a friend who is training to be a teacher. She has ADHD and dyslexia, and during her years at uni has had extra support such as step by step instructions recorded by her tutor for each task, weekly check lists created by her tutor, extended deadlines, reduced timetable when on placement, break out times when on placement, and other support. She was talking about her NQT year, and how she isn't used to working full days or full time, and will need the same support through her NQT year as she has had at uni.

I tried to gently explain that this kind of support could be tricky for schools to provide, as her IT/ mentor will most likely be a full time teacher themselves and not be able to spend that time on everything. She said that as she has a diagnosed disability she is entitled to this support, and if they don't provide it she can sue for disability discrimination.

I asked her how she would cope if she did pass her NQT year, with all the support, then the support was withdrawn once she was in her second year of teaching, as there would be no expectation for the support any more. She seems to think the check lists, step by step instructions, extended deadlines etc will continue indefinitely through her teaching career, as that's what she needs in order to teach without becoming overwhelmed.

She has applied for an accessibility grant that could give her a laptop and she thinks she could get a TA, which she already plans to use as a PA by the sounds of it, getting them to do all of her marking and planning.

I am really concerned for her that she is being mislead by her uni. I've never heard of support such as this being offered beyond the NQT year. Does her diagnosis ensure this support will be permanent/ as long as she needs it?

.She had an assistant BUT this assistant was paid for by her using her PIP payments
Definitely not the case, access to work grant maybe but not pip. There is no way pip could cover paying an assistant, that’s laughable.

Thank you everyone for all of your replies. Your comments are extremely helpful and the links are fab.

I will try and share some of this with her, hopefully she won't take it really badly and refuse to speak to me. My view is that the uni have not been transparent about the expectations of teaching.

I didn't mean to drip feed but I forgot to mention that she's been doing her degree part time, over 5 years, so the placements have been spread out, one last year and another one this academic year.

I think she's going to be devastated when she starts working full time and can't cope.

Ks1 would freak out if a teacher ran out and ks2 would mock.
I used to work as a ta, and although happy to pitch in I wouldn't have marked books on a regular basis, that's a teacher role.

If she's thinking ks1 re her dyslexia, I've seen a yr1 child correct a teacher and not sure she'd handle that well.

She could look at going ppa cover? But not full time

Is she actually going to listen to you? Or is she going to shoot the messenger? I’m sure she’ll find out in time.

So she’s with-it enough to realise she needed to do her degree part time but thinks she can teach full time?

@MyDcAreMarvel yes, you are I am sure correct. I didn’t want to appear rude and ask questions of her, but she mentioned the her PA was paid for by a disability support payment - probably the exact payment you outlined :)

As a dyslexic and dyspraxic English teacher of 12 years, I have never, ever been given any form of assistance. That's including having no classroom or even a desk till this year (9th in my current school). It's part of my life and I've learnt strategies to cope with my issues so that 99% wouldn't suspect I have either condition.

For those saying dyslexic people can't or shouldn't teach, then over 10% of teachers would have to leave the already stretched position. But hey, let's not let the generalised misconceptions about dyslexia get in the way.

If your friend has a hugely supportive school then perhaps they may be willing to give her additional support, but with the state of schools at the moment, it's not likely. Any additional funds they have will be swallowed elsewhere as it wouldn't be financially viable to have a member of staff in standby just in case.

@UrbanMage I don't know about others but for me is not her diagnosis necessarily and the level of support she expects and needs, especially as a primary teacher .

I an HTA and I do have a teaching colleague (PT Pastoral) with a physical disability who has a support worker of her own for several hours per week. The helper takes notes during meetings, types up reports and sends emails - essentially she works as a PA to the teacher.

I also know of an deaf English teacher who has a full time sign-language interpreter.

• excuse bleddy typos please!

Did they plan lessons and mark too?

Hmm, I’m 100% sure my DD has ADHD, though never been officially diagnosed. She was interested in doing teaching after teaching art at summer camp for the last three summers.

So she’s done the sensible thing and done a couple of weeks work experience in different schools and talked to as many teachers as she could. And at the end of it she has come to the conclusion that, although she loves working with the kids, she don’t have the organisational skills and attention to detail required to churn through all the admin load.

So now she’s going to find something that fits her skillset better, which, let’s face it, your friend should have done.

She could look at going ppa cover? But not full time

How would that help?

It doesn't sound like she is cut out for teaching for a range of reasons:

• she doesn't sound like she can meet the teacher standards with reasonable adjustments in place
• she has zero clue what constitutes reasonable adjustments
• her attitude of wanting full teacher pay to outsource half her job to a TA who is probably not as qualified, and grossly underpaid is appalling (and shows she has no clue about their role and contributions to school life and pupil learning)
• the appoint me, jump to my tune or I'll sue you is a problematic attitude
• all in all at a time when strong teachers who are competent and resilient are leaving in droves she seems to not have a clue about what teaching is actually like (not helped by the babying she's had from university ITT provider who will pass her to keep their stats looking good).

She'll find herself on capability fairly quickly in most schools.

Why is this your problem? To be honest I would leave your friend to it and find out for herself. You know it's the messenger that gets shot!

There’s a massive difference in having aPA who can type up a teacher’s dictated reports/ planning etc than expecting someone unqualified getting paid minimum wage to do all the thinking themselves. They are certainly not going to be able to teach the children adequately or Mark effectively.

Does she really expect a TA or is it a PA she expects to help her?

Either way it appears she’s got their job scopes wrong, and the likelihood of getting a full time or even part time PA via Access to Work is now very slim. It used to be possible but now funds have been cut to ribbons.

Maybe a way in would be talking about applying for jobs. Teaching interviews are quite full on - you teach a class for 20 minutes- 1 hour, you usually have some kind of tour of the school, there may be a marking task, there may be a student panel and finally an interview with the head etc.

She wouldn't have a TA at this time, and if she left the room it would probably be the end of her interview.

I'd also run through "worst case scenario" with her - what if her TA was off sick and she needed to leave the room? What if she snapped at a child and the parents complained? What if she had reports to write and couldn't meet the deadline? What if she ended up with a y5/y6 class who had very tricky behaviour?

And finally, how does she expect to cope with working full time if she has only done her degree part time?

One thing that might possibly work is doing PPA cover/a cover supervisor type role part time--she would probably have limited planning/marking, she would not be with the same kids for too long and could have breaks built into her day, she would have less responsibility than a class teacher. However, I'm not sure she would be able to pass her nqt year in this kind of role!

Agree with the interview situation. Some are quite tough!

For my current school I had a 30 minute interview, 30 minute lesson observation, 30 minute written task followed by a spag, arithmetic and handwriting assessment!

I suspect some of these comments would not be made if the OP's friend had a physical disability instead. I am thinking of a great teacher I know - partially sighted, has support in the classroom, needs software to help him and cannot do absolutely everything another teacher might do (eg cover classes in other parts of the school). So, some of the same things the OP's friend needs, and he certainly can't read the pupils' handwriting. Would you say he shouldn't be a teacher? I do think some of this trainee teacher's requests could be accommodated more by coping strategies of her own, rather than outsourcing. So she could write her own bullet pointed list, though might need a slightly reduced timetable to do so. The attitude is a harder one especially being unpleasant to a small child.
But to read that posters think a dyslexic person should automatically not be a teacher seems very old fashioned to me.

Also wondering how she thinks she will get through an interview....no 'reasonable adjustments' there.

I have known some very good teachers with dyslexia. However, I think it is the 'being overwhelmed' that will scupper her - that isn't sustainable

If someone’s physical disability caused them to snap at children and become overwhelmed and need to leave the classroom regularly I think the reply’s would be exactly the same.

There are plenty of excellent teachers with dyslexia and indeed other disabilities but any adjustments have to be a) reasonable for the employer and b) ultimately benefit the children that does not seem to be the case here.

I agree that there are great teachers with dyslexia. I also know good teachers with MH issues. I am sure there are great teachers out there with ADHD.

I am pretty sure none of them have TAs that plan/mark for them or "become overwhelmed" in class.

To be fair to the student, I don't think it's all her fault- I think her uni has let her down too. However, I do also think that needs of the children she is teaching (some of whom will also have SEN) have to come first. If she is unreliable and erratic in the classroom, that can be really unsettling for kids- and that's not the same as a physically disabled teacher who can't carry out some aspects of their job, but who can do their job in a way that leads to no safeguarding issues and no detriment to the children.

(Although, yes, maybe I am a little bit jealous as someone who really struggled through my PGCE year with no support from my uni at all, really).

I suspect some of these comments would not be made if the OP's friend had a physical disability instead
Hardly. This is someone who categorically cannot meet the teacher standards.

If we look at the OP's information, there's multiple issues which suggest that her friend isn't able to perform the basics of a teacher and she has a misplaced sense of what constitutes reasonable adjustments.

Friend wants the same things in place as at university:
Step by step instructions recorded by her tutor for each task So step by step instructions created by her NQT mentor/HOD for every task.
weekly check lists created by her tutor
Someone else to give her a list of how to do the job. Leaving aside what time they would have to do this, friend would be a class teacher and a class teacher is the person who knows their pupils best. Someone outside my classes couldn't tell me what needs doing in my class week to week.
extended deadlines
So whole school deadlines for everyone further up have to be tightened, because class teacher deadlines feed into middle leader deadlines and so on. It's a bloody nightmare having to cram my job in because someone decided they wanted to miss a deadline that is published 6 weeks in advance.
Reduced timetable when on placement
There could be some argument for her not having a form class, for example, but ultimately she can't expect full pay to not so a full job
Break out times when on placement
Time just to walk out of lessons and have some space? Who watches the group? How often should this be expected?

she becomes overwhelmed easily, and she cries or panics.
Who takes care of 32 children when she's getting overwhelmed and unable to teach? How is she going to manage behaviour management if her response to pressure is to cry and panic?
On placement she has been allowed to leave the classroom when she gets overwhelmed.
Safeguarding if she does that in the workplace, or is she expecting school to employ a member if support staff to carry her whilst paying the support staff nowhere near enough for their role?

She also gets angry easily, and this has happened in class, where she snapped at a child and was very sarcastic.
Getting angry easily isn't appropriate and doesn't demonstrate professional conduct. Sarcasm is something best saved for humour with students you have a secure and positive relationship with, not to take your emotions out on a child. She'd have parental complaints within 6 weeks at my school.
She shrugs it off as how she gets when she's annoyed, but I have massive concerns about her professionalism
aka she expects everyone to accept her way of working because the world had always bent over for her and pandered to her appalling attitude. Few parents would be happy if a teacher snapped at their child, walked out the classroom, used sarcasm to demean their child and then when they speak to the class teacher, the teacher says "get over it that's just how I am".

The problem is that training providers insist on dragging some substandard trainees through and passing them as acceptable because it makes them look good (I've seen this first hand too), so she'll pass and find herself unable to get a job, or she'll get a job if there's a shortage in your area and find herself on capability within the year. Though I imagine what will actually happen with her attitude is she won't declare all this support she's decided she needs until she gets in the door, then will go off on long term sick, try to sue the school and they'll do a settlement agreement because it will be cheaper and easier and get her off their books. Of course children will suffer in the meantime.