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The staffroom

Whether you're a permanent teacher, supply teacher or student teacher, you'll find others in the same situation on our Staffroom forum.

If you are an ND teacher, what kind of reasonable adjustments do you have in the workplace?

2 replies

RSintes · 28/10/2023 15:53

I teach secondary and have a meeting with HR coming up after half term about my recent autism and ADHD diagnosis about reasonable adjustments which could be made to help in the workplace.

I really struggle with social communication and mask at work an awful lot to the extent that I literally have no idea how to go about dissecting everything that ND means to me at work and how to determine what I could benefit from in terms of a reasonable adjustment.

It's also hard to determine what's proving tricky to me because of general workplace teacher stress/exhaustion and what is as a result of ND as they all kind of merge into one hot mess.

I feel like I'm in the brink of burn out and am really dreading going back after half term.

If anyone has reasonable adjustments in their teaching role to help them through it all then I'd be really grateful to find out what they are and how they work in practice as I'm feeling quite lost.

Any advice and tips would be gratefully received.

OP posts:
WedRine · 29/10/2023 12:04

I have adhd and I don't have anything in writing but I have certain adjustments that I've formed myself and everyone is just understanding of it.
So I might be holding a fidget toy when teaching or in a meeting, I also struggle with 2 hour meetings and will definitely need a break to walk around for a minute or just decompress before I am ready to go again. My manager gives me a quick briefing at the start of every week reminding me of upcoming deadlines and what I should be prioritising that week.
In return, I always aim to get to work an hour earlier so punctuality isn't an issue (time blindness), I have a printout of the school calendar in my planner so I can keep reminding myself of deadlines and events, and I keep a to do list so I can keep on top of my tasks and priorities.
If I had a choice, I'd ask for my PPA spread out across the week so that I wasn't so burnt out from workload + masking to make full use of my Wednesday mornings.

Blackcatowner44 · 29/10/2023 13:50

The thing is surely reasonable adjustments are personal to everybody and need to start from what your specific barriers and needs are.
So rather than requesting a random list of adjustments that other people on the internet get, start by making a list of what you find hardest at work then next to each one, what would make that feel easier.
In the first instance perhaps ask for a mentor who would work through this with you so you get bespoke support that is actually helpful to you.

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