Employment – Autistic Teachers

The figures in the UK for autism employment are very bad to say the least. Only 32% of autistic people are in any kind of paid employment, only 16% are in any kind of full time position. Whilst 40% of autistic people have never worked and of the unemployed autistics, 77% say they want to work.

These figures are not only bad when compared to the mainstream, they're also really shocking compared to the rate of other disabled employees. People who are disabled stand a 47% likelihood of them being employed in some kind of paid work compared with only 32% of autistic people.

As Autistics, we are at an inherent disadvantage when it comes to social skills. We struggle to communicate and we struggle to process information at the same rate as neurotypicals. This can therefore make interviews very hard for us, and often when we do succeed in finding a job, keeping that job can be just as difficult, if not harder because we often take longer to adjust to our work environments and need reasonable adjustments from our employers to ensure we can fulfil our roles to the best of our ability.

I can only speak for myself but I certainly struggled in interviews and settling into new work environments.
I definitely struggled to take in all of the things in a normal work environment, the noises, the smells, the sounds, the sights and the various different people we have to interact with on a daily basis (It wasn't until after my diagnosis that my struggle with all these things began to make sense - as others around me often thought I was just being 'awkward'). I also often found myself involved in some kind of 'struggle' or 'conflict' within the workplace, again without really understanding why.

This next paragraph may be controversial for some people (but I do have a logical reason for my stance).

I would always advise any teacher to inform their employer ,I started by asking for a meeting with the headteacher, that they are autistic. For such an important meeting you may also wish to have a union representative with you (it's a personal choice but by no means essential). I would categorically state that you should never be forced/coerced by your school into disclosing your autism to either colleagues or pupils. I am aware that other teachers have been told that they must disclose their autism to their colleagues. Be in no doubt this is illegal under the Equality Act (2010).

Having informed your employer, that you are autistic, they are duty bound to offer you assistance. Why? you may ask - well a piece of legislation called the Equality Act (2010)insists upon it. Under the Equality Act, autism is defined as a disability, and employers therefore have a responsibility under this Act to make any reasonable adjustments to remove any disadvantage you face due to your disability.
You may not even consider yourself as having a disability but the Equality Act states that;

You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

My employer had no difficulty in seeing that being autistic was indeed a disability, but when it came to putting reasonable adjustments in place that was a different matter. I must admit that I was shocked to find an employer such as a council didn't really know what to suggest as a 'reasonable adjustment' (this may not be typical for every council but it certainly was true for mine!).
I found that I was continually asked 'What do you want us to do for you?', 'What kind of adjustment can we make?' etc. I thought it incredible that someone who had been newly diagnosed was expected to be expert enough to offer up all the answers!

I became so frustrated by continually being asked to provide the solution to the problem that I eventually stated at a meeting "I know what you can do for me ....... you can buy me a Porsche 911 turbo!", that request was politely declined as it wasn't deemed a reasonable adjustment. 🙂

After a good deal of research I discovered that there was an app for autistic adults called 'Brain In Hand' that I thought would be useful. Unfortunately I was informed that this was not an option as it was too expensive! So having come up with a useful reasonable adjustment it was then refused purely on cost grounds.

I didn't take this setback lying down, but instead found out that if an employer (your council) couldn't come up with reasonable adjustments to improve the situation then they were duty bound to inform you of something called 'Access-to Work'. The Access to Work scheme aims to help people overcome the challenges they may face in the workplace, including travel to work. I would suggest visiting the following page to see how to apply; Access to Work.

So if your employer is duty bound to inform you about Access to work ,why don't they just contact them automatically? The answer to this is quite simple ...... they're not allowed to! Only you can apply for an Access to Work grant, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be telling you about it. I found this part very puzzling, as it appeared that a huge employer with it's own HR department etc wasn't even aware of the law. The final puzzling fact is that if you apply (with their encouragement) for Access to Work within 6 weeks of telling them about your diagnosis then they as an employer don't have to pay anything, but if it's after that then they are required to part fund the grant.

So a grant is available for you if your employer can't provide the reasonable adjustments you need ...... so what happens next?

Having made an appointment with Access to Work, I met one of their advisors. The advisor I met was superb (he had apparently dealt with thousands of these meetings) and had obviously 'done his homework' prior to the meeting.
The meeting lasted approximately 1.5 hours and wasn't in the least bit stressful. During the meeting we simply discussed the history of my diagnosis and any issues I was encountering at work. By the end of the meeting the advisor suggested four reasonable adjustments. He also said that the other recommendations that had been included in my diagnosis report should be implemented as well.
Within a week I had received the final report from Access to Work. I was surprised and impressed at how thorough the report was (for example the report actually told my school/council exactly how much some of the adjustments would cost and had even provided the links from the web where they could purchase these). I have to now say that I was shocked to learn that the report only provided recommendations and could not force your employer to follow them! However it's not a disaster, because if your employer doesn't follow the recommendations then they ARE legally required to provide something of equal effectiveness or better! Since you've contacted Access to Work because your employer can't provide appropriate reasonable adjustments then if they don't follow the reports recommendations, legally they are going to lose.

To give you an idea of the type of recommendations the report made, I am happy to share the ones included in my report :

1) That my employer should provide me with the 'Brain In Hand' App (this was a recommendation the advisor would have made, even if I hadn't mentioned it)
2) That I be provided with a special type of fan (a rather expensive Dyson one which could produce both hot and cold air), as I was having issues with fluctuating temperatures at work.
3) That I be provided with noise cancelling headphones, to be used with my PC and room telephone, as I was having issues with sound etc.
4) That the management of the school (and department colleagues if I wanted) be provided with specialist 'autism training' - again this was a recommendation that the advisor recommended should be made.

The next part of my story may not be typical ,I hope it's not, but I suspect it might be.

My employer began to drag their heels regarding the cost of some of the recommendations and told me in a roundabout manner that it might take some time to put them in place. Apparently a councils' requisitions department doesn't do things very quickly-despite being told in the report where to purchase the recommendations at the best price.

Nine months after receiving the report my employer had failed to put all of the recommendations in place, and in the meantime my doctor would not allow me to return to work without the recommendations being in place!

This situation eventually led to me being retired on 'medical grounds', but it's my belief that this need not be the case for others. The reason I say that is because there appeared to be a lack of knowledge about autism in adults within teaching, and also about the Access to Work scheme from my employers.

Since my retiral I have watched a TV programme about the NHS where they embraced and supported their autistic staff and actively encouraged those involved to use the Access to Work scheme. It is therefore something that other sections of the public sector are aware of, but one where teaching (and their employers) needs to become more aware of.

I would suggest that whilst dealing with a situation like this that you actively involve your trade union. If you are not a member of a trade union, I would suggest joining one, as without my trade union I would have found the situation much more complicated to deal with.
I will now include a list of Trade Unions and the links to their websites (I am not going to recommend a particular Union but will simply list them in alphabetical order).

Teaching Union Website Links

England

Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL)
National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT)
National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)
National Education Union: Association of Teachers and Lecturers section (NEU/ATL)
National Education Union: National Union of Teachers section (NEU/NUT)
Voice

Northern Ireland

Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL)
Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO)
National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT)
National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)
National Education Union: Association of Teachers and Lecturers section (NEU/ATL)
Ulster Teachers' Union (UTU)
Voice

Scotland

Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS)
Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS)
National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)
National Education Union: Association of Teachers and Lecturers section (NEU/ATL)
School Leaders Scotland (SLS - Secondary Only)
Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA)
Voice

Wales