# SEN/D, Inclusion, and (my) Initial Teacher Education *03 January 2025* #final **Keywords:** SEN/D, #ADHD, #Autism, Teacher Training, #Neurodiversity, Inclusion, #ITT *Note: Accepted in Issue 24 of [Impact](https://chartered.college/impact/), the quarterly journal of the [Chartered College of Teaching](https://chartered.college/), coming out in April-May 2025* At the age of 38, when I trained to teach computing in 2021, I started becoming aware of my ADHD, this thanks to the emphasis put on SEN/D in both my PGCE programme, at the University of Roehampton, and my placement school, as well as the PGCE's assignments, whose demands threw my struggles in sharp relief. Paradoxically, it was a blessing to have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2015, as it allowed me to access support with a doctor's note, executive dysfunction being one of the many possible symptoms of MS. For a long time, I had ascribed my emotional lability, forgetfulness, difficulties concentrating, etc. to MS. During training, I learnt more about the variety of ADHD's presentation, and the symptoms [below the surface](https://www.additudemag.com/download/explaining-adhd-to-teachers/) (Zeigler Dendy & Ziegler, 2011), so I sought an assessment. By my QTS, I had received a diagnosis; medication followed. In my ECF, I soon became very open about my diagnoses. It has been a joy to bond with neurodivergent and disabled students, whose experience of secondary school is almost always difficult. My openness started many conversations with colleagues, about adaptive techniques, accommodations, or specific pupils. Some have felt encouraged to seek their own ADHD assessment; others won't go the formal route, but know their energy and skill for extreme multitasking in lessons is *special*. These days more and more trainee teachers received a diagnosis in childhood, and choose to teach "despite negative childhood experiences'"([Levkovich and Elyoseph, 2021](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1359866X.2020.1789912?casa_token=JhiFTtsSnyQAAAAA%3A9tk-WX8G3GqVJZtAVZ-V5o1RFZ_FnPSZC62WWUcRrj3FqPuAuWzOoEwYvrpQFp444HyfElhhqBY#abstract)) - they see their return to school as a "*corrective experience*" whereby they flourish as *"energetic, creative and empathetic teachers"* ([Miller & Fleischman, 2021](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0305764X.2024.2316337?casa_token=1yUgE9U0W6cAAAAA%3Ao8lj74-mJDwSI9tPiM2m2-xVUfaF8yJSsDS2xUhELvl8Vs1lK2r6YBgfxzaqSn2yIvrfgmOq6zw#abstract)). It has been my case. Reflecting upon my difficulties in socialisation and communication, now armed with newfound knowledge of neurotypes, made me ask for an autism assessment. I am starting my third year of waiting list, in which time I engaged with the social (as opposed to medical/deficit) model of disability and have grown to self-identify as Autistic. The literature paints a less rosy picture when it comes to Autistic teachers: the best source on working teachers is still [Wood and Happé's (2021)](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2021.1916888) survey (*n*=149), who foregrounds the power Autistic teachers have to connect with, and advocate for, SEN/D students, whilst painting an otherwise bleak picture, damning of the school sector. Rebecca Wood later writes of "exclusion, disempowerment, and belonging" ([Wood, (2023)](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2021.1916888)) in a small qualitative study of self-selected *former* Autistic school staff. These findings, both positive and negative, match my own experience (*n*=1). There's an expectation of *emotional labour* in all public-facing professions, but neurodivergent staff have to deal with the added cognitive load of masking, that *"conscious and/or unconscious performance of neurotypical actions, behaviours, and utterances."* (White, O’Neill, and Griffin, 2024). The unspoken codes of communication, the unvoiced expectations, from small talk to school politics, not to mention the noise in the staffroom, all took a considerable toll on my nervous system. At the end of last winter's term, the stress of an Autistic burnout triggered an MS flare; my subsequent attempt to reduce my hours and negotiate reasonable proved unexpectedly thorny: whilst my school was tremendously inclusive of its students, thanks to the SEN/D department, tutors, heads of years, and our excellent pastoral deputy head, the inclusion of its staff ran through line managers, a different deputy head, and the HR department, whose training and capacity pales in comparison. Therein lies, in my view, the problem - and the solution. *Inclusion should be a whole-school matter, encompassing staff as well as students, with everyone being given the same consideration for their sensory and communication needs.* But a piecewise, operational approach like the one we use for students is not the right one, as it requires people being aware of their neurotype and their needs, and open about them. Instead, we want to create a culture and an environment that welcomes everyone. This would mean, for ITT, CPD for trainees and importantly mentors, perhaps delivered by people with lived experience of neurodivergence, that acknowledges, even celebrates, neurodiversity in our profession. This would foster a culture where open conversations can occur. How many of those lost to early-career attrition could have stayed, and thrived, in the profession, were schools more inclusive of them? An openly (neuro-)diverse faculty is a strength, not just in [terms of productivity](https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52624&=%3Futm_source%3Dblog%26utm_campaign%3Dprojeto%2Bblog%26utm_medium%3DO+que+%C3%A9+Monetiza%C3%A7%C3%A3o+de+Dados%3A+Maximizando+Valor+dos+Dados+em+seu+Neg%C3%B3cio) (Austin and Pisano, 2019). Teachers model much more than class activities: representation is not just for media and culture; school staff, and teachers in particular, are amongst the adults that our students spend the most time with. If it weren't for teaching, it could have been another decade until I started understanding my neurotype, which is one more reason to be grateful of my career change. Still, I had to leave my school, much as I cherished it and my time there. This this year, I have put a pin in teaching to go back to Roehampton, starting a PhD in Education - on AuDHD teachers, inevitably! --- ## References Austin, R.D. and Pisano, G.P. (2017) ‘Neurodiversity as a competitive advantage’, _Harvard Business Review_, 95(3), pp. 96–103. Levkovich, I. and Elyoseph, Z. (2021) ‘College students with ADHD and their reasons for becoming teachers despite negative childhood experiences’, _Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education_, 49(4), pp. 387–402. Available at: [https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2020.1789912](https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2020.1789912). Miller, E.C. and Fleischmann, A. (2024) ‘Teaching as a corrective experience for self and others: narratives of teachers with ADHD’, _Cambridge Journal of Education_, 54(2), pp. 165–181. Available at: [https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2024.2316337](https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2024.2316337). White, B.J., O’Neill, C. and Griffin, C.J. (2024) ‘Chapter 3: A mask that eats the face: neurotypicality and autistic doctoral researchers’, in _Research handbook of academic mental health_, pp. 66–77. Available at: [https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781803925080/book-part-9781803925080-10.xml](https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781803925080/book-part-9781803925080-10.xml) (Accessed: 24 December 2024). Wood, R. (2024) ‘Happier on the outside? Discourses of exclusion, disempowerment and belonging from former autistic school staff’, _Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs_, 24(1), pp. 39–52. Available at: [https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12612](https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12612). Wood, R. and Happé, F. (2023) ‘What are the views and experiences of autistic teachers? Findings from an online survey in the UK.’, _Disability & Society_, 38(1), pp. 47–72. Available at: [https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2021.1916888](https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2021.1916888). Zeigler Dendy, C.A. (2019) ‘What Every Teacher Should Know About ADHD: A Poster for School’, _ADDitude_, 31 October. Available at: [https://www.additudemag.com/download/explaining-adhd-to-teachers/](https://www.additudemag.com/download/explaining-adhd-to-teachers/) (Accessed: 3 January 2025).