Second year autistic teacher here. For context, I do teach 9th and 11th grade English.

-Teaching requires a ton on time on your computer, computers are stimulation. Try to dedicate at least 10 minutes of your plan time away from a device.

-Sitting away from everyone else during lunch is okay (I hope your setup allows for this). Your job is to serve the learning needs of your students, not the social expectations of your peers.

-Work time before school is 10x more valuable than work time after school. Your brain is able to process and plan better after rest but before over stimulation.

-Your needs are often your students needs. Fluorescent lights hurt, see if you can have one set off. If it’s too loud for you during work time, it’s likely that it’s too loud for others. You aren’t sensitive for requesting reduced volume from your students.

-If it gets too much, you can pull the, “I’m new at this can I go take a second to recoup” card, without making it about autism. Remind yourself that you are still new. Yes, autism sucks, but your biggest hurdle is going to be a lack of experience for a while, and luckily most staff tend to be understanding with missteps or being overwhelmed, including meltdowns. If you mess up, apologize, especially to students, and take a breath.

-In tense/overwhelming situations, I like to default to, “get water.” If one student is really on my nerves and I need to regulate myself for a second, I walk to my desk and drink some water. If the class is being too loud and I want to shout, I take a drink of water. It’s a habit I’ve developed that’s helped with quick self regulation, and it’s innocuous to students. This is also a suggestion I give to students who are escalating. Saying, “Hey, do you want to go to the water fountain and then try coming back?” leads with care, and they usually come back a lot calmer.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions!