Preventing sensory overstimulation at work

[vergil96]

I'm beginning a new job soon. I'll be teaching at the university. Any tips how to not get overwhelmed and overstimulated? To survive better? I worry about experiencing nonverbal episodes and I have to teach in class. I mean sensory overstimulation. I have too many tasks already, but the worst it results in is forgetfulness. I just don't want to become so overstimulated that I won't be able to talk any more. Agh. Usually university isn't something that overstimulates me this way, there are no crowds, not much noise, and I wouldn't agree to teach a class that is noisy and crowded. But it's so unpredictable when and how it happens that poof and I can't talk any more. Or something random happens and I'm boiled. I adapted up to this point, you don't really have to speak much in daily life, really, but this particular activity requires it.

 

[VictorR]

Things you may find helpful...

1. Having written lecture/lesson plans, so if you get distracted for whatever reason, you can more easily pick up where you've left off. Will you just be lecturing, or will you also use slides, video, or other forms of media?

2. Identify potential questions and have answers ready for them

3. Consider doing some reading or courses in public speaking, navigating challenging situations and how to maintain control of things - inevitably, you may have some students who may be overeager to speak out or ask questions, or engage in disruptive behaviour. You may develop your own way of doing things to assist you with your flow, such as asking students to hold their questions until you're done talking about a certain topic.

4. Consider contingency planning. What if the power goes out? Class is cancelled due to snow? Have you tried the equipment in the room/hall and found it suiting your needs?

 

[Mary Terry]

@virgil96 - Try to factor as much down time/isolation time for yourself as possible to give yourself time to recover from classroom stress. You'll need to balance your work life with plenty of recuperation time. It will get easier as you become accustomed to the new schedule and job requirements. Having predictability and an established routine will help.

Best of luck! Please let us know how you're doing with it.

 

[Rodafina]

@vergil96

Maybe you could have some audio/visual material ready to go that you could use in a pinch to recompose yourself. Also, you could give the students some group work so that they are working with each other, giving you another moment to recollect and get through your class. Then, as Mary Terry said, find lots of recuperation time, taking care of yourself outside of class so that you are able to show up to class in the best shape possible.

 

[DaisyRose]

I also tend to get overstimulated at work. When I come home, I feel so drained and tried. I like to stay positive and be polite. That can help you feel at ease and calm. You can also make notes on your computer or notebook. It can be useful to stay on track and guide you through the lessons. When someone asks a question, you can pause and take the time to think about an answer. If you don't know the answer, you can write it down and come back to it later. That will give you the time to do research and make a good decision. I hope this helps you!

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

There have been some great suggestions already made.

Definitely have the lesson worked out ahead of time. In detail. I used to have outlines that I worked off of.

If you go mute, use the chalk or white board and write instead. Write out part of your outline on the board, for example. Or questions for the class to answer.

Be prepared with a plan for going mute and practice it. Think of this as fire drills for mutism. If you are prepared, it will be just like doing your drill.

 

[vergil96]

It's been very busy recently.

It's certainly something new for me and I have to find paths to do everything.

I wrote very detailed plans for the lessons. I solved all the exercises beforehand and made presentations.

2. Identify potential questions and have answers ready for them

That's a very good idea!

inevitably, you may have some students who may be overeager to speak out or ask questions, or engage in disruptive behaviour. You may develop your own way of doing things to assist you with your flow, such as asking students to hold their questions until you're done talking about a certain topic.

Good point! I have encountered this problem in the past during extracurriculars.

Consider contingency planning. What if the power goes out? Class is cancelled due to snow? Have you tried the equipment in the room/hall and found it suiting your needs?

I'll have to work out the procedure to carry out the classes online.

@virgil96 - Try to factor as much down time/isolation time for yourself as possible to give yourself time to recover from classroom stress. You'll need to balance your work life with plenty of recuperation time. It will get easier as you become accustomed to the new schedule and job requirements. Having predictability and an established routine will help.

Best of luck! Please let us know how you're doing with it.

Noted!

@vergil96

Maybe you could have some audio/visual material ready to go that you could use in a pinch to recompose yourself. Also, you could give the students some group work so that they are working with each other, giving you another moment to recollect and get through your class. Then, as Mary Terry said, find lots of recuperation time, taking care of yourself outside of class so that you are able to show up to class in the best shape possible.

This is a very good idea! Thank you! It would be much less straining for me if the lesson was largely consultations and if there was some multemedia to follow.

If you don't know the answer, you can write it down and come back to it later. That will give you the time to do research and make a good decision. I hope this helps you!

Oh, that's also a very good idea!

So many helpful ideas, thank you all so much! It helps a lot. <3

If you go mute, use the chalk or white board and write instead. Write out part of your outline on the board, for example. Or questions for the class to answer.

Sure! It's obvious, but it didn't come to my mind, it should make things easier also to just make it easier and less straining. I have noticed that if I don't exhaust myself in the first place, there are less problems appearing at unexpected moments.

Thank you all once again, you have all helped me a lot! I've alreay done detailed notes how to solve exercises and presentations.

 

[vergil96]

First full time job is a lot to adjust to. There is so much I have to do recently and so many new paths. On the autism front it's good, other than worrying about going nonverbal, it seems like there isn't a high chance of being overstimulated and it's really chill, there are no issues about accommodations, if they're reasonable all you have to do is ask. If they concern others. If not, the job is just your piece of responsibility.

 

[vergil96]

First day over, woohoo!

Everything work out fine, no overstimulation and the detailed lecture plans came in handy.

I'm enjoying the work very much so far.

 

[vergil96]

So... it happened. I couldn't speak for long enough for it to not go under the radar. And nothing negative happened. It wasn't far off my usual way of communicating, it seems, and the students seemed to have already figured me out before I did. They give me stuff to point at and suggestively look at the laptop for me to type. So it's not something to worry about. Many of my students are also very clearly autistic and have similar problems or are worse at speaking... (it's computer science, the most autistic degree to ever exist)

 

[Outdated]

So your problem wasn't really about your inability to speak sometimes but more to do with your expectations of how other people would treat you. Probably from previous experience.

The funny part is that now you've got past the stress of that you'll feel more relaxed it probably won't happen as often.

It's a lesson I learned early on, the society you live in makes all the difference. That doesn't mean you have to move to a different country or even leave your city, but you do need to surround yourself with people that you feel comfortable being around.

 

[vergil96]

It would be objectively bad if I stopped being able to speak while presenting, but doesn't happen. It turned out to not be overwhelming and I learnt to ignore what is happening in the class.

So your problem wasn't really about your inability to speak sometimes but more to do with your expectations of how other people would treat you. Probably from previous experience.

So other than that, yes. I did have some bad experiences and I was convinced that "random customer" type of person, where I would put over 100 students that I teach, wouldn't be very understanding. Some of the experiences were quite extreme. It was absolutely aggressive abelism - but such people exist. They're out there if you don't filter them out on your own. These people can also pose as "tolerant". My reasoning is - the more people, the more likely it is to encounter all the possible types. But... it looks like it's not the case in this environment that there is a blatant aggressive prejudice.

The funny part is that now you've got past the stress of that you'll feel more relaxed it probably won't happen as often.

Yeah, things like that like to latch onto stress and become circular.

 

[vergil96]

Maybe I wouldn't expect extreme reactions, but I didn't expect understanding and accommodations. There is a very long way to go from attacks to offering help. I expected something in the middle - not knowing what to do, not being able to follow anything different from speaking. I have been omitted as a friend a lot, because I don't use the phone and write text messages instead. People often don't read what I write at all. Same often goes with face to face communication. A lot of people aren't understanding of communication differences and will just leave you out not include. Very very frequent.

It's not a problem with family. And with customer service - it's their job to talk with all kinds of customers. But with just any random person it very well might be a problem.