Note to self - at work

- Don't turn your back on a 6'2'' guy with autism who likes you and would rather hit you than hug you.

- Show less cleavage when working with 14 year old boys.

- Stand your ground when teenage boys are testing your resolve.

- Drink plenty of water on days when you have to do yard duty in the sun.

- Don't get sulky when a relief teacher tells you she knows what she's doing when you offer some friendly advice. She'll learn soon enough she really needs your help.

- Don't bend down to say hello to a kid with autism who likes to spit in your face.

- Don't assume that a child with autism is smelling the hair that you washed that morning. He is more likely to be wiping spit from his face or sniffing it up his nose.

- Be more grateful when someone else says they will do your duty.

- Be more active during morning health hustle. In this job you need to be fit.

- Wear a t shirt under your jumper on cool Spring days as you are bound to get too warm by the end of lunch.

- Don't scold a boy with autism unless you can handle the fact that he will spend the rest of the day coming to you to discuss his most recent poor choice.

- Don't injure a lover of Thomas the Tank Engine who also has autism as he will fall on the floor shouting, "Nobody was hurt, but Thomas and friends were badly bent."

- Don't waste your breath telling a teenager with Down Syndrome how to do something as they will patronizingly explain to you "I know Dee," and continue doing it perfectly wrong.

- Don't try to force anyone you work with to do anything as they are likely to hit you/themselves/others, run down the street, fall on the floor, break a window or throw bark chips at you. Just ask them nicely then do it yourself.