Last updated on November 26, 2023
As a blogger and podcaster, I missed most of February and March of 2019.
This academic year has overwhelmed me physically and emotionally, and I admit I’m not up to the workload required of a full-time instructor with 140 students. The expectation that college writing instructors can and should have 25-35 students per class is insane. Add to the workload my cognitive challenges, especially my painfully slow reading speed, and the workload buries me.
There’s no question in my mind that The Autistic Me needs weekly posts to the blog and at least twice-monthly podcast episodes. Missing those goals greatly reduces the traffic to the blog, which also links to the audio.
Yet, I have to grade homework and keep up with the same readings I expect of students.
It concerns me that the blog and podcast are suffering because I cannot keep up with a “normal” workload as a professor. Yet, this workload is unlike any I have faced before, so it isn’t normal.
A week or so into March, I caught a cold. That turned into something much worse, and then bronchitis. I lost my voice and I needed a lot of sleep. There’s no question in my mind that the workload contributed to the length of this illness.
I am prone to infections and long illnesses, but this month’s battle felt different. I push through when I’m sick, but not this year. I lost time in the fall and now I am losing time in the spring because the work leaves me too drained to recover.
Please don’t give up on this blog or the podcast. I am going to get back on track. Yes, I keep promising that, but I’m done with teaching after May. If I had a position in private industry, I’d go home after work and put in time on the blog. Instead, I spend my nights (well past midnight many nights) preparing for class: grading, reading, preparing class materials.
Since 2007, I’ve kept this blog limping along. I’m not about to stop, even though there are some long pauses when life gets in the way.