We need to talk about why I've never posted here before.

I'm a 32-year-old English teacher from Poland. I've been teaching for almost 8 years and I've never posted on Chambers before, only lurked in this sub for years taking in all the stories and advice as I've been doing this all by myself (no mentorship, only generic "teacher training" courses) and it really helped to get through some crises and irdiculous situations. I have to admit that I've been a lurker so long, that I kind of feel a little nervous now, but here I am<br><br>Normally, I teach in a "normal" middle school in a big city, but since covid I've been doing online lessons, which in my case also mean remote teaching from home.<br><br>This year, I was asked by a teacher colleague from another school to substitute her while she's away on sick leave (3 weeks). I've been told that the circumstances are a bit "peculiar". The guy is a young adult (20ish) with very low communication skills, mostly non-verbal (and those rare interactions were always about his "love of anime, manga, and cosplay") so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it all seemed fun and I have never taught solo one-on-one lessons before so I decided to take it on.<br><br>It's been two weeks so far, and it's been a hell of a ride.<br><br>For obvious reasons, I won't give any names of places or names of people involved. I don't want to make this too long, so I'll try to keep it short.<br><br>Contact information:<br><br>- Apparently, there is no phone number for "Adam" as his mother is afraid of some "weirdos" contacting him (no idea what she meant)<br>- His email that I was given, doesn't work (it's inactive)<br>- He doesn't know how to (or doesn't want to) use Messenger or any other apps<br>- I have to contact him via his mother's phone number<br><br>Lesson plan<br><br>- I was given an "emergency lesson plan" that I should follow to the letter with some "electronic, pre-prepared" materials that I should "deliver" somehow<br>- I was strictly forbidden from using any type of "cloud" services as there "was some situation" (not told what) and Adam would freak out if he found out I was using Google Drive or something<br><br>Pre lesson chat<br><br>- The mother was very nice and seemed genuinely happy that I agreed to take this sub job<br>- We talked for around 30-40 minutes about various topics (though I was told it would be a quick 10-minute conversation)<br>- I had to ask about 5 times to go through some basic info about Adam's level, how to deliver the materials, if there are any issues I should be aware of<br>- She kept "forgetting" the answers to some of my questions and had to leave the room to check the details (that's why our pre-lesson chat took so long)<br><br>First week:<br><br>- Monday - I texted the mother to confirm our times and all that jazz, she replied that all seemed fine and she'll pass on a link to the lesson so that I can "deliver" it. She didn't send a link<br>- Tuesday - Morning text, no response<br>- Tuesday (evening) - I called her to ask if she could send the link, info about Adam's level, or anything "just in case". The mother said she'll send the link asap but we had a very nice conversation about the weather and her recent trip abroad<br>- I received the link to a Microsoft Onedrive account<br>- I tried to access it 2 days later and it was taken down<br>- I tried calling her to confirm what was going on and she didn't pick up<br>- 2 days after that, I got some "shared files" from her email (in .rar compressed files)<br>- I had to go out and buy some new software to decompress the files<br>- I had to ask for passwords twice (she gave me the wrong ones by mistake)<br>- I tried to go through the files and prepare the lessons. The level was waaaay too low for a 20-year-old (it was like A2 level materials) and Adam was supposed to learn business English (he was supposed to teach some basic English to Chinese interns in the company he works for)<br>- I tried to contact her to ask about the level (again) and what specific topics I should focus on in the lessons<br>- Silence<br>- I decided I would wing it, just in case and use my business English syllabus for adults that I prepared for my students in my school<br><br>Lesson 1<br><br>- I called to check the time (again) and to ask if by any chance she had an email Adam could use, and the line went dead<br>- She called me back after 30 minutes to apologize and say that the connection was bad and that the time should be ok<br>- I waited for 30 minutes, called the number, and the mom answered<br>- She said that Adam doesn't "speak" on the phone and she'll pass him the receiver<br>- I heard some noise, what sounded like a kid having a temper tantrum in the background (like he was smashing things and screaming)<br>- After 5 minutes of some weird sounds, the mom picked up and said that Adam wasn't feeling good today and if we could "delay the lesson by around half an hour"<br>- Some guy called "Tomasz" answered the phone and told me that Adam is feeling a bit ill and the lesson will have to be postponed till next week (I got a bit angry at this point)<br>- I said I couldn't postpone because I was paid to deliver classes and we could do something "chill" on the lesson<br>- I had to hold for 5 minutes till the mom answered and said that we could do it today but that Tomasz would take notes and translate to Adam<br><br>The lesson:<br><br>- I tried to introduce myself, just to be polite. Adam started to wobble a bit in his chair, Tomasz said "it's fine, he's fine, let's proceed"<br>- I tried to break the ice with some basic questions, Adam just looked around and made some noises like "ehem...hehe", Tomasz translated everything he said<br>- I asked about his interests. He said that he liked "anime" and "manga" and "video games" (this was translated by Tomasz, Adam just mumbled something incomprehensible)<br>- I decided to follow the "emergency" syllabus. Big mistake. He didn't seem to understand any of the tasks, got confused, and started crying loudly (wanting his mommy)<br>- I tried to go through the materials with him and explain some basic stuff about business English for 10 minutes or so (while he was crying), Tomasz explained that he wasn't "comfortable with" some of the material<br>- I asked if he wanted to take a break. He didn't respond, just wobbled in his chair more and more while crying<br>- Tomasz took over at this point and started talking (and gesticulating) to Adam like he was a 2-year-old and that seemed to calm him a bit<br>- He got up from his chair and walked away<br>- Tomasz said that the lesson was "fine" so far and the next one would be on Wednesday at the same time<br><br>Wednesday<br><br>- I sent a confirmation text on Monday and Tuesday<br>- No response on Wednesday till the time we were supposed to have a lesson<br>- I called and the mother picked up, apologized for the "no call no show" from Monday, and said that the lessons would continue as planned<br>- I said that I had to talk to her about Adam's level and his behavior during the lesson. She said that she doesn't "have time" for that now, we would talk on Friday<br><br>Lesson 2:<br><br>- similar to lesson 1, Adam didn't seem to understand anything, didn't want to interact, and started crying in the middle<br>- Tomasz just sat there, not doing anything at all, looking around confused<br><br>Friday<br><br>- Mom said we would have to postpone today's lesson because Adam "wasn't feeling well" again and we would reschedule for next week<br>- I said that we could postpone if I was paid for this week's classes as I delivered them despite the issues. She said that we would talk on Monday<br><br>Monday<br><br>- we had a pre-lesson conversation for almost an hour. I was told that Adam's mental abilities are somewhere around a 10-year-old level and that I should adjust my materials and teaching strategies<br>- Tomasz didn't show up for today's lesson and Adam was more or less ok (stared somewhere else the whole time, but no crying)<br><br>This brings us to today... Now I'm supposed to "deliver" 3 more lessons this week. I'll see what happens next...<br><br>I'm sorry for the long post, I just wanted to share my weird experience. All help and advice would be greatly appreciated<br><br>Tl;dr: I took a sub job for an "autistic" 20-year-old. Everything went to hell in a handbasket