Personal Narrative: My New Career As A Special Education

Time is passing and opportunities are opening for more students with special needs. Many students in college are getting more interested in Special Education as career that will allow more organization to have more workers with a big potential that will have an important impact on these kids with disabilities. However, this will require more training for the students that organizations around the country can give them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,“the career outlook for special education teachers should remain steady through 2024, with an increase of 6%, the national average for job growth in the United States. The median salary for this position is just over $55,000 annually,” (“Master in Special Education”) The approach the

Tuesday was my first day in my general education classroom. When I arrived, there was a substitute in my classroom for the first half hour of the day, because Ms. Keane was in an IEP meeting. The substitute and the paraprofessional showed me around the classroom and told me about some of the students. There are 20 students in the classroom, and two of them are English language learners.

A few months ago I worked as an attendant to a 12-year-old boy with autism. I would go to his house and help out his family with anything that had to do with him. Some of the things that I would do were pick him up from school, prepare food him, and help him complete daily tasks. He did not speak at all, so it was really hard for me at first, but as the weeks went by I learned his facial expressions, his chart, and his sign language. Although it was difficult to work with him, I would like to continue working with special needs kids but in another setting.

The special education teacher interviewed, talked about this goal to meet each child’s need is challenging to her especially in eleventh and twelfth grade. The teacher tries to strive towards their educational goals, their need areas, and work on their strengths.

In the profession of a special education teacher, a person commits to helping children achieve their best and to help “students overcome their obstacles” while finding a way that the child can effectively learn (Hollingsworth). My mom’s career as special education teacher for twenty-two years, allows me insight and experience into the tougher aspects of this career, but also the rewards to the job. My mom helps me understand that a special education teacher guides a child to expand their strengths, develop strategies to overcome weakness, and to make best use of all available resources. Through helping her, and learning from her experiences, she taught me that a career in special education can not only challenge me, but may also become a

From the first day a child is born, parents are there to nurture their child, to support them as they grow and develop. There is a lot to learn about raising a child under normal circumstances, but when a child has special needs parents must learn this whole new language of medical and special education terms (Overton, 2005). Parents enter this new world where navigating for the best interest of their child is riddled with challenges and obstacles that they need to somehow overcome. This is especially true when parents are dealing with the special education program in their child’s school.

Teaching in the classroom every day provides a certain intimate perspective for educators into the needs of their students and school. This perspective is far different than that of a school district board member. This was just one important lesson I learned while attending my local school board meeting in December of 2015. This reflection will discuss the content of the meeting including the items addressed, attendees, presenters, agenda items, and how I will apply what I learned from this meeting as an educator in a special education classroom.

My traits are I’m a little talkative and also kind of funny but not normally. Along with the fact that I have very bad anger issues. That’s normally when someone makes me mad. That’s when it mostly shows. Also I have a learning disability so it’s hard for me to learn and pay attention.

The last job I had before relocating to the United States was teaching at Charles F. Broomes Elementary in Barbados. I taught 5-6 years-old for the first two years in general classroom before being assigned to the Special Education department. In the general classroom the class size was approximately 35 and in the self-contained special education room they were 15-20 students and two other teachers. Students had educational disabilities that prevented them from being mainstreamed - mainly moderate to severe levels of autism. My last job as a foster re-ignited my desire to teach. Most of my foster children attended New Georgia Elementary and because of my active involvement their education the principal and many of the teachers know me well.

It was in the year of 2011 where my passion for working with individuals with disability has risen. As a sophomore in college, there were various organizations that caught my attention. Nonetheless, during a career fair, I gained interest in working with children with autism following an orientation at New Way Day Services (NWDS). After working as a Behavior Technician at NWDS for a year, my desire to work with individuals with disabilities sparked to a greater level. I was privileged to experience the improvements in my clients’ daily living, public, and social skills. For example, after locating resources for my client’s communications skills, she was able to interact with her caregivers much distinctly.

On May 19th of 2016 one of my biggest goals had been accomplished. This showed a sign of success and hard work. On this day I had tested out of my IEP. That moment was so amazing and surreal it made me feel as if transformed for a child to a man. Many teenagers struggle with learning disabilities, I didn't want to just be another statistic so I worked as hard as I could to get where I am. One of the best way to keep myself focused was athletics.

“Special education labels don’t define children; Children define themselves” (Dalien, 2015). I am interested in becoming a special education teacher because I have always loved being around children, and I have a soft spot for kids with autism and other disabilities. The first time that I ever thought about working with special needs children was when I was in the fifth grade. My mom worked at my school as a teacher assistant in a first grade classroom, so in the morning I would go to her classroom and wait for the bell to ring. A little boy named Alex who had Cerebral palsy and a spinal problem, came into class early as well. I immediately connected with him, and began going to my mom’s room every morning to play with him before class. It soon became the highlight of my day. Alex could not talk very well and could not walk, so we rolled cars around the floor, traced shapes on to the whiteboard, or sometimes crawled on the floor chasing each other as monsters. I loved seeing how me playing with him made him smile so big and become more outgoing. My dream is to give kids like Alex a reason to smile and help them reach their full potential. In this speech you will learn all about special education teachers, including, but not limited to: What they do, where they typically work, their environment, how much they get paid, benefits the job entails, the education and skills required to become a special education teacher, and information on the job outlook.

Every school year I have had the pleasure of working with a variety of new students. I have worked with special needs students with varying from mild to severe. Furthermore, within Child Care we have students that have some health concerns, such as diabetes and allergies. Within my family, I have a special needs sister, diabetic brother, ADHD/OCD cousin and another cousin who was born without an arm. I am lucky to have such a diverse family, it has enabled me to be capable of working with students from different backgrounds.

I am currently in my 10th year of teaching; all with San Angelo ISD and at the secondary level. I hold certifications in History 8-12 and all level Sped. I have taught as both a General Education and Special Education teacher. I started my teaching career as a General Education teacher at Lake View High School teaching 11th grade US History. My experience as a Special Education teacher has been more diverse, I was the behavior management teacher at Carver for a little more than three years and I also traveled throughout the district as a behavior specialist assisting teachers, principals and parents with students who demonstrated severe behavior challenges in the classroom. I guess I have come full circle so to speak as I am currently

It is often said that it takes a special kind of person to teach a child with special needs, but in actuality, “a child with special needs will inspire you to be a special kind of person” (Global Hydranencephaly Foundation). Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with two current special education teachers and in the following essay, I will be comparing and contrasting their differing viewpoints as well as similarities. One, a special education teacher of two years, believes deeply in behavior analysis. The other has been a special education teacher for 16 years and feels that career readiness is an important factor. Although they display some important similarities, the differences between new and experienced teachers are apparent.