Special Education Personal Statement

The amount of people who live with disabilities is a controversial number. Depending on what law and diagnostic tools used, a person may have a visible disability, or one that may lie beneath the surface of his or her appearance. Some people believe that the term “disability” is merely a label use to hold back, or prescribe helplessness. Meanwhile, individuals who have been properly diagnosed with disabilities struggle to maintain respect and acceptance every day. In plain language, there is a lot of misunderstanding between people with disabilities and those without. It is firstly important to get everyone on the same page regarding the definition of disability.

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

I have distinctly applied for Special Needs Education because special education has always been what’s near and dear to me in the field of education. Being a special education teacher would be an inevitably rewarding job, in which I get to watch my students grow, as I celebrate their small breakthroughs and victories with them. These small breakthroughs and victories will improve over time and turn into giant leaps, which will leave a lasting impact and ultimately change the child’s life. Beyond just educating children with special needs, I aspire to educate the public about children with special needs and special education. By doing so, I hope to remove any uncertainty and fear the public has on this group of children. Not only do I want to impart knowledge on these special children, I also want to advocate for them, which is something that goes

The time is now to become a Special Education Teacher. I believe the best fit for my academic and vocational goals is the UWM Exceptional Education Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Certification Program.

My personal philosophy of special education drives not from teaching in the field, but from, observations, and personal experience, and the workshops I attended. I have had the opportunity to work with individuals with special needs in many different settings, all this help cultivate my knowledge in handling the needs of the special needed student. Special needs students have the ability to learn, to function, to grow, and most importantly to succeed. The difference comes into how they learn or how they need to be taught. There are as many beliefs about the "hows" as there are teachers and each of us forms our own philosophy through our experiences and research. As a student in a special education teachers’ program, learners with

The United States Department of Labor states that “employment of special education teachers is projected to grow 6 percent from 2012 to 2022, slower than the average for all occupations. However, overall demand will be driven by increasing enrollment and continued need for special education services.” With the advance screening and the identification of different disabilities of children are expected to increase the demand for this career. But overall increase will depend on the government’s funding.

One of the reason people chose a career in special education is job satisfaction. Special education teacher perceived their job to be rewarding. They get personal fulfillment and gratification in teaching special need students. “It truly must be passion to continue working in special education because we all know it is a tough job.”(Participate 2010,”Motivational factor towards pursuing a career in special education”)They have the opportunity to make a positive difference in the students’ lives. When the student who is struggling in school graduate it brings great satisfaction to the educator. The most important part of this field is to help a child develop to their highest potential.

One of the most essential aspects of the educational process is to know how to motivate students for learning. A challenging part of being a teacher is to know and learn how to motivate students. First of all, a good definition for motivation is as Byrnes quote “Motivation is construct

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

1. What is your specialty (speech/OT/PT/etc.) Masters in Special Education and worked in early intervention for 15 years Also, worked in a special education preschool classroom for 25 years previously. 2.

Robert is eight years old. He enjoys playing Mario Kart, competing in tennis and is doing math at a 9th grade level. Also, he is autistic. Even with his disability, Robert loves being a normal kid. For him, school has just finished and it isn’t even noon yet. This is because Robert is home-schooled and has been for the past two years. The curriculum involving public education for those with special needs has been failing Robert since he began public school. Even though he excels in mathematics, he has a difficult time understanding proper grammar and sentence structure. Public schools were holding him back due to his lack of understanding literature, even though he could do math that was several grade levels above his own. With these

I know in my heart, teaching has always been my calling. It is the deed which I shall never grow tired of doing. As far as I can recall, that fire burned in me since I was twelve years old. I have always wanted to be a Special Education teacher. I want to help individuals with special needs live their lives to the fullest and find meaning to their accomplishments, be it small or big.

When I was asked to reflect on my experiences in EDSE 316 and the fieldwork, I had to think long and hard on how I would sum up four months of classes and fieldwork into four pages. I have learned so much about the various disabilities and how it has change the world of special education. I think a better term would be the “endless possibilities of education”. It wasn’t too long ago when children with disabilities would be stuck in a room in the back of school only to be seen in the beginning and end of the school day. They were the ones who rode the other buses and no one really talked about. This class has allowed me to speak of my own family and how special education impacted my life. I have a brother whose whole life was spent in the special education class, and my own sons with speech and learning disabilities who are now receiving special education services. It also allowed me to reflect on my own participation in the special education program in my early elementary years when I was struggling with my own speech disability. This class gave me the chance to see the timeline of special education, from its earliest beginnings to what it is now.

It's well-known fact that the shortage of special education professionals has created a great deal of trouble for human resources departments. Beside the insufficient numbers of applications for this position, retention rate is an ever-greater problem, as research indicates that special ed teachers are two-and a-half times more likely to leave their jobs than teachers in other disciplines (Horrison-Collier, Angela, "Special Education Teacher Retention: The Relationship Between Mentoring, Job Satisfaction and the Retention of Special Education Teachers" (2013).

From the time I was a seven years old till the current day, as a Sophomore at Benedictine University, I have wanted to become a teacher. The four years of high school, Oswego High School, I truly become passionate to become a teacher. I took the necessary general education classes, and my elective classes learning about child development and early childhood education. Once I graduated high school, I felt confident to become a teacher, but I discovered that special education was what I truly wanted to do. From the first day or first grade up to now, I have become a success student, which I can’t wait to become teacher I want to be an aspirational teacher one day to my future students.