Teaching special needs kids

[Anonymous]

Not sure if this is the right forum, but daughter is thinking seriously about majoring in this field. She had a one semester HS course working with these kids at her school and have never seen her so happy. Teacher said she was fantastic working with them. Realize teachers do not make a lot of money but daughter does not have an interest in becoming an investment banker or lawyer anyway. She's a sensitive kid and a hyper-competitive field is not what she is about. Teachers get the summer off and pensions so not a bad living if done right.

My questions are the pros and cons of the field. Also, what would be an appropriate minor?

[Anonymous]

I didn't major in education but got my masters in teaching and my psychology/family studies courses were pretty useful.

[Anonymous]

OP related to 8:36, I'd suggest your DD get a Master's degree right off the bat. If done right, teaching demands not only emotional intelligence, but intellectual rigor too. The best secondary special ed teachers I knew (I've known some great ones) had subject degrees from undergrad.

Your DD can think about 2 questions. First, whom would I like to teach? Second, what would I like to teach?

[Anonymous]

OP if your DD is interested in becoming a teacher - especially a special education teacher - she CANNOT approach the job thinking "...hey I'll get the Summers off and also get a pension".

As the mom of a child who is in special education I want to know that his teachers have a passion for teaching and know how to teach those students who learn differently. Instead of keeping their eyes on their upcoming summer break and pension.

[Anonymous]

I think it is great that teaching special needs students makes her happy. She should definitely go for it. Get a degree in special education, and if she can get get some experience working with students who have autism, she will get get a job quickly. Autism is a growing field and we need more teachers who are patient and capable of working with children who have various needs.

The downside is usually the parents. If you are doing your job, you should be fine, but some parents are hard to please no matter what you do. Some of them are in denial about how limit their child is, and some are resentful that they have a special needs child. They love their kids, but that is the hardest part.

[Anonymous]

The paperwork is a nightmare. Love the teaching part but so much of the job now is countless hours doing paperwork.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is great that teaching special needs students makes her happy. She should definitely go for it. Get a degree in special education, and if she can get get some experience working with students who have autism, she will get get a job quickly. Autism is a growing field and we need more teachers who are patient and capable of working with children who have various needs.

The downside is usually the parents. If you are doing your job, you should be fine, but some parents are hard to please no matter what you do. Some of them are in denial about how limit their child is, and some are resentful that they have a special needs child. They love their kids, but that is the hardest part.

Yeah, actually, I really think the downside is the administration and bureaucracy and paperwork... Sure, some parents are a pain - but so are clients (or customers) or people in like roles in any profession. If the school were doing their job, parents might not be hard to please - and often the school, in the form of administration, is what's standing in the way of teachers doing their job. Not always of course, there are awful teachers and teachers who believe the party line, but it's hard for good teachers who care to sit at the table and agree with the parent and feel like they can't say anything, or know that kid really needs X and know that's never going to happen or know the law really says Y and similarly know that's never going to happen. It was the administration/bureaucracy that made me leave. And it's the same people who who stand in the way of my kid (special needs, who I did not have while I was teaching) when I'm trying to get her services. It's rarely the individual teacher.

That said, I miss it - I loved the kids and enjoyed the work, and had good working relationships with almost all my parents (there was 1 over the course of 3 years, sure, not a long time, but 1 of dozens, who I found difficult to work with, and yet I did because that was my job), but the admin crap, the lack of support - that's what made me cry, by mid year, daily.

I second whoever said get a masters - maybe a combo/5 year program? Some place with a strong practical experience component, as that's the piece that will most prep her. I came out of my masters technically qualified (and certified) to teach a range of kids, but that did not at all mean I had any business teaching them or idea of what I was doing, other than the subset of kids I had experience teaching already. Depending on the level she wants to teach, might be beneficial to minor in a subject (math, something english related, etc) if the state she'd consider working in would take some of that to mean she'd be highly qualified in that subject area (more applicable for MS/HS) - would open up opportunities. Psych or child development would be another good one, again depending on the population and age she's interested in.

[Anonymous]

I am a special education teacher, going into my 20th year. I love what I do.

Having said that, if I was able to go back in time, I'd think hard about a related field like Speech Therapy, O.T., developmental pediatrics (either and M.D. or an N.P or P.A. with this specialty), neuropsychologist, etc . . . All of those things have more earning potential, and more flexibility.

[Anonymous]

She should get a SPED license but also focus on a specialty like Speech, OT, Autism, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Not sure if this is the right forum, but daughter is thinking seriously about majoring in this field. She had a one semester HS course working with these kids at her school and have never seen her so happy. Teacher said she was fantastic working with them. Realize teachers do not make a lot of money but daughter does not have an interest in becoming an investment banker or lawyer anyway. She's a sensitive kid and a hyper-competitive field is not what she is about. Teachers get the summer off and pensions so not a bad living if done right.

My questions are the pros and cons of the field. Also, what would be an appropriate minor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She should get a SPED license but also focus on a specialty like Speech, OT, Autism, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Not sure if this is the right forum, but daughter is thinking seriously about majoring in this field. She had a one semester HS course working with these kids at her school and have never seen her so happy. Teacher said she was fantastic working with them. Realize teachers do not make a lot of money but daughter does not have an interest in becoming an investment banker or lawyer anyway. She's a sensitive kid and a hyper-competitive field is not what she is about. Teachers get the summer off and pensions so not a bad living if done right.

My questions are the pros and cons of the field. Also, what would be an appropriate minor?

I'm the special educator above, and I'm not sure I understand this post. Speech, OT, and Special Education would require very different coursework and degrees. Earning 2 of them would cost a lot of money for not a lot of return. Someone with any of those credentials can specialize in Autism, or any one of a number of other areas.

[Anonymous]

Good for your daughter. She should look into OT or speech. You work with kids one one, options in and out of school systems,lots of options for flexible work schedules.

[Anonymous]

Special Needs mom. Maryland has a fantastic special ed program from which we have hired many students to do part time care for our child. Can't say enough good things.

There are many volunteer opportunities for high school students in this area to get involved with special needs kids. Many of the activities my child does utilize teenage "helpers" -- volunteers who are so dedicated and that we have come to love. If your daughter has particular interests -- sports, baseball, ballet, horseback riding, or really any other interests, she can very easily get involved with special needs kids as a volunteer.

[Anonymous]

I have been a special ed teacher for 16 years. I love the kids. I love teaching. I live for the moment when a student achieves a goal. I would not, however, recommend the job to my daughter. In the past 16 years the paperwork expectations and time spent in meetings has increased to the point that I have to spend more time administratively than I do actually teaching. I also feel that no matter how much I do and how hard I work there is always an angry parent . I am dedicated to my students and families but so often I find that that the parents have had a bad experience with a service provider at some point in their therapy/educational experience that they come in ready to fight before they have even given me/my school a chance. The truth is, I get where they are coming from. I have a child with special ed needs myself. I have been burned as a parent. In addition, the documentation is crazy and to do the job right you have to spend so much time writing about each group and collecting data that you never have time to plan for every group with creative lessons.

I second the recommendation to have your daughter explore OT, PT, or speech as a related field or at least for her to also get a general ed or content certificate as well. In these fields, you have the opportunities to help children without as many downsides. All in all, most of the really amazing special ed teachers I have known leave special ed and either go to an unrelated field or into general education fairly quickly. I have been considering leaving the field for the past 2 years. It is only due to a great principal at my school that I have held off.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I second OT/Speech/PT because there is more pay, the ability to work part-time and full-time and more hands on interaction with kids.

Sped teachers are at the mercy of where they get placed. A lot of them take a back seat in the classroom while the content teacher instructs which is boring.

[Anonymous]

Have her spend some time in a classroom she might want to work in first. The special ed teachers at my school tend to burn out after 4-6 yrs. The paperwork alone is a FT job.