Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Why are teachers the only ones expected to go into the field because of "passion?" Are you "passionate" about your job? On a good day, I am, but on a bad day, I do my best and am grateful for my salary and benefits. Lots of people choose their professions based on something other than "passion" but we expect teachers to be in it for altruistic reasons, since we don't pay them enough for rational economic actors to choose the profession.

+1

Anonymous wrote: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.

I love these posts.

Not every child is a favorite, PP. In a co-taught class of 30, for example, where 10-15 may have IEPs, 5 may be disruptive to the point of cutting into instructional time for your special snowflake.

I tell my daughter, who's now in middle, that not every teacher is touchy-feely. Not every teacher will have the TIME to reach out to every student during each class period. Therefore, students MUST learn to be resourceful, assertive and self-directed. That's MY job as a parent - to teach those skills to my own children.

I'm amazed at the number of parents (and you seem to fit this category, PP) who insist that teachers do it all. We're all different. I place my content and instruction over the warm, fuzzy "getting acquainted" activities, for example. And as a result I have no time to reshape students' perceptions that all teachers are expected to be available 24-7.

Certainly with parents like you, PP, summers are indeed valuable mental health breaks.

FWIW, my son, who's in ES, has OT and speech issues, but we certainly work with him at home to ensure that he's responsible for his own learning.

Kids who come to us entitled and damaged are destroyed by dysfunctional parenting. When will parents learn how to parent? Paying taxes isn't an excuse for hands-off parenting.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Why are teachers the only ones expected to go into the field because of "passion?" Are you "passionate" about your job? On a good day, I am, but on a bad day, I do my best and am grateful for my salary and benefits. Lots of people choose their professions based on something other than "passion" but we expect teachers to be in it for altruistic reasons, since we don't pay them enough for rational economic actors to choose the profession.

OP - I would recommend that your daughter try to do some volunteer work in the area of special needs population such as perhaps with Special Olumpics which does not have to be long-term as they have sports trainings for 8 - 10 weekly sessions usually in a sport. Or also possibly become Red Cross certified to sit and put out the word as on a neighbor list.serve or maybe through church that she is interested in sitting or being a mentor for a child with special needs. This summer I might recommend calling up your local parks and recreation program to see if there are any camps who may have some children with special needs who could use some extra support. Any of these experiences might help her gain a more personal understanding of children to early teens who may have some varying special needs.

She might also do some career research in the related fields mentioned of physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy or even reading specialization as all could be related offshoots of working with students with special needs. Our youngest daughter has a cognitive disability. Our middle daughter was close to her and started volunteering for a local parks and recreation special needs summer camp at around age 12 and today is a part-time pediatric physical therapist. The new model for PT's is a combined 6 or 7 year program to come out with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy so that you can actually have your own practice if one chooses.

In terms of college education, the best advice might be to apply to schools which have a strong special education program and perhaps some of these related options such as reading masters or speech therapy programs. Some may well also offer the undergrad program which one could then follow for a masters etc. in PT or OT for example.