Special Educational Needs workers hangout thread!

[merrymunky]

As I didn''t want to thread jack a rather intense discussion over in BWW, I thought I would bring this over here and let other people chime in.

I noticed that Gwendolyn works in the field of special educational needs, as do I.

I just wondered how many people here work in the same field, what kind of establishment they work in, what kind of special needs they work with, age groups, strategies you use etc etc.

So Gwen and anyone else in the same line of work, please feel free to drop in and share your experiences here.

I''ll start in a sec...I just wanted to get this thread up as I have already notified Gwen that I would be doing so.

 

[gwendolyn]

Hi, MM!! Good idea, starting this thread!

I have a feeling this thread will be rather therapeutic during the week when I get home and need to de-stress. If I share now, my relaxed weekend feeling might be lost.

ETA: Did you know that in Scotland, they don't have "special educational needs" anymore? They call it "additional needs" now, because they wanted to make their services available to all students. The rationale is that there are some times when any and all students may need additional help, not because of any 'disability' (ugh I hate that word) but because of a situation, like parents getting divorced or a family member's death or something. How great is that? I love it! But then again, I'm hugely against the labels (and consequently stigma) associated with special needs education.

 

[merrymunky]

Right then...I could probably (and most likely WILL) waffle on for an age about my work. So I apologise if this becomes a long post.

I work in a special school in Dorset (UK) for Moderate Learning Difficulties (hereonin referred to as MLD for the sake of NOT having to type out that mouthful!). The school caters for children from age 4 to age 16, but we are in the process of having approval for a post 16 unit for our leavers.

Difficulties range from moderate difficulties such as Global Delay, through to Down''s Syndrome, Aspergers, Autism and other Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD''s). I currently work in a specialist ASD class. It is probably the most challenging class in the school but I absolutely love it. I thik actually so far this year, it has been more settled than last year. My last class was based in the same room, but was a general year 3 class with a wide range of needs from ADHD and Global Delay through to severe Autism. Teaching the children was a major challenge as their abilities varied SO greatly. This year the ASD class is a mixture of year 3, 4 and 5 children. However, as they are all ASD or severely Autistic we can use the same teaching strategies across the whole class. Saying that though, we are still met with very varied behaviours and abilities within the group.

I won''t go into major detail about the strategies and programmes we use just yet as I would love to hear other stories without giving everything away about my own working life. But as a guideline I will tell you that we use signalong, communicate in print, occupational therapy and sensory stimulation as working strategies/programmes within the school. We foster a very nurturing and fun atmosphere for the children. We follow the curriculum, adapted for the needs of out pupils.

As a bit of background as to how I ended up at this school:

I am 29 years old. I started my first role as a Teaching Assistant (TA) when I was 21, fresh out of university. I had done some work as a child protection family support worker. Through taking 2 of the children in my care to nursery at a local first school I was offered a job to support a girl in the Reception class with severe mental and physical disabilities after my temp contract at the CP role ended. I worked with this beautiful girl for 6 months until the end of that academic year where she transferred to the school I now work at. She was 5 when I worked with her first...and I started at this school a year ago and now see this same girl at 12 years old. What a change! She''s still the same little girl inside though and makes me smile everytime we cross paths at school.

After this temp job ended I went to Portsmouth with my then boyfriend, now husband while he completed his journalism diploma. I did other casual work until we moved back to our town. I started work at a special needs high school. It was a school for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. VERY different to my first experience. It was mainly about behaviour management and damage control. I worked there for a year before being accepted onto a Teacher Traning programme to become a mainstream primary school teacher.

Sadly I had a VERY bad experience and did not complete my teaching qualification which I regret to this day. However, I picked myself up and got a job in yet another special school for children with behavioural difficulties. This was very different again and for the next 2 years I came home bruised and battered everyday. I was punched, slapped, kicked, bitten, spat on...you name it, I was on the receiving end of it. It was extremely challenging and very, very draining. I finally had to leave and get a change of scenery.

I found a temp job in a local mainstream primary school where I ended up doing one to one support for a girl in the year 3 class. I shared the one to one duty with another TA...it was challennging but fun. During the last term in year 3, this girl had transfer visits to the school she would ne moving to. YES, you guessed it...the same school my first ever one to one girl transferred to and the same school I ended up moving to.

I just fell in love with the school during my visits with my pupil. All the children LOVED being at school, they were happy, polite, very acommodating and hard working. I heard on the grapevine that there was a TA post opening up there, so I bit the bullet and applied.

I think it was fate. During my visits I not only bumped into the girl I worked with back when I was 21..but at least 4 or 5 other children I had been closely involved with in their mainstream schools before they transferred to this school. It was as if we were all being pulled back together.

I was offered the job and moved there last September and I have loved every second of it. I never go home feeling frazzled, I never wake up grumbling about having to go to work. The children are a joy to work with...if challenging!

So there we are...a little introduction to my working life.

followed at leat 5 children to winchelsea

 

[merrymunky]

Date: 9/12/2009 4:51:03 PM
Author: gwendolyn
Hi, MM!! Good idea, starting this thread!

I have a feeling this thread will be rather therapeutic during the week when I get home and need to de-stress. If I share now, my relaxed weekend feeling might be lost.

ETA: Did you know that in Scotland, they don''t have ''special educational needs'' anymore? They call it ''additional needs'' now, because they wanted to make their services available to all students. The rationale is that there are some times when any and all students may need additional help, not because of any ''disability'' (ugh I hate that word) but because of a situation, like parents getting divorced or a family member''s death or something. How great is that? I love it! But then again, I''m hugely against the labels (and consequently stigma) associated with special needs education.

Haha Gwen. I''m frazzled at the moment because we have our OFSTED inspection on Monday and Tuesday, We''ve gone into overdrive. I was at work today (yes...on a SATURDAY!!) making sure everything is in order ready.

I hadn''t heard about this new name in Scotland. It''s certainly very interesting and definitely fits in with the rationale of INCLUSION! Every child will go through some form of difficulty in their school lives which will affect their learning and state of mind and will need support, be it emotional or educational etc. It''s not just statemented children or children who are recognised as having "difficulties" that need support.

There is a lot of re-naming these days. I love how in reference to people with Autism , their "obsessions" are now referred to as "Special interests." It has removed all negative connotations associated with having an obsession of sorts.

 

[Tuckins1]

Hiya! I am a special ed teacher in the US.... My degree is in cognitive impairment, but at the moment I am the resource room teacher at a K-7 school. All of the students are LD, but some are much more severe than others. I have a handful who I think could probably qualify as CI on a bad day. It''s difficult because it''s an urban school where the majority of kids are behind, but I really love my kids and my coworkers.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I also have a master''s in special ed. I spent many years teaching hearing impaired children but for the last several years I have mainly worked with children with reading disorders/dyslexia. I really love it!

 

[Upgradable]

I "work" 24/7 in special needs. I''m a parent!

My son, Paul, is a 17 year old HS sophomore with Down syndrome. He''s an amazing kid!! I''d be happy to givea family perspecive to things if you''d like. I also understand the education aspect because I happen to have an MEd also.

 

[merrymunky]

Date: 9/12/2009 9:37:38 PM
Author: Upgradable
I ''work'' 24/7 in special needs. I''m a parent!

My son, Paul, is a 17 year old HS sophomore with Down syndrome. He''s an amazing kid!! I''d be happy to givea family perspecive to things if you''d like. I also understand the education aspect because I happen to have an MEd also.

Ah yes please do. We have a handful of children with Down''s Syndrome at the school I work at. It would be interesting to hear from a parent''s perspective.

 

[KimberlyH]

I am a substitute teacher, and spend the majority of my time working in Autism Spetrum Disorder classrooms. The focus of my master''s was elementary ed, but there are no jobs to be had at the moment, so substituting is where I need to be to remain in the field of education, and jobs in SPED are easy to come by. I adore every minute of my work with these kids, and have become the regular substitute in a group of classrooms at a particular school, which is wonderful, because I know every one of the students and I have so much fun working with them.

I also work P/T with a socialization program for children with autism. The funding for this program has been cut, so unless insurance or private pay is an option it will soon be coming to end. If it were better run I would be devestated, but it isn''t and I don''t see the children recieving enough out of it for it to be worthwhile (that''s the devestating part). It would be wonderful to see well run programs that integrate "typical peers" into the environment be put into place, but in this economy it is very unlikely.

The last thing I do is respite care for a child who has been diagnosed PPD/NOS. I haven''t cared for him for some time now, though I have been in touch with his mom, and I miss him very much. Working with him was/is so much fun as I had the freedom to take him out and do things with him in all sorts of environments and it was so fun to watch him grow and learn.

I feel so lucky to have been introduced into their world and I think I learn more from them than they do me.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I received my BS in Elementary Education in 2007, I started working that September as a teaching assistant at a school in Long Island, NY. I worked with the school''s entire population in science and also with a small group of ED/ADHD 5th graders. I had also started my MSEd at this time in elementary special education. My school served all students, ranging from those who were incredibly gifted to those with severe Autism. That first year I fell in love with my special education students. The next year I was transferred to work in the self-contained ABA class and I knew after the first day that it was where I would be happily. I absolutely fell in love with those kids and I worked in that class for one year. I finished my MSEd last May and supervised and inclusion program for children with Autism at a summer camp, and just last week I began my first job as a teacher of children with Autism (6:1:1) in a public special education school in Brooklyn. I love my job and my kids and so far the only thing that has baffled me is the amount of paperwork! I am 23 and hopefully I will maintain my positive outlook in my field. I hope to one day get my administration degree or eventually work as a professor and move into the educational research field.

As far as strategies go, I have been exposed to ABA, TEACCH, and Floortime DIR. I personally like to use a combination of several different methods depending on the needs of the child but am restricted as to what I can and cannot do because of my school''s program. I will do my best to work within the program while still maintaining the children''s best interests but I find that this is my biggest hurdle to overcome.

 

[chiapet]

I''m an occupational therapist working in a school (k- in US with kids with special needs. I also work with babies and toddlers (age 0-3) after school. My favorite part of the job is working with the younger children They''re adorable.

 

[Haven]

I''m currently an adjunct English instructor at a community college. I work specifically with students in the developmental reading program. I used to teach high school English and reading, where (in addition to teaching English classes) I ran a reading lab and taught students with moderate to severe reading needs.

I earned my MEd in reading and literacy, and then became a state certified reading specialist. The population of students with whom I work have a wide range of diagnosed disabilities, and some have needs that were never diagnosed at all.

It has been my greatest pleasure helping people learn to read, and to love it, after many, many years of thinking that reading is a waste of time, and that they would never be able to do so effectively.

 

[merrymunky]

It''s great to see that there are a fair few of us working in this field.

Question for you all...

Do you find people saying "Oh, it takes a special person to work with special needs children" or "I don''t know if I could handle that kind of work!"

Actually, I find it LESS stressful than working in a mainstream school.

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 9/13/2009 1:55:35 PM
Author: merrymunky

Question for you all...

Do you find people saying ''Oh, it takes a special person to work with special needs children'' or ''I don''t know if I could handle that kind of work!''

Actually, I find it LESS stressful than working in a mainstream school.

I have heard this quite a bit, and I do think there is truth in those statements. I think we all have special talents and need to find our niche. There are SPED teachers who would be lost in a general ed classroom and vice versa. As a substitute, I find the transition between SPED and general ed classes difficult at times; it''s a mind shift in how much I talk, how I handle behaviors/classroom management, how to best teach lessons, etc. I also find working in SPED gives me fantastic ideas in general ed, it helps me think outside the box when I get stuck in a lesson, or the students seem not to be grasping the concept being taught. Working in SPED is not for everyone, just as being a doctor isn''t, and thank goodness we have people to do both!

 

[merrymunky]

Date: 9/13/2009 2:08:59 PM
Author: KimberlyH


I have heard this quite a bit, and I do think there is truth in those statements. I think we all have special talents and need to find our niche. There are SPED teachers who would be lost in a general ed classroom and vice versa. As a substitute, I find the transition between SPED and general ed classes difficult at times; it''s a mind shift in how much I talk, how I handle behaviors/classroom management, how to best teach lessons, etc. I also find working in SPED gives me fantastic ideas in general ed, it helps me think outside the box when I get stuck in a lesson, or the students seem not to be grasping the concept being taught. Working in SPED is not for everyone, just as being a doctor isn''t, and thank goodness we have people to do both!

Oh yes I know what you mean. I have seen visitors from mainstream schools coming into our school on transfer visits with pupils and they have been somewhat uncomfortable. They weren''t sure how to relate to the SEN children at all. I do believe that some people are better cut out for mainstream, some for special education...and some who can traverse both sides easily.

I think I am one of those people who can adapt to either end of the ability/academic spectrum easily enough. I just adore working with children and am able to pitch my behaviour to fit whatever child I am with at any given moment. I''m not going to say I always get it right, but I like to think I am easily adaptable.

And yes...working with SEN children definitely gives you a better idea of strategies to use with mainstream children, or just children in any situation.

When I worked in the secind special school for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties I saw many poeple come and go. These people were from a wide range of career backgrounds too. One woman started work in the morning and had walked out by LUNCHTIME saying it just wasn''t right for her. She seemed fine at interview but once she got into the environment properly, she just didn''t take to it. We had others who came from other special schools, one of whom actually worked with me at the previous special school but lasted two weeks at this one. She hated it.

I think it DOES take someone of a certain calibur to work woth SEN children, but I think there are a lot of people who would be excellent in the field who just don''t believe it themselves.

 

[Tuckins1]

Date: 9/13/2009 1:55:35 PM
Author: merrymunky
It''s great to see that there are a fair few of us working in this field.


Question for you all...


Do you find people saying ''Oh, it takes a special person to work with special needs children'' or ''I don''t know if I could handle that kind of work!''


Actually, I find it LESS stressful than working in a mainstream school.

Yes, I hear that a lot. Really, it''s not bad at all. I have small groups of students at a time and I am not trying to teach the same lesson to everyone. We do activities that are geared toward each student''s priority educational needs...
When I worked with SXI students (severely multiply impaired) and we were dealing with diapering, feeding tubes, and other severe health issues, that WAS hard to handle on a daily basis. In that case, I think it does take a special person to do it. (NOTE- although it was hard at times, I absolutely LOVED those kids!)

 

[merrymunky]

It''s hard NOT to love those kids. I just love all children anyway. But there is something just wonderful about SEN children. They constantly amaze me, make me laugh (and sometimes cry) and make me very proud to do my job. It''s an honour. I sure don''t do it for the money. The pay is appalling!

 

[beechezz]

Hey fellow special education teachers!

I''m currently working on my 6th year teaching in the Public School system in the United States (Northeast). I am currently teaching High School science (Earth Science and Biology) to 9th and 10th graders. I teach 5 periods a day. My classes have up to 10 kids per class, all with disabilities ranging from SLD, ED, OHI, Autism and mild CI. It''s crazy because I have all different types of kids in one class, so to say the least I am BUSY all day.

My goal is to get back into the Elementary School since I did my student teaching in a self contained 1st through 3rd grade class (which I loved, my passion). Those kids all had different types of disabilities also.

In addition I have worked the summer program in both the elementary level autistic and pre-school handicapped programs. They were fun, but challenging.

It''s definitely exhausting work for me, but certainly rewarding!

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Date: 9/13/2009 1:55:35 PM
Author: merrymunky
It''s great to see that there are a fair few of us working in this field.


Question for you all...


Do you find people saying ''Oh, it takes a special person to work with special needs children'' or ''I don''t know if I could handle that kind of work!''


Actually, I find it LESS stressful than working in a mainstream school.

Yes, all the time, and I agree with you! I have a BS in regular elementary education and I prefer working in special education, to each his own!

 

[mia1181]

Can I join?

I am currently an ABA therapist and I work primarily with children with Autism. My clients right now are ages 2-8. I actually just started this position, but I have been working as a full time nanny to a little girl with special needs (Brain damage) for the last 3.5 years. I also have my B.S. in Social Studies Education.

So far I am really loving what I do. I just completed my first week on my own with my clients. I feel really blessed with the clients I have been assigned, but I think I''d probably feel that way about ANY clients. There is always something to love about each child.

I really like my company''s philosophy. We practice ABA with a PRT (Pivitol Response Treatment) focus. So our therapy is very child-led, and not sitting at a table. That means I have to do a lot of thinking on my feet about how to target goals based on whatever activity the child is engaged in at the moment. It can be really challenging especially with my younger charges who will not attend to an activity for very long. Hopefully with more experience it will become more natural to me!

 

[merrymunky]

Date: 9/13/2009 11:17:19 PM
Author: mia1181

Can I join?

I am currently an ABA therapist and I work primarily with children with Autism. My clients right now are ages 2-8. I actually just started this position, but I have been working as a full time nanny to a little girl with special needs (Brain damage) for the last 3.5 years. I also have my B.S. in Social Studies Education.

So far I am really loving what I do. I just completed my first week on my own with my clients. I feel really blessed with the clients I have been assigned, but I think I''d probably feel that way about ANY clients. There is always something to love about each child.

I really like my company''s philosophy. We practice ABA with a PRT (Pivitol Response Treatment) focus. So our therapy is very child-led, and not sitting at a table. That means I have to do a lot of thinking on my feet about how to target goals based on whatever activity the child is engaged in at the moment. It can be really challenging especially with my younger charges who will not attend to an activity for very long. Hopefully with more experience it will become more natural to me!

Child initiated learning is the best way to go with Autism I find. We often relate their leaning to their special interests. It might only work for five minutes at a time, but it does hold their interest, rather than letting them wander round the room doing nothing focussed!

 

[KimberlyH]

Mia, I am so glad you are loving your new job!! I had a feeling you would.

 

[mia1181]

Date: 9/14/2009 2:01:01 AM
Author: merrymunky
Child initiated learning is the best way to go with Autism I find. We often relate their leaning to their special interests. It might only work for five minutes at a time, but it does hold their interest, rather than letting them wander round the room doing nothing focussed!

Yes, I am just getting used to all the little quirks of Autism. Before I had only worked/known children with brain damage, CI, etc. They were just like typically developing kids but were developing at a much slower rate. But Autism is different. Some of the behaviors are so different from what I am used to. Like the way they look at books. My clients will go and get a book off the shelf and when I come over and start reading they want to take it away and "read" it in the corner themselves. You''d think they''d like to hear the words since they can''t read yet. That is the biggest challenge, getting myself into their world. But whenever I have those little moments of connection when they look at me in the eyes and smile, my heart just melts. I love it!

 

[mia1181]

Date: 9/14/2009 11:33:15 AM
Author: KimberlyH
Mia, I am so glad you are loving your new job!! I had a feeling you would.

Thanks KimberlyH, yes you were sooo right. I love it. I just hope I can get good enough to meet my company''s standards. My company is very particular about how we interract with the kids and I am having a hard time getting used to it. It''s all things that I agree with but it involves changing the way I talk and even think when working with the kiddos. For example, one thing I am having a lot of trouble with is my tone of voice. When are giving a direction or request we are supposed to use a more stern direct voice to cue the child into the fact that we are not giving them a choice, that have to do what we ask. But I am used to trying to sound nice to kids so I will say "Hey do you think we could put our shoes on to go outside?" in a sweet voice, and some of my clients will just plainly say "no." So that is one thing I need to work on. Today is my first support and supervision meeting at work and I will have to show a video of myself working with a kiddo and be critiqued. I''m nervous but I am glad that they are nice about offering guidance.

 

[merrymunky]

Yes, the tone of voice really does have an impact. We often ask them nicely to do something then change our tone of voice to extra stern so they know they have no choice.

One girl in my class used to really try to get her own way with me, and even now when she is having a "moment" and bouncing up and down in front of me screaming in protest she doesn''t get her own way because she has slowly learned that we do not back down with our requests. She bit me a few times last year but now "pretend bites" me and says "DANGEROUS!" hahaha

It''s all about being firm, but getting into their world. Once you understand how an autistic child thinks, half the battle is over.

 

[KimberlyH]

Mia, it is a mind-shift, absolutely, and the way you think about communication must be altered but you will absolutely get there.

 

[merrymunky]

Absolutely KimberlyH. People with Autism view the worls in a totally different way to us. It''s just about trying to tune into that.

Oh, just thought I would add:

We are in the midst of our OFSTED inspection (the evil school inspectors that send every school in England into total panic) and my class was the ONLY class in the school to be graded as OUTSTANDING!

I am so chuffed for us! The teacher is amazng and she has had a lot to deal with over the last year or so at work but we''ve got tht credit we desrrve as a specialist ASD unit. WOOT!!

 

[asscherisme]

Date: 9/14/2009 12:45:37 PM
Author: mia1181

Date: 9/14/2009 2:01:01 AM
Author: merrymunky
Child initiated learning is the best way to go with Autism I find. We often relate their leaning to their special interests. It might only work for five minutes at a time, but it does hold their interest, rather than letting them wander round the room doing nothing focussed!

Yes, I am just getting used to all the little quirks of Autism. Before I had only worked/known children with brain damage, CI, etc. They were just like typically developing kids but were developing at a much slower rate. But Autism is different. Some of the behaviors are so different from what I am used to. Like the way they look at books. My clients will go and get a book off the shelf and when I come over and start reading they want to take it away and ''read'' it in the corner themselves. You''d think they''d like to hear the words since they can''t read yet. That is the biggest challenge, getting myself into their world. But whenever I have those little moments of connection when they look at me in the eyes and smile, my heart just melts. I love it!

Be careful not to generalize about autistic children. Each child is different and generalizing and expecting different autistic children to act certain ways or fit into certain patterns is not fair to them. That being said, there is nothing better than getting that true connection. When you connect on a rare level. Its the most amazing feeling. And since it can be rare, its something to cherish.

Glad you are liking your job.

 

[gwendolyn]

Hi, all. This week has been so unbelievably long...stayed at work until 7pm on Monday, 8pm yesterday for Parents'' Evening, and today everyone at school was CA-RA-ZY and the whole day was a mess, and a student assaulted me--kicked me in my (previously injured) left knee three times (she then went on to try to attack another member of staff and spank a fellow student, and her mother just shrugged it all off). Only a week and a day into the school year and she''s hurt me already. (She was in my class last year and would flip out often, sometimes multiple times a day, and attack tons of people, including the head teacher.) Not good!

Am very glad tomorrow is Thursday!

Incidentally, there has never really been a thread where this has been on topic, but this thread is probably as close as we''ll ever get, so I''m going to mention something that most people would probably consider overly sensitive or something. It about phrasing--for example, do you say "autistic children" or "children with autism?" This came up as part of a debate in grad school, and my professor says it should always be ''people first'' because some people always put the disability first, like it''s more important than the person. Since then, when having to use labels (which I rather detest), I make a point to say "person with ___" instead of the reverse.

Just a little aside, really, in case anyone finds it food for thought like I did. Might go have a hot bath to ease my aching knee...

 

[gwendolyn]

ETA: As a follow-up to my last post, I am currently watching 'The Secret Millionaire' with Liz Jackson, who made heaps of money in the telemarketing business. She is meeting a few groups that offer opportunities for people with various vision impairments to determine which are most deserving of her money. One of the groups was a dance group specifically for blind people, and Liz (who lost her sight at the age of 26) said she hated it and cried after she left because it was the first time in her life that she felt disabled and like she couldn't do something because of her (complete) blindness and the stark segregation of the group from the rest of society. Her parents taught her that she could do anything she set her mind to and that she shouldn't let her lack of vision hold her back. At the end of her explanation of how awful she felt about the dance group and how it dredged up lots of fear and insecurity with which she's very uncomfortable and unfamiliar, she said, "I would hate to be known as 'blind' before anything else."