Special Education Teacher

A special education teacher is a teacher who is specially trained to teach children with a variety of disabilities. The teacher may work in a regular school which has special education classes and some students may be matriculated in with regular students and take special education classes only part of the time. Some of the disabilities special education teachers work with includes mental retardation and autism where they try to teach basic life skills and coping. The majority of teachers working in this fieldwork with students with mild to moderate learning disabilities using a modified general curriculum designed for students with learning disabilities.

Special education came into vogue when a need was seen in school districts to provide children with learning disabilities a safe and supportive environment where they can learn at their own pace with special tools and methods. Early identification of a child's special needs is really important because it gives the teacher the tools they need to most effectively teach the subject matter to the student. It has generally become accepted in most school districts that special education is part of the general program of education that is offered. The goal of special education is to get the students to learn material at their own capacity and at their own pace and graduate with the ability to continue in their education if they so choose.

There are many types of students that come into special education. Some students may have ADD or other learning disabilities, there may be others with hearing or speech impediments. There could be students who are deaf and blind or have severe visual disabilities. Some special education students have suffered traumatic brain injuries and as a result, their learning capacity has been diminished. A special education teacher is specifically trained to handle students like these and will tailor their educational approach based on the individual student's needs. Many students need one-on-one attention and there will be several teachers in a class to make sure that each student is getting the proper attention that they need.

A special education teacher goes through rigorous training and certification to get their jobs. It is often their job to ascertain just what disability a student may have and prescribe a curriculum that will serve that student's needs. This type of teacher is on the front lines of providing educational opportunities to students who face challenges in learning and provide them with the opportunity to learn in a safe and structured environment.