Beyond special education teacher?

Question

I am currently going to school for elementary ed. and my area of specialty is special education. I am very excited to be studying special education but I often find myself wondering if there is more I can do. Are there other kinds of jobs similar to being a special ed teacher without being constrained to a classroom everyday? What other kinds of jobs are there working with special needs children?

thank you!

Katie

Answer 1

People have given you some wonderful advice. I used to teach special education and I was fascinated by behavior. I went back to college to become a behavior analyst and I am so glad I did. Using the principles of behavior analysis, I have been able to change things for a lot of kids and teachers.

This is a field in its infancy and as time goes along there will be a huge number of openings in this area. Actually, there already are. If you like analysis and you like working with people, it is a wonderful job.

There are a number of universities now offering this master's and certification if you already have a master's degree. They include Florida Institute of Technology, University of North Texas and The U of South Florida.

Answer 2

You might want to look up being a TSS worker.  (Therapeutic Support Staff).  If you get your master's degree you may be able to find supervisory roles.

Answer 3

1) You can become a Home Teacher, especially in the birth to three age range, where you work with parents to work with their children in their homes.

2) You can go into Administration, start your own school.

3) You can go into tutoring & make Special Ed an area of your tutoring.

4) You can be a teacher with a charter school or with homeschooled children, teaching kids that parents have pulled out of schools due to their dissatisfaction with it.

5) You can be a transition teacher for teens, teaching Work Experience skills to help them enter the work force.

6) You can get into a therapy field with a specialized license or credential & become an art or music therapist for the children, instead.

7) You could do day care or start a  Day Treatment program for children expelled from schools.

Answer 4

If you like the school environment, but don't want to be in a classroom per say.

Look into being a designated service provider such as a

Behavior Specialist

Speech and Language Pathologist

Occupational Therapist

Physical Therapist

Reading specialist

Or in the long run you can get an administrator position as a program specialist, coordinator or director of special education.

Answer 5

I began my teaching career in Gen. Ed. I was actually a Kindergarten teacher for 3.5 years. Working with kids with special needs or those that went on to qualify for Special Ed. I really enjoyed them. I went on to get my masters in SpEd and have been doing that for 5.5 years. It is a worthwhile profession and there is lots you can do outside of the classroom. You can be an Occupational Therapist, Diagnostician, Psychologist, Itinerant (they work in a variety of fields- like with kids that have physical impairments or other maladies), we also have lead teachers that work on paperwork and testing, supervisors that are sort of like principals of special education teachers, you can be a behavior specialist, autism specialist, and the list goes on. Good luck to you. Helping kids with disabilities is a rewarding profession, and according to Time magazine we are the 4th or 5th happiest in our careers!