Most people think no further than teachers, principals, or cafeteria workers when considering job opportunities at a school. However, it takes a team of professionals to help special education school students succeed. In addition to classroom teachers, these facilities frequently need occupational therapists, speech therapists, and support staff to further their mission of educating children with physical or learning disabilities. Job seekers who want to work with children who need extra academic support may find working in special education schools particularly rewarding.
In addition to special education teachers, programs designed for children with physical or learning disabilities require the skills of other professionals with specialized degrees. Many students with a physical or learning disability require help with everyday tasks, including tasks associated with learning and play. Occupational therapists assess play skills, school performance, and daily activities and compare them to developmental milestones appropriate for their age group. Students receiving therapy may need help with basic tasks of daily living, such as brushing their teeth, combing their hair, or dressing. An occupational therapist can also help people with physical disabilities with the coordination skills needed to function in a classroom, such as how to use a computer or how to increase typing speed without sacrificing legibility. Students with behavioral disabilities can also benefit from occupational therapy. The therapist can teach you positive ways to deal with your anger, such as keeping a journal or engaging in physical activity.
Special education schools often need speech-language pathologists. These specialists evaluate, diagnose, and treat disabilities related to speech, language, cognitive communication, and fluency. Speech-language pathologists help students communicate or understand language to interact with their classmates and teachers. In an academic setting, they focus on how to use language to communicate, which may include exercises in articulation direction, receptive language development, and language production.
Classroom aides are also a very important part of the academic support team for people with physical or learning disabilities. These team members work directly with the children, but do not write reports or create plans for the students. Classroom helpers perform a variety of tasks, depending on the setting. They may provide hygiene assistance to disabled students or help children who need learning support with homework, exercises or other assignments. Therapeutic support staff members are often assigned to a single student. They provide emotional, physical, or behavioral support to a child who needs individual attention. The primary responsibility of the therapeutic support staff is to ensure that the child stays focused, engaged, and does not interrupt classmates. Although these positions do not require an advanced degree, classroom aides and therapeutic support staff are essential in helping the teacher maintain order in the classroom.
Working as part of a team that helps children with special challenges succeed is incredibly rewarding. Both professionals and assistants can find rewarding careers in special education schools.