The Life of a Special Education Teacher

The Life of a Special Education Teacher The video talks about students that have sensory and severe disabilities but are not always diagnosis as that when they come into the classroom; they are more likely to be diagnosed as developmentally delayed. The teacher seems to be the one that helps with actually telling what is happening with the child and from that the doctors can later diagnose the severity of the disability. On the other hand in the reading it stated that Pam Mims was assigned to teach students that had many medical needs; were often not very responsive; and sometimes exhibited unusual behavior, including stereotyped movements and self-injury. The differences in the two, reading and video show a vast array of students that can enter the special education classroom.
The video pointed out that as a Special Education teacher you have to be able to be non-judgmental and to be able to celebrate the steps of progress that are being made no matter how small they may seem. One of the challenges that Pam Mims talked about in our reading is the constant movement in her classroom with the comings and goings of assistance, physical therapists, speech therapist, and administrators. Another challenge is the paperwork that is involved in completing for all students along with their IEPs’. One positive that both teachers agreed upon was the involvement of parents in the classroom. When parents can recognize the little positive changes in the child this becomes a huge asset to the teacher and also to the students success. Parental involvement is the crucial with teaching children that have any type of disability in the classroom.