I will go first. I am a gen-Ed science teacher. There are a wide variety of students that I mentor and help with extracurricular activities. Today, we were working on Science Olympiad and one of my students is completely blind. She had a catastrophic tumor as a small child and needed both of her eyes removed in order to save her life. (She’s AMAZING.)

We were talking about the difference between a solution and a mixture and I was listening to her nodding my head and using body language to encourage her to keep going because she was on the right track and her proverbial lightbulb was shining brighter and brighter as she spoke. Then I realized that I was using nonverbal language with the blind kid that can’t see me. 😐

When she was done speaking, I told her I was nodding and smiling like a silly person and felt kinda silly for nodding at the blind kid. She laughed with/at me and said it is more common than one would think. 😅 At least she has a good sense of humor.

I am a support professional in a classroom for high-school students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. Daily, the teacher and I are being hit, kicked, spit on, scratched, having hard objects thrown at us, items are getting pushed off surfaces and ripped down from walls, and the kids are also pushing and hitting other students. We have tried reinforcing desired behavior, but it is a slow process.Telling these kids "no", giving them the simplest of tasks, or even just asking them to sit down sets them off. It really seems like these kids have never been disciplined for their behavior and were left to do whatever they wanted, and now we're fighting a losing battle trying to get them to do anything other than what they want. I'm tired of it.

Hello,

Wanting to know your thoughts on the safety of IEPs and 504 plans if the Dept. of Education is closed per the upcoming administrations' plans. I believe it depends on the state you are in, but what are some things we can do to prepare for this as a special needs parent?

It’s just too much.

I work in a classroom with students who require total care.

I have two ambulatory students who need behavioral support and are pretty much 1-on-1’s (just not on paper!)

Staff absences have been.. insane. Which I understand, people have lives, and things happen. But the staff I have is barely enough as it is.

When we have absences, we have a rotating door of teacher subs that have no experience and only serve as warm bodies that are getting paid twice as much as my paras who are breaking their backs to make sure needs are met. Terrible for morale, to say the least.

I ask for support, I don’t get it.

Admin discusses adding more to my plate, I express concern about support - I’m told that if I see an issue, then I need to communicate about needing extra support. Circle back up to the previous line, rinse and repeat.

My mental health is in shambles, my physical health is suffering.

I want to get out now, but it seems too complicated. The goal is to make it through the year, and I hope I can get there before I lose it.

I have 7 triennial reevaluations between January and May and I’m already so overloaded and having a hard time keeping up as it is.

Wish me luck, I guess. I hope we all make it through.

I’m a second year special education teacher. I am on an alternate certification and working toward the permanent one. I teach resource for 6th and 7th grade. I have 6 kids in my class I’ll be getting evaluated in. Typically I do whole group lessons then break down into smaller groups with my paraprofessional. That’s when we work on our writing and reading comprehension. All of the kids in my group have goals in these areas.

I was going to read a story to them about ruby bridges and her life then to a timeline activity where we would use that to write a short essay. Not all of this will be done the same day of course. I also begin every class with journaling for five minutes.

Is there anything I should add? Last year I was teaching an ELD class in writing on top of resource and was actually evaluated in that which went well. Any tips?

I have a pre observation the day before

Editing to add yes we do math too twice a week but I’m not as confident teaching math yet as I am ELA.

Does anyone know where to locate all the laws/rules/regulations regarding what is in compliance or not? I teach resource/inclusion and it doesn’t seem like anyone I’ve asked in my district has a super great understanding of compliance so it’s time I do my own research! If you have any resources, links, websites that can help me answer some of these questions that would be awesome.

Example: if a student goes on a field trip, the minutes don’t need to be made up. What if there is pep rally or something, does that need to be made up or do they just miss those things?

Thank you❤️❤️

I have an 8th grade student who is ED on his IEP. We are an alternative school and we just got him about a year ago. I got him this year so it’s only been a couple of months. I was trying to get district to send me the most recent IEPS from the last 3 or so years. They sent me one from Kindergarten, where a psych diagnosed him with ADHD and Autism. We suspected these 2 things, but it is not on his most recent IEP. How did this get lost in translation? We have his annual review this week. Is it worth bringing up?

Hi, I’m a parent to a 4yo with an IEP for developmental delay. Shes had her IEP since transitioning from early intervention services. She is at a preschool at a daycare center and public school providers come to her (and others at her center, usually in small groups). Her main services are speech, however she gets a few other things in the form of OT consults and social emotional push in support from the special ed preschool teacher. Speech, however, is the main concern.

February-June her slp was on maternity leave and they could not hire a replacement. Said that they were tracking missed services and she would have the opportunity to make them up over the summer. We were provided four sessions over the summer, we had some frustrations with this “solution” (absolutely did not make up 5 months of speech in 4 sessions), but fine, it was something. September slp was back and things seemed to return to normal, and we were relieved. But end of October slp reportedly quit with zero notice, so we are back to “tracking missed services” while they again try to hire a replacement.

Is there anything I should be doing? Sometimes I wonder if my kid is getting shafted because we are so agreeable, meanwhile other parents I talk to say they enter IEP meetings with a hired advocate, ready to fight etc. I don’t blame the school, if they can’t hire people it sounds like an impossible situation. But at the same time, my kid is the one losing here.

Hi! I’m hoping someone here has experience with this or some advice.

I work for an afterschool childcare program and we recently enrolled a special needs student who has a 1:1 ABA aide during the school day. Currently I am 1:1 with them afterschool during our program but it is not a sustainable solution for our program to have me 1:1 with them the whole time (and I also don’t have the training to work with a high needs students).

I’ve been looking into grants thinking we could apply for a grant that would allow us to hire an aide for them, but I honestly don’t know where to look. Does anyone have experience with this? Or other ideas?

Any advice is appreciated! I’m feeling desperate 😭

On Friday, I found out that two aides in my classroom have been mocking me in front of my students when I’m not in the room. When I’m in the room, they roll their eyes and make faces behind my back. They are gossiping about me, trying to start rumors, and purposely doing (or not doing) things in order to try to make me look stupid. They have been telling my brand new aide that I don’t know what I’m doing and not to listen to me. When I was at lunch one day, a student smeared feces all over the wall. A different aide asked for help, and the two aides rolled their eyes and laughed at her and left her alone with 7 students. They never helped her clean the student or the wall. There are more examples of them not doing their jobs and just being plain mean.

Two different aides have reported these and other similar things. I am livid and also feel humiliated. My principal suggested a meeting between me and the offending aides to clear the air and try to repair things. I said I am not interested in meeting with either one of them because this isn’t a just difference of opinion. They are just terrible, mean people. As far as I’m concerned, they should both be removed from my classroom because I’ll never be able to trust either one of them again. Am I wrong to decline the meeting?

I just feel so defeated and stupid for not seeing that any of this was happening. I have a tough group of students, but I really love my job. I just don’t know how I’m going to walk into my classroom and work with those aides tomorrow.

As a new-ish special education teacher (3rd year in), what is your experience working with a child with mild intellectual disability (child’s IQ is 69). Some information about the child: 4th grader, currently receiving small group ELA and Math as well as co-taught ELA, Math, Sci/SS. The child is maxed out on services I can provide (I’m a resource teacher who pushes in and pulls out for resource segments). It is becoming more evident as the year goes on that he is socially stunted, in addition to academically. Social relationships are very difficult for him, but he is sweet as pie! Just can’t make genuine connections and is more “immature” than the other 4th graders.

Special Education facilitator mentioned a modified curriculum program for him for next year. I am just conflicted and having a hard time expressing why!

Anyone have any thoughts or expertise on modified curriculum?

Hi everyone! I really need some advice here. I am a first-year ASD teacher in an inclusion classroom in Michigan and I am struggling to say the least. This is also my final internship for my master's in special education. I have my master's in behavior analysis and I am a BCBA. This is my first "big girl job." My classroom didn't have a consistent teacher for years and my paras ran the classroom last year. Because of this, I feel like I am struggling with buy-in and rapport with my staff. Being a first-year teacher (honestly with minimal support), I have made many mistakes and I feel like the program itself has big gaps in communication and a common objective. I have asked for support from my behavior specialist, instructional coach, and university supervisor but we are focusing more on increasing instructional time in my room. However, my paras are struggling in gen ed and I don't know how to tackle all of the gaps all at once. I feel like I am failing, I feel uncomfortable coming to work every day, and my Sundays are spent being an anxious mess not looking forward to the week ahead.

My terminal goal is to support teachers like me and I am passively looking at other positions. Should I just wait it out and let it get better (also so that another teacher doesn't walk into my hot mess of a classroom), or do I put myself first and look at other positions that are better suited for my terminal goals? I am also worried about not being taken seriously because of my lack of teacher-of-record experience, but all of my BCBA fieldwork hours were serving as a behavior consultant in schools. Any advice is helpful.

Powerschool says a class is self-contained, but the teacher says it isn't. Does powerschool lable all classes as self-contained? I thought that was an exclusively exceptional education term?

I'm in my early 40s and after a first career spent teaching college writing, I spent a few years after having a baby working remote as an editor in educational publishing. Last year I took a job as a para in a public (unionized! great pay!) alternative/therapeutic high school. I immediately loved it and felt like I could see myself as a teacher there.

I have my bachelor's in English and an MFA in creative writing, so I was thinking I would do a licensure-only program, but the longer I am at this school the more I realize it might be a unicorn. Teachers have 5-8 kids on their caseload and while days can be INTENSE, most if not all of the teachers do ALL their prep and IEP writing etc during the school day. I have asked several specifically and they do not bring work home, or only rarely.

Again, I am realizing this is likely NOT the case for most SPED teachers. So I am doubting myself. I'm not sure I have the desire or stamina to start a job with lots of take home work in --by that time--my mid 40s. The at-home work is part of why I left college teaching. But I love the HS population and the work.

Unfortunately we are moving soon, and so I won't be able to try getting a job at my current school.

If not SPED classroom teacher, what middle or high school jobs might fit well with my experience, with no more than a year of new education, in a job that has decent work life balance? I need good benefits but I don't need to get paid a ton. I'm in northern Illinois if it matters.

A para got caught vaping on school property during school hours. This was also recorded by a student. I am in disbelief. What could be the possible consequences?

I am a BCBA and getting my masters in clinical mental health counseling with a focus on narrative therapy. I am working with a teenager who just found out her dad is ill and may not recover. She is fully verbal and I believe understands the majority of what is going on based on how she talks about it. For our next session we are doing an art project together and constructing a social story. Mom and I agreed it is important for her to tell her own story in whatever way makes sense to her rather than just handing her a social story, with facilitation as needed. We are looking for some samples of social stories you may have used that center around this topic, just so we have some reference if needed. Thank you all in advance.

This is my third year as a special education teacher in TN, so I’m not sure if this is normal across the board or not. Our school has heavily pushed for inclusion across the board, except in extreme circumstances. I co-teach 4 classes a day and 1 intervention class. I have 4 kids who have social-emotional check-in times that I have to provide during homeroom everyday within their classrooms. We have one 65 minute plan per day, but I have grade level meetings on Mondays, PLC on Tuesdays, and IEPs on Wednesdays and Thursdays. So essentially, I get ONE 65 minute plan per week to case manage for 25 kids on my caseload. I can’t keep up, and I’m ready to give up teaching for good because of the stress level I’m experiencing. Is this the norm across schools? Can I expect anything different if I decide to move schools, or should I just accept my fate and call it quits?

TL;DR - I have too much on my plate and not enough time to manage it all. I’m ready to leave the field after 2 years.

I work in a self-contained elementary Autism Support classroom. This is my third year teaching. I’m really unhappy in my current situation. I have very aggressive students who bite, kick, or any other form of aggression you could come up with. Admin just gave me another student who has extremely high escalations of kicking adults and throwing things at the their heads. They also all self harm which I find incredibly heartbreaking to watch. A student smacking themselves in the face and crying for mommy is really traumatizing in general.

I spend my entire day managing these behaviors. My paras are great, but do not know how to manage the high behaviors, and it’s all on me. I really want to teach. Like I want to teach kids to read and do math, and something other than how to sit at a table.

My question is, would a Life Skills class fill that desire? Would it be less intense behaviors all around? I also think maybe a switch to Early Intervention might be good? I love preschool, I just couldn’t make money in preschool, but Early Intervention might work? Does anyone have any experience with a switch like this? I really love AS, it’s just that I can’t deal with the stress of this position day in and day out.

I am a special education inclusion teacher, and for various reasons, I am not enjoying co-teaching in the gen ed setting. This is my sixth year, so it's not a decision I'm coming into suddenly. Talk to me about self-contained, please. What are the pros and cons of teaching self-contained?

EDIT: some of the reasons I'm considering changing:

-the pace of the lessons is so fast that my students can't keep up

-pressure to scaffold gen ed content and work on IEP goals too

-gen ed teachers questioning me about the progress of kids 4 years below grade level, as if I will magically have them pass grade-level tests with 15 minute small groups

So I have something like an IEP and it has Both accommodations and modifications. In class I feel stupid in front of my classmates that I get to use my computer for notes during a test or a book during a test to help me cause they notice. I hate it whenever my friends ask me why I get to do less work then them and then have to contemplate whether I tell them why or not. I just feel so embarrassed about it. Or I’m wondering if I should tell them why I have to go to the sped teacher during study hall. Or why I get shorter tests or different tests than them. 😔 I wish I was normal

I’m exploring options into getting a SPED credential + MA in Special Education in California. My two options that offer both and are CSUs are San Diego State University or San Jose State University

SDSU:

• 2 years (1 for credential & 1 for MA)
• Student teaching 4-5 days a week during my first year, both semesters.
• Prerequisite courses needed (would take in summer)

SJSU:

• 3 semesters for credential + MA
• Student teaching begins 2nd semester at 2 days a week. 3rd semester is full time student teaching
• No prerequisites

I’ve attended info sessions for both schools and I’m curious why SJSU is one semester shorter, less classes, and less student teaching? Could SDSU better prepare me? Should I go the shorter route with SJSU? What do you think?

After graduating college with a degree in something else, my husband and I moved to Kentucky for his career. Long story short, I ended up getting my masters degree in Learning and Behavioral disorders and have been working as a mild/mod teacher for the last 6 years.

The schools are good in our area but we hate being so far from family. It was fine at first but we just had our second child and feel like they are missing out. We are considering moving to NorthWest Florida or Southern AL within the next 2-5 years. A stumbling block for me is I love my job so much, but special education varies so, so much from state to state.

So, FL & AL teachers, what is special education like there? What's your day to day? Is there any co-teaching? Is it all resource? What are case loads like? Any information that will help me decide where it's best for our family to land will be appreciated!

I'm in my senior year of highschool and I swear special education has only made my mental health worse. I've been going to sped schools basically my entire life, and even one of, if not THE best school for special education, is still an awful place. I'm sick of being treated like I'm incompetent and talked down to, I'm just as human as anyone else, and disabilities aren't supposed to lessen that, but here we are. I felt genuinely happy up until a bit before my 10th birthday, where I got hospitalized and missed it. I developed mental issues the longer I went to special education, and it hasn't helped solve them or keep me in a good mental space in the slightest. The education has been ass too, I want to do more, I know I'm smart, but I'm always getting work that's barely challenging at all, and that's always stayed the same too. I've been BY DEFINITION harassed twice, one time each in two different schools, with definitive evidence both times (I'm talking camera footage and text screenshots of crime accusations), and the school did jack shit. I just want to feel human, not like some object that's broken, and that's all that special education has done for me. Like, look at me, I'm pathetic. Ranting about how much I hate something on reddit. Sorry for bitching so much, I'm just so sick of this system.

I've been a para in self-contained SPED for several years now. I enjoy my job, and I've been preparing to enroll in a teacher prep program next year with the goal of becoming a special education teacher myself. This year my classroom has a new teacher- as in both new to us, and new to teaching, being in her second year. She's doing an excellent job, very involved and organized, and the kids love her, but it's becoming obvious she has zero work-life balance. She comes in early, frequently works through her lunch break, and says she never got to take lunches last year. She speaks of working all day after leaving the building- sometimes so late she barely gets to sleep. In her words, she has no life during the school year. She says this is normal for new teachers and that "they say you'll get it dialed in after three to five years if you stay in the same classroom."

I'm worried her unhealthy workload is going to cause premature burnout. It also makes me fearful for my own future career. I know I wouldn't make it even a full year if I couldn't take a break during the work day or have a few hours to myself at home. Is it really normal for new teachers to devote their entire day to work?

I’m seeking advice from both new and veteran special education teachers and case managers.

I’m in my 2nd year teaching (3rd at this school), and my mental health has deteriorated so much my therapist wrote a letter mandating me to work 4 days a week (on a 2:1:2 schedule). The list is too long, but chalk the work stress up to charter school red flags.

I’m the case manager and teacher for first grade, and am also the lead teacher for pre-k - 1. I am the licensed special education teacher on staff in my academy as the new k sped teacher quit (she had no experience and was on a variance). There is a consultant ECSE teacher at school 2x/week for pre-k. I live with Bipolar Type 1, and have been unable to get myself out of a depressive episode that keeps getting deeper and began in early August.

My principal and sped director were kind, gracious, and understanding with me when I asked for the time. I have an ADA protected mental illness, so legally they had to comply as well. However, until they hire for the k position, now none of the students will be served - they’re thinking compensatory minutes until they can rehire for k, as my principal refused to let me take on that case load as well as my current. We’ve spread out my current case load minutes so that I’m making up the 5th day during the days I’m there (adding 10 min to existing lessons). This all reads positive on paper but I’m worried about the reality of it all.

I am already thinking of where I can apply to teach next year, places with fully built out sped departments so I’m not the lone ranger being top priority. Of course, I am also sitting with the heavier thoughts of whether teaching is right and healthy for me long term.

Has anyone successfully taught and case managed on a 4 day schedule? Did it help to truly minimize stress?

Apologies for the long post. Thanks so much for your thoughts.

CONFERENCES:

you have a concerned parent about progress. And you have data to show progress has been made, just slow in comparison to his sister in the same room

For example didn’t know any sight words last year, knows 6 now. His progress reports shows progress on subtraction 1-10 with 10/10 in 4/5 weeks.

He doesn’t do well with phonetic based instruction but does better with memorization. I still work on letter sound phonetics supplementally

He’s a third grader. Grandma is comparing him to typical peers and his sister who progresses quicker.

How do you delicately have that covo with that parent that progress is made but it’s just at a slower rate. How to I make it positive and encouraging? I know a huge problem is his mind goes 10000 miles an hour so redirecting is needed, but progress is there!

Also learned that Monaco and Indonesia have similar flags, and that made us very confused lmao

So, I work as a para in California, under CSEA. Conditions where I work are extremely bad, including but not limited to massive under staffing, more kids in classes than is reasonable or I believe even legal, facilities constantly broken and highly under maintained, etc. Some of the other workers and I were wanting to organize a strike, but our contract gives the district the right to fire us if we do. I was told by another worker that we could write letters of concern for safety and there are legal processes they have to abide by in regards to it (specifically they have to fix it within 5 days, which I already know won't happen).

I was wondering if anybody who knows more about CSEA and california districts could help me out a bit here. Looking it up online I see that there are ways to report an unsafe environment, but I don't know who to report it to, or which specific standards to address in my letter. It also says you can report to OSHA to have them inspect, which I would love to do if I can, but don't know how to go about it. I was told to give the letter to our union rep, but part of the problem is said rep ignoring our calls and refusing to put in our work orders and generally discriminating against sped.

I live in a very small town, where they already cant hire people with their piss poor pay, so if all of us struck, they likely wouldn't be able to replace us within a year or two. I'm also curious about what yall think possible results of this could be. Would this being on my record ruin my intended career as a teacher? What would happen if they couldn't replace us quickly? Would they have to increase wages and safety standards? Or would they just scrap the program (which I know is illegal, but seems the most likely result)?