Exceptional Children’s Week
By Kim Knight, past DSAA board member and mom to Max
Our children’s world is forever a better place when someone follows their passion to work in Special Education. It's truly amazing when a teacher or therapist can teach someone with Dyslexia how to read, or help a student with Autism express their emotions, or teach a hearing-impaired student to localize a sound or learn sign language, or hold a student with Down Syndrome or an Intellectual Disability to a higher standard, or support a student with speech difficulties to write a poem and read it on inauguration day. These are all amazing and life changing opportunities, not only for the student but for those who choose to work with the student because they are able to see the potential.
There is however, another group of teachers that do not follow a passion to specifically become a Special Education teacher or a therapist. These people follow a passion to teach and work with all students. Whether it is a Kindergarten teacher, a 5th grade teacher, a paraprofessional, an Art teacher, a STEM teacher, a front office worker, or maybe a cafeteria worker, or a custodian, they are all so much more qualified than they know.
Maybe, it was one melt down in the hall that brought them to their knees to help console, or maybe it was hearing a student with limited speech say good morning. But somewhere along the way, when they saw an opportunity to join the ranks, or maybe got the tap on the shoulder as they heard, "by the way we need you to be the co-teacher this year", they dove in unsure and scared but finished with a bigger heart and a better understanding of how to teach all students.
Some teachers are hired by administration because of their formal special education training.But more often than not they have been chosen by one tiny human, a sibling, an uncle or a childhood friend that has shown them the abilities and the joy of exceptional children. It has changed their heart, their perspective, and the way they teach.
So, while Expectational Children's week makes us think about our students' different abilities and the Special Education teachers, this week is an even bigger opportunity to celebrate everyone in the school because they all work together for the good of all students.