How to Become a Special Education Teacher in the US and Elsewhere

Every child has the right to quality education, whether they are having a disability or not. Parents and families of physically challenged children make sure that their children are respected, treated and shown love and care during the learning process just like everyone.

They advocated that they should be provided with an appropriate free public special education as stated in the individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004).

Because of this, teachers are needed to be trained to provide quality education in a special way that will best fit the physically challenged students while learning in an inclusive classroom with children of all abilities.

Requirements for becoming a special education teacher in the US

To be qualified as a special education teacher, you will need to possess the following requirement.

1. A Bachelor’s degree in special education you must obtain a bachelor’s degree with a focus in Special education from a recognized university. You should know that certification varies for each state. You can also undertake some special education training programs such as Dyslexia Awareness, special education needs, Autism Spectrum, ADHD training programs, Smart-ASD courses, courses in caring for vulnerable children and many of such.

2. A License in Special Education. You will need to obtain a license for special education before you can become a special education teacher in a public school.

3. An effective understanding of the Individualized Education Program (IEP)To be a special education teacher, you must possess an affecting understanding of the use of Individualized Education Programs (IEP).

As special education teacher, you will need to modify lessons in such a way to accommodate effective and inclusive learning for each student with special needs as required in the Individualized Education Programs (IEP) since you will be communicating with students having different kinds of special abilities.

4. Good communication skills. Having good special communication skill is of utmost importance as a special education teacher.

You must be able to communicate your words and physical gestures correctly. You need to be patient, calm, accepting and inspiring around these special children.

Your communication skill with the parents, counsellors of the students must also be welcoming.

Why the need for special education teachers

Special education teachers are needed so that students with special disabilities can also be provided with a chance and a reason to live.

They need to be trained in a way peculiar to their disabilities. They also need to be shown the love and care that will help them see beyond their disabilities into becoming the men and women of their dreams.

Kids with medical issues such as Epilepsy, diabetes, sight problem, hearing or speech problem, Down’s syndrome, anxiety disorder, ADHD Depression, Dyslexia, Autism etc. may not be able to learn quickly with the use of a regular classroom teaching methods so they be needed to be trained by a special education teacher.

Providing a special education for students with special disabilities will help to remove the stigmatization and provide these students with the opportunity to unleash their untapped inner potentials as many of these kinds of students have been discovered to be very intelligent.

Source: Wisdom Hammond