I have been teaching for ten years, and was originally certified to teach grades 6-12 Social Studies. I wound up teaching Sociology and Psychology to high school kids.
I got burnt out by local school board politics that targeted someone very dear to me, and I took a "real job" for a significant pay raise. But I became an 8-5er and I no longer had school holidays off with my little ones, the summer, a long x-mas break, AND my oldest was going to be in Kinder the next year. I wanted to not only have his schedule again but also, being Mama Bear, I wanted to teach at his school.
So I took a test, and thankfully I am one of those standardized test whizkids, and I passed. So I am now also qualified to teach Special Education from Kinder to 12th grade. That means I can teach the severe and profound, the behavior kids, the MR, and the Asbergers. I passed a freakin test, and I am now adequately qualified to teach ANY Special Needs kid in most any state [as a result of certification reciprocity laws.]
I got lucky and was hired at the school that my eldest was zoned to attend. I was hired as an inclusion/co-teacher to work with primarily ADD/ADHD kids in the regular ed classroom. nice, right?
But then the proverbial shit hit the fan and the Autism teacher [grades 3-5], self-contained classroom, became ill and also was about to be relieved of duty before her unexpected surgery and I was drafted to takeover.
I taught them for the last half of the school year last year, begged for training, and accepted the position for the Fall because I fell in love with these kids and thought I could certainly do a better job that the teacher before me.
I still have very little training, NO background in Applied Behavior analysis, although i am a quick-study and have researched on my own how to handle this job.
I am an example of what is wrong with the special education system.
I get paid the same as any other teacher although my job is demanding in a way that is impossible to describe. I am bit, pinched, slapped, and kicked regularly primarily for attention or task avoidance. I am required to keep paperwork that would make your head spin while having no time in the day to sit at the computer because I have minor and major behavioral issues to deal with as well as TEACHING specific measurable goals each day. My aides make less than $15,000 a year, with similar lack of training. Luckily mine are all college educated, in a second-career done for love or insurance and not for the paycheck, but I am lucky that my aides actually care.
How in the world are our public schools supposed to provide for these kids when we do not afford the necessary training, added pay, and extended contracts necessary that these kids get a fair shake?
Now don't get me wrong, my kiddos' parents love me, I am seeing improvements in the behaviors of their kids, I am busting my hump to make a difference in their world, but it is hard to imagine staying with this job for the long term when it would be so much easier to get paid the same and go back to teaching those AP kids in high school.
We need a massive overhaul of how Sp.Ed is run in this country. Yes, I get a stipend for teaching Sp.Ed but I believe we need the BEST, most QUALIFIED teachers for these kids if we want to save them from tax-payer funded institutions for the rest of their lives. I know it is cost prohibitive but the most severely autistic kids need one on one attention. They need teachers who are not just flying by the seat of their pants.
I am actually being touted as an example of how it should be done but even I know that I have no clue what I am doing.
Seriously, are people like me the ones that should be teaching these kids?
The only reason that the answer could be possibly be yes is because I actually CARE, love these kids, and try to do a good job despite my ignorance. And I happen to be pretty smart, which is not always the case among many of the teachers I have worked with.
So, when you think about special needs kids, MUCH should be overhauled, and I am a shining example.
It bothers me to NO END that Palin keeps bringing up Trig. She has NO clue how much harder her life is going to get. All infants are tough work but imagine a 12 y/o Trig who is not potty trained, has minimal language, masturbates inappropriately, and becomes combative when he doesn't want to do something.
That is the reality that many parent are dealing with. My parents have to rearrange their ENTIRE worlds to accomodate their kids. They have to lock them in their rooms at night or create elaborate alarms because they may harm themselves while the rest of the house sleeps. These families are tired, exhausted, and certainly don't always have the ability to have a nanny raise their kids.
Palin has NO CLUE what it is like to raise a special needs kiddo and I have no doubt that she will someday look back on this time in her life and realize that claiming to "get it" was naive when her DS child was less than a y/o. I think she may even apologize.
I hope so anyway