Daily Life of an Ed Tech in Special Education

The experience of being an ed tech that works with special needs students is one that has many ups and downs even during a single day.

If Everyone Saw the World Through Their Eyes it Would be a Better Place

Working with a special needs student is a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but you can’t deny it is some of the most rewarding work you’ll ever do. You’ll have the most genuine experiences and learn things about yourself in the process.

What Specialized Training Will You Need

When working with special needs students there are many important things to remember that will help you succeed in this field. The key to working with these kids is patience, compassion, and to just have fun.

Stress in the special needs classroom is simply unavoidable, as an ed tech in special services, you will encounter many situations a regular education ed tech wouldn’t; including student escalations and violent outbursts.

Luckily, there are many resources and specialized training available, such as safety care training and awareness seminars, these programs will help you become more prepared to handle the extra stress without getting burnt out.

Help, Prompt, Wait

In the special needs classroom, it is an inevitable event to have a student lose control of themselves for one reason or another. The best strategy is to cycle through the stages of the help, prompt, wait for technique.

If a problem arises, and a student begins to crumble under the pressure of work demand, first limit the number of students involved, try to keep it as one-on-one as possible. Then see what you can do to help, try to refocus them on something that motivates them, like “remember you’re working for an Ipad break.” If this doesn’t work, and the escalation continues, prompt the student to remember the consequences, “If you don’t finish your writing now, you’ll have to do it during recess.”

If the student is still spiraling the only thing left to do is wait. Give the students time and quiet to collect themselves and re-regulate their emotions. Then cycle back to the help stage again until the student is able to move forward.

It Will Be Challenging

There will be days when you feel like pulling your hair out, or sitting in your car on your lunch break and crying, but at the end of the day the reward of working with special needs kids is so unbelievable, it is all worth it.

The most important thing to remember is to not take it personally, kids with autism especially communicate their needs my screaming or lashing out, the most effective way of dealing with these types of situations is to stay in control of your own emotions and help the child to feel safe and supported.

You’ll Never Be The Same

Working with these students will change your life, they’re so amazingly talented and funny and they bring a sort of color and uniqueness into the world that can not be replicated. We can learn a lot from these kids, they cherish the little things like love and the beauty of an apple or the fun of a game, they don’t care about things like popularity and fitting in.

These kids could care less about what others think and that is a very valuable lesson we could all use. They are all very different and your approach will vary according to their specific needs, but the reward of seeing students progress and watching their own confidence and self-esteem grow is unlike anything else.