When you work with children who have disabilities, you will find that you have one of the most satisfying, fulfilling, and enjoyable jobs in education as a whole. However, although demand is high for teachers who have a specialist knowledge in this area, it is also a very demanding job, and it is not something that everyone can do. Even if you are an excellent teacher with able children, teaching those with moderate disabilities is something else altogether. This is a calling, and if you think you are up for the challenge, there are some things you need to think about before embarking on this most wonderful of careers.
You Must Be Able To Cope With Stress
As well as all the amazing things that a job with children with moderate disabilities will offer you, you will also find that it can be extremely stressful. However, you will learn about some of this when you are studying for your qualification, so you will be well prepared beforehand.
Children with special needs will often find it hard to concentrate or behave in a classroom, and they might need additional teaching to help them completely understand. You may also find that, depending on the disabilities that the child has, there will be meltdowns within the classroom, which require a teacher’s special skill and compassion to deal with.
Only those with strong personalities and true will to succeed in this field will enjoy the work, so it is important to completely understand what you are going to be doing. If you cannot handle stressful situations, then this may not be the job for you.
You Will Perform Many Roles
As a teacher of those with moderate disabilities, you won’t just have one role to perform; you will instead have many. You will need to be:
- A teacher
- A counselor
- A nurse
- A caregiver
You will need to be able to connect properly with the children under your care so that you can ensure they are getting the best education possible. Not only that, but you will need to make sure that each child you are teaching (assuming you are teaching more than one at a time) is getting the support they need specifically. This is a hard role to fill, which is why specialist special needs teachers have a lot of training to do before they can begin their jobs. Some people will even go on to further their education to ensure they are fully prepared for the job. A Moderate Disabilities license MA will provide you with all the specialist knowledge you need to help your students and will enable you to work with children in grades PreK-8.
You Will Be Paid More
Although most teachers don’t go into their careers because of the money aspect of things – it is more of a vocation or calling for many – the fact is that a salary will be required, and this kind of work is not a volunteer position.
Because there is so much more to learn and so many different things to deal with on a daily basis, teachers of children with moderate disabilities are compensated better than other teachers are. In 2017, for example, a special education teacher would earn an average of $53,000, whereas a preschool teacher would earn $29,000.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.