Students who hope to teach or work with children may wonder about different types of jobs in special education. Working with exceptional learners or students with physical disabilities can be a challenging, but rewarding career for people with the right personality, fortitude and attitude to handle the job. You might assume that special education degrees are only useful if you want to teach, but special education programs prepare people to work in a wide range of settings in and out of the classroom. The following guide offers an overview of the jobs available to people with special education degrees.
Teaching and Educational Assistance
According to the Council for Exceptional Children, special education teachers work with children with mild to moderate disabilities using or modifying the general education curriculum to meet the child’s individual needs. Whether a fully licensed teacher or a certified teaching assistant, educators with special education degrees typically work in elementary, middle and high schools to help students with mental or physical disabilities that prevent them from taking part in a standard curriculum. Teachers who work with exceptional learners must be licensed with special certification, and most schools throughout the United States offer a special education licensing program.
Specialty Careers in Specific Disabilities
Aside from teaching or assisting in classrooms, some special education majors look for other ways to work in an educational setting in a more focused way. Certain schools throughout the country offer specialization programs that allow students studying special education to focus their careers in specific areas such as visual impairment, hearing issues, speech-language pathology and counseling. A special education degree would lend itself to working with students who needed specialized care or treatments such as art therapy and therapeutic recreation. Some schools, for example, hire people with special education degrees to work on a rotating basis with students of all grade levels who need modified tests or assignments due to physical or mental conditions.
Alternatives to Teaching
Most people who earn a degree in special education pursue teaching or work in an educational setting, but there are other jobs that utilize the skills of a special education major. For instance, the Personnel Center of The National Center to Improve Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Personnel for Children with Disabilities lists the following jobs suitable for people who want to work within the special education field: educational diagnostician, special education administrator, paraeducator or paraprofessional, and technology specialist. If you want to work in special education without working directly with children, then you may be interested in becoming a special education administrator or technology specialist. These careers focus on enhancing the learning and technology experiences of children with disabilities.
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While education degrees primarily serve the needs of future teachers, these types of programs often allow people to work beyond an educational setting due to the nature of the courses involved and the high level of responsibility and maturity required of graduates. Teachers need to love what they do, and special education majors in particular need to have a natural passion for helping others in difficult or challenging situations even if they never step foot in a classroom. There are a variety of different types of jobs in special education, and earning a degree in this field will help propel students into several rewarding career options nationwide.
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