You Know What’s Hard About Being A Special Ed Teacher?

You know what’s hard about being a special ed teacher? You want to fix things and you can’t. You can make things better, certainly. But the nature of a learning disability is that it cannot be cured. I find parent teacher conferences very emotionally taxing. I appreciate the parents’ input and insight so much but I also feel a real burden when the hard questions are asked like, ” What’s going to happen to my kid?” “Will she ever be caught up?”
Truth is I can’t answer those questions. Wish I could, but I am careful not to make promises that I cannot keep.
Another truth comes to me. I read a book about children with learning disabilities that were successful adults. The book studied these individuals and found that the common denominator for these kids was they each had a cheerleader in their life. Someone who never gave up hope and someone who kept encouraging. This was most often a parent but could also be a teacher or other trusted person.
I may get frustrated that I cannot “fix” things but I will continue to be a dedicated cheerleader.