Special Education - Teacher Cadet
Have you ever helped someone with a special need? During the past two years, I have had the opportunity to work with an entire special education school. The staff calls us “cadet teachers,” and my friend and I are the first to participate in this program.
The school we worked in was designed for cognitively impaired individuals. For those of us who don’t know what cognitively impaired means, it is defined as a brain disorder in which thinking abilities are mildly to severely impaired. Individuals with a cognitive impairment are able to function in everyday activities but have difficulty and need help. There are three classrooms in the school where I work; they are, the upper Moderately Cognitive Impaired (MOCI), the lower MOCI, and the Severely Cognitive Impaired (SCI). Each classroom has students with different levels of cognitive impairment.
In the Upper MOCI, I work with older students (ages 15 and up) who can do “normal school work” but at elementary level. More than 50% of this class is made up of students with Down’s Syndrome. When I go to their school to work with them, we always do math first. We also work on spelling and we play active games in the gym. Even though their academic ability is a few years behind, these students are awesome at athletics. They are the first place winners at our conference Special Olympics basketball. Believe it or not these kids are awesome ballers. Oh, and did I mention they are really good at dodge ball? Every time I play with them, I am always the first person to get dodged.
In the lower MOCI, ages 14 and younger, there are two students who can talk and the five others who are non-verbal autistic. When I go to this class, we also work on math. Even though majority of the class cannot talk, they can still communicate though pictures. When they communicate with pictures they are using the Picture Exchange Communication (PEC) system. It works by using a velcro stick and then linking pictures together to form sentences so we can understand them. We also use sign language to communicate. Aside from math we also get to eat lunch together. Being able to sit down and have conversations with the kids, verbally or not, means a lot to the students, the staff, and us, the cadet teachers.
The last classroom is the SCI. These students are physically handicapped, meaning they are in wheelchairs. None of these students can talk but they can hear us. One of the handicapped girls can communicates by using her eyes to say “yes” and “no.” The best experience I have had in this class is feeding the students. With their disability, they cannot use their hands to feed themselves so the staff and the cadet teachers do it for them. It is a challenging task to feed someone who cannot talk, but it is an awesome experience to feel needed.
Cadet teaching has helped me in so many ways. I wanted to share this experience with FCCLA so all of us as members could challenge ourselves to stretch ourselves in ways like this. This wouldn’t only make a great project, but it could help us decide we want to do in the future! There is a need for special education teachers and any of us could be the next one. This will not only help us decide if we would enjoy teaching, but there are other related occupations. Some related occupations are physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathologist, and other medical or therapeutic professions.
Trust me, special needs kids love making new friends, especially when they are close to our own age. All they want is to be social, cool, and loved. All we have to do is show them that we care and that would mean the world to them. Check with your adviser to ask about opportunities to work with special needs students in your area.