Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Maggie.
[00:00:01] Speaker B: And I'm Nicole. Welcome to the DAC Dyslexia and Coffee Podcast. We're so happy you could join us. We're both moms and dyslexia interventionists who want to talk about our students and children.
What dyslexia is, how it affects our kids, strategies to help and tactics related to other learning disabilities will all be covered in this podcast. Parents are not alone, and we want to give voice to the concerns and struggles we are all having.
This is a safe place to learn more about how to help our children grow and succeed in school, in the world. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the conversation.
[00:00:35] Speaker A: Hi, everybody.
Welcome to the DAC Dyslexia and Coffee Podcast. We're going to start today's episode like we always do, with the concept of the week. The concept of the week is our opportunity as practitioners to kind of pull back the curtain a little bit and let all of our listeners into an intervention session. We like to talk and teach about things that we would either be directly instructing with our students or with their parents.
So today's concept of the week is special education.
Special education is a system of specifically designed instruction that is provided to students with disabilities at no cost to their families.
It is governed by the Individuals with Disability act, or the idea.
The primary goal here is to ensure that students receive a free and a appropriate public education that is otherwise referred to as FAPE F, A, P, E, and that's tailored to their unique learning, social, and emotional needs. So basically, special education is a system of education that is specifically designed for students with disabilities.
And if you are a student who qualifies for special education, then you would have an individualized education plan or IEP.
[00:02:25] Speaker B: Nice. So welcome to episode 77. And I get to turn everything over today on to Maggie because it's Ask a Special Education Teacher episode.
So guess what? We're gonna dive into our questions.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: Yes. A couple of episodes ago, I got to sit in the interviewer chair and interview Nicole about occupational therapy and what it means to be an occupational therapist.
So. So if you want to go ahead and listen to that episode, that was a particularly fun one for me, and now I really have to use my brain a lot.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: All right, so, Maggie, your first question is, what is the difference between regular education and special education teachers?
[00:03:22] Speaker A: Yeah, that is a really good question.
I will kind of speak in generalities.
So regular education and. Or general education teachers, those two terms used interchangeably and do mean the same thing.
So regular education, general education teachers, they are Responsible for kind of broad curriculum instruction.
They are focused to typically on a whole classroom, kind of a whole group of students.
Their job is to teach subject matter to mastery level, and that would be according to specific state or district level standards.
So they are responsible to teach.
You know, if we're looking at, at an elementary level right there, they're the ones who are primarily responsible for delivering whole class instruction. They're responsible for the whole in special education. So a special education teacher, they are responsible for smaller groups of students.
All of the students that they are responsible for have documented disabilities and they qualify for an individual individualized education plan.
A special education teacher takes the general education curriculum and makes adaptations, modifies the instruction based on the needs for individual students. So that could look like pre teaching information, reteaching information. It could look like taking a worksheet and breaking it down further.
It could look a lot of different ways. But basically that is the difference between regular education teaching and special education teaching. And you can see why it's really important that the regular ed teacher and the special ed teachers are working together a lot.
[00:05:35] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: So does a special education teacher do different things depending on where they work? For example, elementary versus middle school versus high school?
[00:05:48] Speaker A: Yeah, short answer. Yes, absolutely.
Right. Based on the needs of the population you're gonna be working with, your job varies a lot.
The environment that you are functioning in impacts your, you know, daily routine. And it also kind of based on the ages of the kids that you're working with. Right. Your, your goals for them are going to be different. What you're focusing on is going to be a lot different.
Again, I'll speak in kind of general terms, but an elementary special education teacher, they are really going to be focused on some very foundational academic skills and, or emotional regulation or social skills, a lot of those very introductory things. They're going to be very concerned about how is this kid functioning at a very preliminary level.
[00:06:46] Speaker B: So basically at their developmental level, correct?
[00:06:50] Speaker A: Yes, correct. At their developmental level, you know, and making sure that those skills that are not secure, like reading skills, become more secure so that they're really, they're really focused not just on academics, obviously, but that is a really, that is a big focus of elementary special education in addition to emotional needs.
[00:07:18] Speaker B: Depends on the kid.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: Depends on what were their. What they have qualified or what kind of individual plan they have.
At the middle school level, we're really focused on helping kids through transitions.
They're really trying to fade out some supports that were. That are no longer needed in elementary School there is a lot of figurative and literal hand holding based on really because they need them then.
But in middle school we really need to start thinking about how do we fade out supports that are no longer needed and then also add in supports that we would anticipate that child is going to need in high school or beyond. We're going to start, you know, and this could start earlier, but we're going to start really thinking about, okay, what kind of assistive technology is this could gonna need? How do we introduce that to them now?
How do we get them start used to what the accommodations are going to more look like at? If we are still in middle school, we're worried about what is going to happen in high school, what are they going to need next? So we're really thinking about this is a really transitional time for any kid.
And a kid with special education, it's going to need even more of that. So we're really worried about transitions here. At this middle school level, at the high school level, which is my original training and background and where my special place in my heart lies, at the high school level we are definitely concerned about transition.
We are looking for the maximum amount of independence that that kid is going to be able to function with. We are possibly focusing on vocational skills like work skills.
We're worried about life skills.
We are highly concerned about executive functioning.
We are working on self advocacy skills.
We want to make sure that once this student leaves our care, they can function the best way that they possibly know how. We are also worried about how do we connect them with the adult services that don't replace because there's no replacement for an IEP and there really is no IEP in adulthood. There's really no such thing.
But for example, a big part of my high school teaching involved reaching out to the division of vocational rehabilitation.
How do we get this kid set up with, you know, job shadowing, career skills, career goals, those kinds of things.
It's a big focus in the high school group and also, you know, college prep, depending on the needs of the student.
There are also a lot of settings that where a special education teacher might work, there could be specially designed schools where the entire population of that school has an IEP and they are all special education students.
Now all of a sudden you're swimming in regular edwaters almost, right?
You're responsible for designing curricul that works both for a whole class and an individual.
One of another previous hat job I had as a special education teacher was working in a strictly vocational setting. I was working on job training and so it was designing curriculum and also designing job supports for students who were absolutely capable of doing these specific jobs but really needed some job aids or some visual schedules or just supports in order to help them accomplish goals. So absolutely, your job may be wildly different based on where it is you work.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: Great.
What role is.
Is it for the special education teacher when they're on an IEP or a 504 team?
[00:12:12] Speaker A: Yeah, good question. I will answer this in two sections.
In a 504 plan plan meeting or on somebody's 504 team.
The role of a special education teacher, if there is one involved, is kind of a consultant role.
Only the special education teacher is there to be an expert in accommodations and also how a disability may impact academic performance.
Students with a 504 plan are not considered special education students.
So that means that a special education teacher we can advise, we can make suggestions, we can be part of an evaluation team, but we are not.
Unless you have a dual license, meaning you are licensed in both special education and regular education.
It is actually outside of our scope and practice and not not allowable under the law for us to be directly instructing a general education student. We cannot be responsible for instruction of regular ed kids unless it is under a general ed teachers guidance so we can co teach. In other words, we are not in charge of general ed students. It's actually outside of our scope and practice.
So yeah, so it is. It's the 504 team and the IEP team are quite different. And yeah, a special ed teacher. I have sat in on many 504 plan meetings and evaluations, but my role there was only to advise and to think about what could we put in place.
The IEP plan on the other hand is very different.
On an IEP plan team, that role of the special education teacher generally, generally that is the person seen as like in charge of writing and executing the IEP plan.
It is really their responsibility to make sure that that plan complies with both federal and state laws and is being followed by the school personnel. So sometimes I think people get the misconception that like an IEP or individual's education plan is like an annual meeting. And then you just check the box and that's it.
That's not it.
The IEP is actually the blueprint for how you do the rest of your job if you're a special education teacher.
So it is a special education teacher's job to educate the regular ed teacher.
This is what is in this kid's iep. Yes, you do have to follow it. No, you can't just decide not to give that kid accommodations today.
No, you. If that says preferential seating, that does mean they get preferential seating.
The what is in an IEP plan is legally binding and it is generally the special education teacher's job to enforce that it is being done.
So they are usually the one writing the goals, taking the data and updating progress. And I, I want to make sure that I'm being very clear that when, I mean, like writing the goals and updating progress, I mean, I may be the physically one typing up this draft, but to be absolutely clear, the IEP plan is a team decision. So I may be leading this team. I may be leading those annual meetings. I'm certainly the one sending out the progress reports.
I'm certainly the one responsible for communicating to any other providers that I need to be communicating with. But I'm never doing that based only on my decision making.
There's. There are many members of the team and they all get equal say on this team.
[00:16:51] Speaker B: That's very good to know. And I think a lot of people think it's just that one meeting.
[00:16:57] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely.
Like, well, we already had our kids iep, so we don't really know what's going on. It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
No, no, no, no, no.
[00:17:07] Speaker B: That's, that's.
[00:17:09] Speaker A: Nope, nope, nope.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: So do special education teachers work in their own room or do they go to the main classroom?
[00:17:21] Speaker A: Oh, boy.
Both.
I would say in 95 plus percent of special education teachers, it is actually both settings.
It's highly dependent on the school setting and what population that teachers are working with. Right. If you are a special education teacher and you work at a specially designed school for only students with disabilities, then of course you're working with just that population. But those settings are pretty rare, and those situations are not the more typical situation.
Most special education teachers will be in a general education classroom or classrooms, more likely for some of their day, probably most of their day, and then in a special education setting for other parts of their day.
We're gonna push in as much as possible and pull out when we need to. And I guess what I mean by push in and push out is pushing in is me physically going to a classroom and providing whatever instruction needs to happen within the general ed setting. And pulling out means, listen, this is above and beyond what can be delivered in a regular ed setting, and I have to deliver it outside of a general ed classroom.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
That's a collaboration piece, right?
[00:18:53] Speaker A: With regular ed? Big time. Yep, big time. Communication is critical to that equation.
[00:19:04] Speaker B: So what type of data do you need to keep.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: Yeah, any and all data related to that student's IEP goals.
This could include academic progress, it could include behavioral data. Often it's both.
You know, for some students who have like an anxiety disorder that leads them to have like somatic symptoms. I keep track of how many times were they in the house room today, what were their, what were they complaining about or you know, what are those things and how do we help reduce those symptoms, Those kinds of things.
Sometimes it's keeping track of. With a student with a self advocacy goal. How many times are they raising their hand in a class? How many times did they approach a gen ed teacher to ask for help?
How many times did they ask me for help? Did I need to prompt them or not?
I'm keeping data on anything that is related to their stated IEP goal.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: How do you motivate students?
[00:20:15] Speaker A: That's a big topic.
[00:20:16] Speaker B: I know.
[00:20:16] Speaker A: I mean it is a really, it's a really big topic. And I think for me motivating students comes down to first establishing a relationship.
Students will often show you what they're interested in. Right? In conversations or just, I mean noticing like, especially like a younger kid, like that kid wears race car T shirts every day. I bet he might be interested in race car. You know, I mean just those things, like noticing those little things about your students and making sure that you are a trusted adult in their life.
And I think my kind of second prong there is reminding them that they are smart and they are capable and you know, I am going to keep my expectations for them really high. That means that I'm going to continue to push the bar and I'm going to do it in a very respectful manner.
But I am going to continue to expect growth from that student.
I'm never going to lower the bar and I will usually literally say that to them. I'm not lowering the bar, I'm raising the bar.
And I know you can do it. It. I'm going to offer my encouragement. I'm going to be here for you.
But I'm, I'm never dropping that tape. You can, you can do it.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: Amazing.
So what is the most rewarding part of your profession?
[00:22:08] Speaker A: I think I, I think I'm going to tear up because I always do.
It's such a, this one's such a emotional one for me to answer because truly, by far the most rewarding part of My profession is just those little celebrations that happen in special ed in totally unexpected, in different ways really daily. Right.
Everything from a student be able to communicate. I mean, I've worked with kids who have no words, but all of a sudden, I mean, it sounds so silly, but I had a kid kick a chair over one time and everybody kind of cheered because actually what they were reacting to was something like happening that they didn't like.
And it was like, this is not great. I'm not happy. They get the chair open, somebody could have gotten hurt. But like, actually that was the first time a kid actually really indicated a need or a want or a desire. So it sounds so silly, but it was like, okay, that's the first step. Like, okay, we kid, we can do something with that, we can improve upon that.
So everything from a kid being able to communicate a want or a need to a high school graduation to a college graduation.
I've been lucky enough to have this career for a few years now that, I mean, I run into former students in the community. I work in the same community where I live and have taught in the past. And I see former students with, you know, families of their own and like that's, that's huge, right? I mean how you define success for an individual is so varied. But I.
I don't know, I can't think of another career quite like special education where you are truly in it with them. Like you're in the trenches and you are a small part of an individual's journey in a way that is, in my opinion, a just above and beyond other kinds of professions. So it's a real honor. It really is.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: So then I have to ask what is the most frustrating question?
[00:25:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, it's no secret.
Special education can be an extremely frustrating career.
It can be.
It'll rip your heart out. It sure will.
And stomp on it too.
There is an incredible amount of paperwork and red tape in special education.
The system can be extremely confusing and frustrating even when you know it well.
There are a lot of kids that we could be helping.
I have been part of evaluation teams where I strongly feel this kid needs to qualify and have an IEP plan in place. And I think there's a lot more than we could do for this kid and they don't end up qualifying and that sucks.
And then I have had other students on my caseload that have had these IEPs for years that are so not appropriate for them. They are over accommodated and they are over modified to the point where it actually, that is Just as harmful, if not more harmful, because now they really think that they need these accommodations to be successful and they, they don't.
They can and should be allowed to achieve without those crutches.
And I have seen the system do both things and that's, that's hard.
You know, there is additionally, and I see more and more of it, there's a lot of mis and disinformation about special education.
They're really well meaning people giving terrible advice on social media and other platforms. But social media sticks out.
There are just a lot of scummy, scammy companies trying to sell products that a parent doesn't need and a student doesn't need.
And it's really hard to like cut through the BS sometimes and give parents quality information.
That can be really frustrating.
[00:27:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't doubt that.
[00:27:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:49] Speaker B: So what would you like parents to know about the special education process?
[00:27:56] Speaker A: Yeah, buckle up.
You know, I want parents to know that they are a critical factor in the IEP process.
I want them to know that they have the right and the responsibility to share what is happening at home.
What are their concerns for their child.
Parents have the right to initiate an evaluation process and to stop the evaluation process if they don't think this is appropriate for their kid. They have the right to appeal.
They, they actually have quite a lot of power in this process, even though it does not feel like that sometimes.
I want them to know that, you know, the best outcomes for kids come truly when there is a actual real team around a kid.
And even if they disagree with the special ed teachers, sometimes that's okay. I mean, we are fallible.
You know, I, on a deeply personal level, I am a student of special education. I had an IEP all the way through school, from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade.
I am the product of special education and it was a big part of why I went into the field.
I additionally have extremely involved and passionate parents and they will be the first to say, like, I have a really good relationship with my special ed teacher. We are still now adult friends.
Our relationship has evolved over the years.
They didn't always agree and they didn't always see eye to eye. And sometimes she pushed them and sometimes they pushed her. And that's the way it's supposed to work.
And it can and it does work that way for some kids. I think it is easy to get extremely discouraged by education in general and special ed. And of course it's emotional. It's emotional for everybody, all sides. I've been on, well, almost Every single role that I've qualified for at an IEP meeting. I have been the special ed teacher. I have been the parent. I have been an advocate. I have been an outside consultant.
I have been on many sides of an IEP table. And, yeah, it's emotional on every single side, but there is a way. Even when the system sucks, even when you don't agree, like, there.
There is a way.
And your kid's gonna be okay. They are resilient. Your kid is gonna be okay. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:31:06] Speaker B: Maggie, what's happening outside of dyslexia?
[00:31:08] Speaker A: Well, now that you made me cry.
Now that you made me cry.
I have been so excited by the Winter Olympics.
[00:31:19] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:31:21] Speaker A: I mean, I love the Olympics. I love it so much.
I think the Winter Olympics are extra cool.
Summer Games still love. But I think, like, the Winter Games are just extra cool. My favorite part is watching the, like, kind of fluff stuff, right? Like, they show the moms and the stands and they show the, like, the little clips of the athletes when they were, like, children first learning in the sport.
I just feel like the Winter Olympics. Olympics in general, it's just that currently it's winter, and that's what's happening.
I think it is really powerful what sports and competition can do to heal.
I mean, countries coming together that ordinarily don't like each other but can, like, rise above for these couple weeks.
It's powerful, and I think it is a good reminder of, you know, it can feel rough right now in the world. Like, this is. This is cool.
So I'm loving that. I'm really hanging my hat on these days.
What is going on for you, Nicole?
[00:32:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think I'm the same way.
I particularly love the ice skaters, probably because my cousin was a very good, amazing ice skater.
[00:33:06] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:33:07] Speaker B: I spent so many years at the rink when she was younger and I was younger, and so I definitely love that. Can I do it? No.
[00:33:16] Speaker A: Oh, no.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: But I can watch it. So that's kind of my love for that.
[00:33:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I love it. I. I.
Are you, like, an armchair judge? Because I totally am.
[00:33:25] Speaker B: No.
[00:33:26] Speaker A: Oh, I totally am. I'm like, oh, man, that. Not so much with the ice skating, because I'm just like, wow, you guys are amazing. But.
But sometimes with, like, even the snowboarders, I'm like, oh.
[00:33:36] Speaker B: Underrotated.
[00:33:37] Speaker A: I'm like. Like I know anything. I don't know anything.
There is not one bit of me that, like, no, I'd be in the hospital for.
In a coma probably. Like, there's no way.
No way.
But it's so fun to watch.
Well, thank you, everybody. If you're listening, if you do like our show, please follow us on social media.
Reach out if you have any questions or you would like us to discuss a topic.
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[00:34:23] Speaker B: Thank you.
