Using Specialist Skills

Some teachers with education degrees must draw on or work with other teachers or professionals with specialist skills to help students with disabilities or special needs get the most out of their educational experience. For example, students who are blind or have extremely low vision might benefit from learning how to read Braille from such a teacher. Students who are deaf or hearing impaired would benefit from learning sign language as well as how to read lips. Special education teachers with a background in speech pathology or speech pathologists can help students with speech impediments or other speech-related issues caused by their disability. Special education teachers who work with students that have learning difficulties, dyslexia, or dyscalculia might draw on a different set of specialist skills that help their students learn better and help them achieve breakthroughs. Special education teachers who work with physical therapists or assistive technology practitioners, or teachers who also have related training, can use such skills to help students who have mobility problems or mental retardation. Computer skills are becoming increasingly important to special education teachers as such technology is becoming more central to the education of many types of special education students.