Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/what-it-really-means-to-teach-a-child/5020157/
INTRO BOX:For the past 15 years I’ve worked with preschool children as a special educator. The position is called Special Education Itinerant Teacher (SEIT). In this capacity I travel, working with children in their preschools and homes. These children, ages 3 to 5 years, are assigned to Special Educators who are responsible for supporting the education of these children.
Multi-domain evaluations, classroom teachers’ referrals, and parents’ concerns are used to assign and allocate specific hours per week for these children seen by a SEIT. This practice is followed across domains for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech. A legal document. The Individual Education Profile (IEP), describes the areas in which the child needs support. The child’s educational goals are specified as annual and short-term goals (for example, the annual goal might be to expand the child’s expressive language and the short-term goal could be to answer who, what, when, and where questions).
In 1975 I completed my graduate training in Learning Disabilities. I began working solely as a SEIT in 1995. Over the years I’ve worked with many children whose diagnoses ranged from learning disabilities to autism, Down Syndrome to Auditory Processing Delay. Some needed help with language, listening, following class ...