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Why major in Special Education?

Ideally, in April of 2008 I will graduate from Western Michigan University with a degree in special education.

There are several endorsements that one may specialize in, mine being emotional impairments and learning disabilities.

I've always known I wanted to work with children, and it was a pretty easy decision to focus on special education. My mother is a special education teacher, and somehow I have followed in her footsteps. My job experiences have shown me that I work well with children who need special attention or accommodations. In fact, these are the children I have always been drawn to-thus making the decision to major in special education an easy one.

Emotional Impairments:

As defined under federal law at, the student exhibits one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects educational performance: an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances; a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

adapted from http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/definitions.html

Learning Disabilities

Learning disability (LD) A disorder that interferes with one's ability to store, process, or produce information; examples are dyslexia (a language-based disability), dyspraxia (difficulty in coordinating body movement), and dysgraphia (a writing disability).

adapted from http://www.michiganinbrief.org/edition07/Chapter5/SpecialEd.htm

My goal is to help students in high school with one or both of the above disabilitities reach their full potential by providing modifications to their school work and giving them a source of hope through encouragement and support.