It takes a lot of strength and good mental clarity to work in a career field with kids with Special needs/Disabilities, but these individuals do it every day.
Making career choices can be changed after seeing something for two seconds. Keri Faulkner, a Paraprofessional at LSHS, was well on her way to becoming a nurse, but she got an opportunity, and it all switched.
“I got an opportunity to work with the superintendent of the high school I went to, and got to see Special Needs classrooms, and I loved working with those kids. Very unique and sweet, and I wanted to be an advocate for them, so I kind of bridged the gap between medicine and education and got my degree.” Paraprofessional Keri Faulkner said.
A typical day in the life skills classes at LSHS is just like any other typical schedule; they have electives and different subjects—just not exactly like other students at Lee’s Summit High School.
“There’s something new that happens almost every day. We cover a wide range of content and levels within those contents, so the kids get additional time with different electives. Some are sped, some are gen-ed, and then we have different math classes, reading classes, daily living skills classes, and pre-vocational work classes.” Faulkner said.
A few students want to go into the field of working students in life skills classes.
“I think that it is so rewarding to see how much they are going to grow, and they are also so adorable such a relief to see them after a long day,” Marissa Shugrue said.
Sometimes some self-care is needed, and teachers need to remember their reasons for teaching Life Skills.
“I think as long as I can remember why I’m here and who I’m supporting, that helps me get through some of the tougher days where it feels overwhelming,” Faulkner said.
It can be stressful and sometimes very hard to stay calm and not have a breakdown, but having a good supportive group of family and friends can help you bounce back.
“My family and friends have specifically worked in a similar setting. We all use each other for that support because it’s very specific. So it’s nice to have someone else who’s done it too, to be able to let it out because they understand.” Faulkner said.
It’s always good to have support, but teachers also need to know what they can and can’t do.
“It is so important knowing my limits and setting those boundaries for myself but I think that’s kind of important to remember to do. But I’m sure everyone forgets to do that, but yeah, knowing your limits and being okay with it.” Mrs. Faulkner said.
Working in this field, self-control and patience are important to have when the day is becoming stressful and there are a lot of interruptions.
“Interruptions. That happens a lot down here, and so we have to be flexible, adaptable, and patient. So I guess that would be how we also overcome it. Then we have to help the students, kind of learn that sort of thinking as well.” Paraprofessional Amy Glover said.
Collaboration to make sure the kids have everything they need is important as well.
“So with parents, we try to support in this school what they need at home as well, and we try to work with parents on sending those things home as well so that we all have the same expectations for the Kids. We coordinate after-school activities with parents, sports, and things like that, like a lot of kids in different kinds of sports, both sped and Gen Ed, and then other professionals.” Glover said.
It’s also very important to cooperate with the world around them.
“We coordinate with the administration for any of our bigger concerns and issues that are kind of out of our hands. We collaborate with therapists, such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and Vision therapists, we coordinate with them to integrate their techniques into their daily learning so that they’re meeting those skills or getting those skills put into their routine so that they can develop there too.” Glover said.
The way kids with special needs are looked at is so different and not looked at as normal people, but they are just like normal teenagers, they just need a little extra help.
“I feel as if they don’t look at them as normal teenagers who like to participate in sports and watch all the sports events, they are just like the rest of us they just have a few different traits than you,” Glover said.
