Special Education Teachers, Preschool
Under the title Special Education Teachers, Preschool, workers teach academic, social, and life skills to preschool-aged students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. The job can ask you to develop or implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of disabilities. Interest ratings put Social on top at 7.0 out of 7 and Artistic second, so the code is SAI and the day leans toward helping, teaching or caring for people. Plan on a bachelor’s degree plus a period of work experience; O*NET labels this considerable preparation. Strength in speaking, social perceptiveness, and reading comprehension helps most here. People who want helping, teaching or caring for people usually fit better here than those who need leading, persuading and making business decisions.
What they do
Teach academic, social, and life skills to preschool-aged students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. Includes teachers who specialize and work with students who are blind or have visual impairments; students who are deaf or have hearing impairments; and students with intellectual disabilities.
Main tasks
- Develop or implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of disabilities.
- Communicate nonverbally with children to provide them with comfort, encouragement, or positive reinforcement.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, or administrative regulations.
- Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement.
- Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, or changing their diapers.
- Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, or social skills, to preschool students with special needs.
Skills
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Reading Comprehension
- Monitoring
- Learning Strategies
- Critical Thinking
Who this career fits
May suit you if
- You get energy from helping other people move forward.
- You want room to make something in your own way.
- You are ready to spend around four years on a degree, then build experience.
- You are comfortable relying on speaking and social perceptiveness.
May not suit you if
- You find a full day of dealing with people draining.
- You want to lead people or run the business side. Enterprising rates 1.7 out of 7 here.
- You want to avoid a four-year degree or its equivalent.
Interest profile
O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code SAI takes the three highest, and Social comes first here.
Preparation
Considerable preparation. Most jobs here ask for a bachelor’s degree, and employers usually expect a few years of related experience as well.
Also called
- Early Childhood Special Education Teacher (ECSE Teacher)
- Early Intervention Teacher
- Exceptional Student Education Teacher (ESE Teacher)
- Preschool SPED Teacher (Preschool Special Education Teacher)
- Profound Mental Handicaps SPED Teacher (Profound Mental Handicaps Special Education Teacher)
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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.