I have witnessed strong injustice in education, especially in the special education system. I grew up with an older brother with autism, and I have seen the way his teachers have written him off as being incapable of learning. They make no effort to actually teach him, despite his clear ability to learn, due to his disability. I hope to make a positive change in the way kids with disabilities are treated in the American school system through my career teaching special education. From the time my brother and I were in elementary school, I could see a clear difference in the way we were treated by our teachers. My love of learning was nurtured from the beginning, with my teachers even going out of their way to help me find more books to read once I'd read through the whole class library. My brother, on the other hand, was kept in a room in the back corner of our school, where he was expected to sit in silence for the full day, and was not actually taught anything. No effort was made to teach him, because his teachers assumed he was unable to comprehend any educational materials. They were, of course, deeply mistaken. My brother read just as much as I did at home, and could do math at a similar level when our mother took the time to teach him.Beyond that, he is a technological genius. He learned how to hack into the school computer system to disable the filters by the time he was in second grade. It's abundantly clear that he is by no means incompetent to anyone who takes the time to get to know him, but his teachers refused to acknowledge his potential in favor of believing their preconceived notion that people with disabilities cannot be taught. Despite how clear it is to me that my brother, as well as other people with disabilities, are not generally incapable people, others often fail to realize this. Even the nicer teachers my brother had failed to actually teach him, and the worst ones went so far as to hit him or even lock him in an empty classroom by himself for stimming, a common and harmless symptom of autism. It is horrifying to me that this is the reality many of these children face every day in their schools, and that so many people in administration are either oblivious or even complicit in this mistreatment. I want to contribute to a positive movement towards a more just system for special education. No child should be neglected, or even abused, by adults who hold power over them. I intend to teach special education to elementary school students, to show these children from a young age they deserve to have people put genuine effort into helping them reach their full potential, in an environment where they feel safe and valued. I hope to help move the special education system to a point where the students it serves are well equipped to become well-educated adults who feel secure in the fact that they matter just as much as their non-disabled peers.

I have witnessed strong injustice in education, especially in the special education system. I grew up with an older brother with autism, and I have seen the way his teachers have written him off as being incapable of learning. They make no effort to actually teach him, despite his clear ability to learn, due to his disability. I hope to make a positive change in the way kids with disabilities are treated in the American school system through my career teaching special education. From the time my brother and I were in elementary school, I could see a clear difference in the way we were treated by our teachers. My love of learning was nurtured from the beginning, with my teachers even going out of their way to help me find more books to read once I'd read through the whole class library. On the other hand, my brother was neglected by his teachers, forced to sit in silence all day in a room in the back corner of the school. No effort was made to teach him, because his teachers assumed he was unable to comprehend any educational materials. They were, of course, deeply mistaken. At home he read at the same level I did and could do similar levels of math once our mother taught him herself. Beyond that, he is a technological genius. He learned how to hack into the school computer system to disable the filters by the time he was in second grade. It's abundantly clear that he is by no means incompetent to anyone who takes the time to get to know him, but his teachers refused to acknowledge his potential in favor of believing their preconceived notion that people with disabilities cannot be taught. The way that children with disabilities are treated in school is appalling to me. Even the nicer teachers my brother had failed to actually teach him, and the worst ones went so far as to hit him or even lock him in an empty classroom by himself for stimming, a common and harmless symptom of autism. I want to contribute to a positive movement towards a more just system for special education. No child should be neglected, or even abused, by adults who hold power over them. I intend to teach special education to elementary school students, to show these children from a young age they deserve to have people put genuine effort into helping them reach their full potential, in an environment where they feel safe and valued. I hope to help move the special education system to a point where the students it serves are well equipped to become well-educated adults who feel secure in the fact that they matter just as much as their non-disabled peers.

I have witnessed strong injustice in education, especially in the special education system. I grew up with an older brother with autism, and I have seen the way his teachers have written him off as being incapable of learning. They make no effort to actually teach him, despite his clear ability to learn many complex things, due to his disability. I hope to make a positive change in the way kids with disabilities are treated in the American school system through my career teaching special education. From the time my brother and I were in elementary school, I could see a clear difference in the way we were treated by our teachers. My love of learning was nurtured from the beginning, with my teachers even going out of their way to help me find more books to read once I'd read through the whole class library. On the other hand, my brother was neglected by his teachers, forced to sit in silence all day in a room in the back corner of the school. No effort was made to teach him, because his teachers assumed he was unable to comprehend any educational materials. They were, of course, deeply mistaken. At home he read at the same level I did and could do similar levels of math once our mother taught him herself. Beyond that, he is a technological genius. He learned how to hack into the school computer system to disable the filters by the time he was in second grade. It's abundantly clear that he is by no means incompetent to anyone who takes the time to get to know him, but his teachers refused to acknowledge his potential in favor of believing their preconceived notion that people with disabilities cannot be taught. The way that children with disabilities are treated in school is appalling to me. Even the nicer teachers my brother had failed to actually teach him, and the worst ones went so far as to hit him or even lock him in an empty classroom by himself for stimming, a common and harmless symptom of autism. I want to contribute to a positive movement towards a more just system for special education. No child should be neglected, or even abused, by adults who hold power over them. I intend to teach special education to elementary school students, to show these children from a young age they deserve to have people put genuine effort into helping them reach their full potential, in an environment where they feel safe and valued. I hope to help move the special education system to a point where the students it serves are well equipped to become well-educated adults who feel secure in the fact that they matter just as much as their non-disabled peers.

I have seen a lot of injustice in the education system, especially the special education system, that I hope to work towards fixing in my career. My older brother has autism, and I have seen him be severely mistreated throughout his education by both peers and teachers, and I want to provide kids like him with a much better experience. I believe kids with disabilities deserve to have just as much love and care put into their education as their peers without disabilities. When me and my brother were in elementary school, I could already see the stark contrast in the way we were treated. My teachers nurtured my love of learning, especially reading, and often even went out of their way to help me find books I'd not read before once I'd gotten through the whole classroom library. My brother, on the other hand, was kept in a room in the back corner of our school, where he was expected to sit in silence for the full day, and was not actually taught anything. His teachers assumed any instructional material would be above his comprehension abilities, and didn't bother to even try working with him. They were, of course, sorely mistaken. My brother read just as much as I did at home, and could do math at a similar level when our mother took the time to teach him. Beyond that, he is a technological genius. He could hack into the school computers to bypass the filters by the time he was in second grade. It only takes talking to him for a few minutes to realize that his autism doesn't make him incapable of doing most of the things other people his age can. Despite how clear it is to me that my brother, as well as other people with disabilities, are not generally incapable people, others often fail to realize this. Even my brother's nicer teachers failed to actually teach him anything, but the majority were far worse and would go to such lengths as hitting him and locking him in empty classrooms by himself if he made any noise. It is horrifying to me that this is the reality many of these children face every day in their schools, and that so many people in administration are either oblivious or even complicit in this mistreatment. I want to become an elementary special education teacher so I can provide these kids with the quality education they deserve in an environment where they feel loved and valued. I want to work with elementary school students so I can instill a sense of excitement about learning from a young age, and to start out their education in a healthy environment so they can recognize if they are mistreated later on. I want children with special needs to know they are not lesser than their non-disabled peers and deserve to be treated with the exact same love and respect.