Brendan stood in front of six orange cones, a soccer ball at his feet as he urged on, going in and out swiftly without skipping a beat. He looked back at me, proudly, and gave me a thumbs-up when he was done. Although this may seem like an easy task for most people, Brendan is a person with special needs. I couldn’t help but flash back to my younger self while celebrating his accomplishment. I had been in the special education program for as long as I can remember. After having difficulty with speech when I was five, it always occurred as a norm to me. That was until I got into middle school and high school. I was constantly hiding my face from my peers in the hallway when entering my special education classes. These classes always made school a bit more difficult for me. I felt alienated from the rest of the grade. As if I lived a whole separate life inside the same school. After many years of hiding and rushing to classes so that nobody would see me walk into them, It was over. I completed the special education program at Manhasset High School. I felt free from all the stares, free from all the anxiety of being seen walking into a special education classroom, free from being separated from the rest of my grade. Most importantly, I had accomplished my goal of gaining enough tools to no longer need the additional support offered to me by the special education program. This sudden flip of a switch to where I was able to move forward was in my junior year. Junior year, conversations about our future plans and endeavors became a more regular occurrence. It was finally time to seriously think about how I wanted to spend my future. Given my love of working with children, I began to think more seriously about pursuing education as a college major. With this in mind, I began babysitting for several families in the neighborhood, which solidified my passion for teaching. Shortly thereafter, I began helping out at camps over the summer for community service, which led to me having many different opportunities at other camps to help kids with varying needs and abilities. Coming from similar beginnings, giving back by helping those who are struggling in the special education system, will allow me to be the type of teacher who makes a difference. Having a teacher in mind, Mr. Ryan Gray, a special education teacher, would actively take the time to make sure students are engaged and understanding the subject. I consciously took note of how effective of an educator he was to the students around him. Mr. Ryan Gray solidified my desire and purpose to become a teacher. I want to be an advocate and a helping hand to students who struggle. As an educator, I want to make it a mission to grant opportunities to students with special needs, while providing them with an immense amount of accommodation, modifications, and support to secure inclusivity within their education. I am extremely passionate about becoming a special education teacher because it defines who I am. I want to help support students with intellectual disabilities in and outside the classroom to make sure that they can transition into a higher education or any workplace that they desire. After being mentored by brilliant educators who work with students with special needs, pursuing a career as a special education teacher is second nature for me. I want to be like Mr. Ryan Gray, I want to teach students with special needs.

What I love about being a special educator is that every child learns differently. There is no one way of doing things. My work in educating low-incidence children revolves around making them feel heard and seen. While it is always difficult to communicate with children in general, low-incidence children especially need to be communicated with. Each child needs to be met in the middle, the middle is not necessarily always split fifty/fifty however as an educator you learn to make that work.  After spending time in the classroom in multiple school districts, I learned that low-incidence children are extremely unique and as an educator, you have to bring those unique characteristics to light. It is important to note that any child, let alone a child with an intellectual disability should be taught authentically and not by a book. I learned through fieldwork experiences that the teachers who were vibrant and their authentic selves were able to connect best with the children in the classroom. Taking this into account, I realized how much of an impact I could make as a student sitting in the classroom. I then was switched to another room and noticed a student named Leopold, who was non-verbal. It was clear that the personal aide he was paired with did not communicate with him. It was extremely upsetting for me as an advocate to see a child not be seen or heard, regardless of his ability. I took it upon myself to communicate with Leopold every time I entered and left the classroom. At first, he visibly wasn't used to being communicated with in a private setting. As time went on he continuously became more expressive in what he was doing while he was doing it. When I came back from school break, he visibly showed how happy he was to see me. It made my day, week, month, and year.  After the school year was done, I began sitting in and volunteering at A Step Up Academy. This school's mission is to provide and meet each student with their individual needs to help them develop and embark on life in and out of school. While it was great to meet one student with a low-incidence disability, I think it is important to note how different every child is regardless of them having the same disability. One quote my professors love to mention in class is "If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism"(Dr. Stephen Shore). I couldn't agree more, Each student was different. Regardless of having similar disabilities, that didn't make it the same work. I had to start from scratch and communicate with these children to try and draw a connection. As I mentioned earlier, this creation of a special connection undoubtedly helped me continue in my new field. Each challenge presents its hardships; being hit, and having rocks and chairs thrown at me, was indubitably a new challenge to overcome. Through my short time of sitting in, I learned how special these connections were. I learned how to speak to each child when they are having a tantrum or experiencing any hardship. Being a teacher for low-incidence children most definitely keeps you on your toes and it is rewarding. When I see the lightbulb that turns on in the mind of a child, I instantly feel rewarded. Being a teacher is not easy, taking the extra step and going above and beyond to make sure the child is being attended to, is what it's all about. This is how I will benefit low-incidence children now and in the future.

Brendan stood in front of six orange cones, a soccer ball at his feet as he urged on, going in and out swiftly without skipping a beat. He looked back at me, proudly, and gave me a thumbs-up when he was done. Although this may seem like an easy task for most people, Brendan is a person with special needs. I couldn’t help but flash back to my younger self while celebrating his accomplishment.    I've been in the special education program for as long as I can remember. After having difficulty with speech when I was five, it always occurred as a norm to me. That was until I got into middle school and high school. I was constantly hiding my face from my peers in the hallway when entering my special education classes. These classes always made school a bit more difficult for me. I felt alienated from the rest of the grade. As if I lived a whole separate life inside the same school. After many years of hiding and rushing to classes so that nobody would see me walk into them, It was over. I completed the special education program at Manhasset High School. I felt free from all the stares, free from all the anxiety of being seen walking into a special education classroom, free from being separated from the rest of my grade. Most importantly, I had accomplished my goal of gaining enough tools to no longer need the additional support offered to me by the special education program. For some students, there is a point where they develop great learning habits and then they are allowed to roam without any additional support. Without a helping hand, I fully gathered enough guidance to where I could independently grow and move forward.  This sudden flip of a switch to where I was able to move forward was in my junior year. Junior year, conversations about our future plans and endeavors became a more regular occurrence. It was finally time to seriously think about how I wanted to spend my future. Given my love of working with children, I began to think more seriously about pursuing education as a college major. With this in mind, I began babysitting for several families in the neighborhood, which solidified my passion for teaching and coaching. Shortly thereafter, I began helping out at camps over the summer for community service, which led to me having many different opportunities at other camps to help kids with varying needs and abilities. Coming from similar beginnings, giving back by helping those who are struggling in the special education system, will allow me to be the type of teacher who makes a difference. Having a teacher in mind, Mr. Ryan Gray, a special education teacher would actively take the time to make sure students are engaged and understanding the subject. I never had a class where he taught me, I consciously took note of how effective of an educator he was to the students around him. Mr. Ryan Gray solidified my desire and purpose to become a teacher. I want to be an advocate and helping hand to students who struggle. As an educator, I want to make it a mission to grant opportunities to students with special needs while providing them with an immense amount of accommodation, modifications, and support to secure inclusivity within their education. Ever since I got out of Special Education I have been working in it. In 11th grade, I began volunteering at an after-school program for students with special needs. Since Manhasset Adaptive Soccer is open to students with various needs and disabilities, I became acclimated to special education through extracurricular activities. This is where I learned firsthand how a special bond between a teacher and a child could impact a student with intellectual disabilities.  From my experience, while embarking on college, I found great mentors in the education program. My professor and guidance counselor Dr. Kim Dean introduced me to A Step Up Academy. A Step Up Academy is a school that serves as an appropriate program to meet the needs of the child. Now, as an employee who works the Extended School Year program for A Step Up Academy, I know I want to work in the field of Special Education. I am extremely passionate about becoming a special education teacher because it defines who I am. I want to help support students with intellectual disabilities inside and outside the classroom to make sure that they can transition into any higher education or workplace that they desire. After being mentored by brilliant educators who work with students with special needs, pursuing a career as a special education teacher is second nature for me.  From what I deciphered from the statement, each student needs to find their place in the world. Regardless of ability or disability, every person needs to find their purpose and feel like they are a part of something. While this is the case, not every student is the same. Students feel at their own presence at different points in their lives. One quote I love to mention is "If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism"(Dr. Stephen Shore). While every student is different and needs to be guided differently, it is important to note that creating a special connection with every child is a great start to help them find their role and place. As a future educator who harps on personal connection through literacy activities. Regardless of the ability of the child, I will do anything possible to make sure the child feels seen and heard. One thing that comes to mind is the use of The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), this piece of technology I make great use of at work. It allows students who are nonverbal to express their thoughts and feelings through an expressive communication system with pictures and sometimes audio. With this being said, as a future special education teacher it is my mission to provide students with the feeling of being heard and seen in and outside of their classroom. As my mentors once did to me, I want to contribute in providing these concepts to the future students in my classroom to make education systems more inclusive and expressive to help advocate for students of all abilities and disabilities.