A Career In Special Education

Choosing a career seems to be a leading problem for most people entering college. University of La Verne, in california, says, “50-70% of students change their majors at least once, most will change majors at least 3 times before they graduate” (University of La Verne). Personally, I am someone who struggles with what I want to study in college; it is hard to choose something to do for the rest of my life when I feel so young. Helping people has always been a big interest of mine, and with both careers of occupational therapy and special education, I think that can be achieved. People with disabilities do not learn things the same way everyday people do, it is important for them to get the help they need in order to maintain a stable, healthy

In my opinion, this is one of the upsides to becoming a special education teacher. Right now, in my life I don’t like to do much more school than I need to, so four years seems better, in my mind, than the six years it would take to become an occupational therapist. My mind could end up changing as I grow older, but for now that is just my thoughts. Some of the courses that may end up being on the path to becoming a special education teacher are, methods, foundations of education, assistive technology, assessment, special education law, and planning and curriculum focused on special needs (Teacher Certification Degrees). It is important to learn of different things you might have to do in a special needs classroom because there will be kids with all different disabilities. What is done for one special needs student, may not be able to perform on another kid with special needs. Overall, a career in special education would take less time than an occupational therapist, but, an occupational therapist does end up making more in the long

This seems like a pretty good salary to me. By contrast, the median annual salary for a special education teacher is at $53,165. This is about thirty-thousand dollars less than what an occupational therapist makes annually. Thirty-thousand dollars is a lot of money. Also, experts say that fifty percent of special education teachers are said to make less than $53,165 a year. Many different factors can go into a person’s salary, so that needs to be in mind when looking at either of these amounts. They may or may not be completely accurate, depending on the circumstances of the workplace, etc. Generally, though, occupational therapist make between $76,999- $91,589, while special education teachers are making between $41,265-$61,065 (salary.com). I believe that more schooling would definitely be worth the extra thirty-thousand