r/specialed

I'm a teacher in a private AS school, working with elementary schoolers. Most of my kids are elopers, and we have outside recess so I'm averaging about 2-3 miles of movement a day.

I currently wear Clove sneakers, because they were advertised for nurses' long shifts on their feet. However, my feet still ache every day so they're clearly not cutting it. I've also tried Adidas and Sketchers. Maybe it's an in-sole issue?

If you're on your feet all day, often walking or running around, what shoes do you wear? My dress code requires our shoes to have laces or some kind of fastening mechanism, so crocs or slides are out. Slip-on sneakers are technically against policy, but that's usually what I wear anyway.

Extra information: I'm a woman in my 20s, and I like fun colored shoes, but I'll take whatever works at this point.

Thanks!

My student’s IEP includes their physical disability and stipulates that they should not be required to carry heavy loads. it was discussed quite a bit during the IEP meetings.

I will include that they refused to recognize my student’s autism as a factor even though I explained to them that the autism is high masking and includes appearing highly agreeable to their own detriment. The autism is not officially on the IEP

Yesterday, the case manager and writer of the IEP pulled my student from class and said them to help organize books. this included carrying 4 boxes of books up the stairs.

I am flabbergasted because this wasn’t just a curriculum oversight. the case manager had to go out of her way to have my student carry heavy loads.

This had an impact on my kid’s energy levels and they had trouble eating and doing self-care last night a were exceptionally fatigued this morning.

what should I do on the case of a case manager violating the IEP?

I already had trust issues with how they are handling things. But this is a flagrant violation.

I have searched the sub for some advice on this topic but cannot find anything related. I'm hoping someone can chime in. I am a 5th year high school special education teacher. I provide resource help, push into several classes, and teach special education math. My caseload is made up of freshmen and sophomore students, but I teach math to IEP students of all grades.

We have a new vice principal this year who has taken over writing 504s for freshmen and sophomores. For 3 of these students, he has written minutes working with me into the 504s. For example, it will say "Student will work with Bunny Burrow for 250 minutes per week for executive function support."

I did initially push back on this. I was told that the 504 students are assigned to my study hall, which is not instructional time. My vice principal said he can assign any student to work with me during study hall.

I should point out that my entire Sped caseload is already placed in my study hall. They each have weekly service minutes in their IEPs that reflect this time I should be working with them in study hall.

The 504 students and their parents are more demanding than those on my caseload. Just today I had to respond to a 504 parent demanding an explanation from me about why their daughter failed her geometry test and wanting to know when I will arrange for her to do a retake. I took this to my principal who said I need to just do what is best for the student.

I'm drowning. Any advice?

Was out on the playground with my class today(level 4 autism) the gen ed teacher, that one of my students spend 30 min a day with, came out and said hello to me while walking right past my student….WHO IS ALSO HER STUDENT. I prompt my student to say hello and her response is oh he never talks to me. He’s nonverbal not an idiot! He loves high fives and fist bumps. When you talk to him he smiles and shakes his head and nods. He adores hugs and head rubs and is very good at making you understand what he wants. He also has very high receptive language skills.

So what do I do? Make a nuisance of myself. Instead of a para going with him to his next gen ed class I go and proceed to narrate every single communication he gives me to her while “encouraging” her to engage with him like she does her other students. I will be proceeding to do this every day until improvement is seen. I have a student going into her class next year so I need her to get a clue on how to treat and interact with these kinds of students

I’m looking for recommendations for an extremely durable iPad case, but with a specific constraint that most “rugged case” threads don’t address well:

This is for a special education classroom, where there is a real possibility the iPad could be thrown during moments of dysregulation.

So I’m trying to balance three things:

-High impact durability (can survive repeated drops/throws)

-Safety (won’t injure someone if it hits them)

-Very challenging to remove

From what I’ve seen, a lot of “rugged” cases use hard plastic or rigid shells, which protect the device but could still cause injury if thrown.

What I’m ideally looking for:

Softer outer material (silicone/TPU or similar)

Rounded edges / no sharp corners

Thick enough to absorb impact (not just transfer force)

Good grip or straps are a bonus (to reduce throwing in the first place)

If you’ve used something in a school, therapy, or high-risk environment, I’d especially appreciate hearing what has actually held up over time.

Also open to solutions beyond just cases (mounting systems, straps, etc.) if they’ve worked in practice.

Thanks in advance—trying to find something that’s both durable and safe, which seems harder than it should be.

Hello fellow Special Educators, I'm studying Special education in India and doing an internship right now. there's one class 8 (14-16) kid who often gets confused with Letters "b" and "d".

how could we find if he has SLD or just confusion.

I work in a self contained classroom for students with the most extensive support needs. I have been struggling this year with a parent who is on the spectrum and has no idea they’re on the spectrum! Parent does not understand why their child is not in general education full time. This student takes the most of my time out of all 9 of my kids. He’s not a behavioral issue, he just needs a lot of constant support. Parent doesn’t understand that that is not possible outside my classroom and doesn’t understand why their kid can’t be “with the normal kids more”. I have explained and explained and given examples and shown data and nothing is getting through!!! What else can I do????

Is it possible for a mildly learning disability person to become any type of engineer or even CEO? How do you evaluate such a student?

Experienced teacher transferring to special education. I've got one day to choose between 2 opportunities for my 1st year as SPED.

Both are push in/ small group teaching high school.

One is at my current school, bigger caseload, less support, "head" of sped is a baby teacher with an emergency cert, but I know all the kids and their families already and would get to set a lot of my own schedule. Absentee and ineffective principal but excellent AP.

Other is a smaller school in a slightly worse neighborhood with a worse commute, but great head of SpEd, smaller caseload and fewer big behavior issues. Long serving and well liked principal, very low staff turnover. However as a smaller school there's always the danger it will be closed the next time my city has a budget crisis, and I'm worried it will look bad on my resume to move to a smaller school.

Hi everyone,

I've been teaching for 13ish years, but this is my first year full time as the lead teacher in Special Ed, and my first time teaching 5 year olds. I've never been a great art teacher, or even a good one, but now I'm completely lost! My students have about a 5 minute attention span and need a lot of support. I can get them to glue and paint randomly with one on one support, but I'm bereft of ideas for much beyond that. We did some salad spinner art which was fun, and now... yeah. Everything that I look up just seems way beyond them, but I'm probably not thinking about it in a useful way or from the right angle. How do you think about art when working with students like this? Any project ideas? I'd really like the parents to have presentable things come home a bit more regularly, even just once a fortnight.

Need honest feedback from parents who have been through this process.

My son is 6.5 and currently in a mod/severe autism classroom. I am currently trying to get him the support he needs at school, including a 1:1 aide. (Due to his behaviors and huge regression since transitioning from full-time ABA for years to actual school/classroom).

I first requested a 1:1 aide back in January. The district told me that in order to assess whether that level of support was needed, they would need to complete an FBA first.

We recently had the IEP meeting last Thursday to review the FBA results. At that meeting, I made it clear that I did not agree with their findings because I felt they greatly minimized his behaviors in writing. During the meeting though, the school psychologist verbally said multiple times that he is very very hyperactive and climbs constantly. They also acknowledged concerns with eloping and disrobing behaviors.

After the meeting, they proposed a BIP plan and gave me Prior Written Notice declining the 1:1 aide request.

I told them during the meeting that I would be requesting an IEE (external/independent evaluation) for the FBA (functional behavioral assessment) in writing, which I did immediately after the meeting.

Earlier this week, I also emailed the program specialist with the BCBA I selected for the independent evaluation so things could start moving forward.

Then today, the program specialist called me and asked if the “support” I am seeking for my son would be long term or short term, meaning the aide.

I told him ideally it would be short term because I hope my son gains skills and progresses so he can live a normal life, but honestly he has needed a very high level of support for a long time already, so I cannot say for sure right now.

He paused like he was thinking or taking notes, then said that was his only question and that I should have a reply by Thursday regarding my IEE request.

For those who have been through this, does this sound promising? Does it seem like they may already be reconsidering the 1:1 aide or gathering more information? I would really appreciate honest feedback.

​

Hi everyone,

I’m a fairly new teacher’s aide (about a month and a half in), and something happened that I’m trying to understand. The school recently switched me from one classroom to another, and it felt almost like a “trade” — the aide from the new class was moved into my old room, and I was moved into theirs.

My old student was extremely challenging — heavy behaviors, constant redirection, very demanding. The student I’m with now is much more easy‑going. The aide who replaced me is already struggling with the kid I had, which makes me wonder why the switch happened in the first place.

When I asked, I was told that “it’s normal” and that they make changes like this all the time. But it honestly felt random, almost like a principal‑level decision. The assistant principal even asked me yesterday how I’m liking the job so far, which makes me wonder if they were checking in before moving me.

So my questions are:

Is it normal for aides to be moved around this quickly?

Do schools often “swap” aides between classrooms?

\- Could this have been done because of staffing needs, personalities, or something I’m not aware of?

Should I be concerned, or is this just part of the job?

I’m not upset — just confused and trying to understand how common this is. Any insight from other TAs, paras, or teachers would help a lot.

Thanks in advance.

I recently started in a self-contained class as a para, and to be clear, none of the kids I'm currently working with have TS. But with the recent uproar over the BAFTAs, I have been learning a lot about TS. Add that to me finally seeing how things actually work in the school system after years on the periphery, and I'm wondering what it would be like trying to deal with TS (specifically the more disruptive symptoms) in a classroom setting.

I am interviewing for a program specialist position for a virtual charter school. I am also going to be a first time Mom come July. If I get the position, I plan to take my leave in accordance with the policy of the school. But I am curious if anyone has had success in having a baby and WFH in the education setting. I have support with my family so they can watch the baby while I take meetings. The appeal of this position for me is lack of commute and less time away from my baby. I have always enjoyed working from home in the past (COVID, and other times) so I’m not too worried about the WFH piece alone. But would appreciate the perspective of young parents.

I posted about a week ago asking for support learning my rights as a parent and have learned a lot since then. I’m looking for specific info, advice and even others experiences going through the IEP process when you’re separate with no court order.

My ex emailed our local intermediate unit to get our son evaluated again to receive more services. I’m completely fine with this, I know no one involved knows about our situation. Moving forward, I‘m wondering, do they need to inform both parents or need both parents consent for service?

Hi, how does special education work at your school? For students who need specialized academic instruction in ELA and Math, what do you do for history, social science, etc? Is there an aide in the class?

Parent- please don’t email me. I don’t check my email.

Me- Of course! Would I be able to ParentSquare you?

Parent- Absolutely not.

Me- Okay, texting, phone calls?

Parent- No I won’t check those either. You need to put hard copies of communication in my students backpack.

Me- Sure, the child with executive function struggles? That should go well.

My son just turned 5. His evaluations showed readiness for kinder in terms of knowing all letters, numbers, shapes, matching etc but he struggles to sit down, play with other kids and join group activities if he finds it boring (like worksheets). He loves school and is always happy to go. He is potty trained and speech is emerging but still very minimal. His therapists call him a little engineer because he is always trying to figure out how things work. He is just now learning to engage in play with others. No aggressive behaviors. Would love to hear your thoughts :)

Can someone help? This feels illegal. My granddaughter had a difficult 1st grade. The majority of the class was disruptive. Very little parent participation. My daughter was the room "mom" and witnessed first hand, little learning was being done. They thought it was just bad luck their daughter ended up in such a "bad" class. My granddaughter is now almost finished with 2nd grade. She struggled with keeping up after not getting the fundamentals to build upon but she is a B-C student. The school called for a meeting with my daughter and son-in-law to go over my granddaughter's evaluation. Long story short. My daughter was told by an administrator that her daughter was "picked" by the principal (now gone) to be in a class for lower scoring students during 1st grade due to her scoring from kindergarten. (At 5 she mixed up b and d) The admin were pushing the parents to put their child into Special Resource. We are all very upset. The child has been able to learn 2 grades in 1 year and maintain a B-C average. She is struggling because of being "placed" in a classroom with troubled and behavioral issues without parental consent or knowledge. If the child had any learning disabilities which would assist her, that would be different. When the parents refused to say their daughter's struggles are due to learning disabilities and not the year without learning anything, the admins cut off the meeting with nothing more to say. They are angry, which I don't blame them. This seems outrageous!!!