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Sarah Biggers
Dr. Blair
UWRT 1103, 047
May 10, 2016

Secondary Discourse of Special Education

When working with Special Needs children in a school setting you get to see
a lot of melt downs, hissy fits, sometimes a smile and maybe even get a hug or
two. Situations can occur at any moment, any time or any place. The simplest
things such as a book dropping to a student tapping a pencil or being in a loud
scenario. Learning the Secondary Discourse for a career such as Special Education
takes values of patience, perseverance, and compassion.
As a Special Education teacher patience is one of the top three values, or at
least so I think. Having patience with disabled children is a blessing. With
patience an understanding of behavior, learning and a sense of instinct comes
around. Not all children are the same. A teacher must be willing to sit and wait for
a child to calm down, communicate or even just to let a word or math problem sink
in. Different situations occur and in the end sometimes calls for the act of
perseverance. Perseverance in a teacher needs to be shown by not giving it up on a

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child with a learning disability, mental or cognitive disability, or a physical

disability. Each childs disability is not the same as another. A teacher must be
able to stay calm, patient, and push through any hard times a child or a class may
throw at him or her. Having the ability to persevere through melt downs or out
bursts will in the end make for a stronger teacher. Now for the third important
value compassion. Compassion is a form of caring with an extended amount of
love. A teacher must be compassionate about their job as a mentor, teacher, guide
and care taker for a disabled child. A child with a disability is the same as a
typical child, they want to be shown love, have fun and participate in events.
Being a Special Education teacher, devoting time to make sure every child has
attention and feels a part of the class and not an outcast is a big way of showing
compassion.
As I have complete many volunteer hours, seven years of being a camp
counselor and working in a school setting along sides of children with disabilities,
I have learned to assess situations that can cause out bursts and melt downs and
how to fix them. Even after my years of hands on experience, I am still learning.
But so far I can tell the difference between a medical melt down, mental break
down, or an attention seeking melt down. For example, a medical break down
could be something a long the lines of a child being in the same spot in a wheel
chair for too long, a tube or machine not being hooked up right in the body, or a

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situation where the child is non verbal and cannot speak or communicate. Where
as a mental break down can be seen as a childs sensory being overwhelmed by
sights and sounds or a child be frustrated with themselves or they are put into a
situation that they can not completely process what is happening in their
surroundings. Then you have the typical every child disabled or typical that has
a break down for attention. These situations can be seen when they dont get what
they want or are told no and that they have to share.
Having the ability to work along side some amazing kids has given me the
ability to receive many memories of different experiences. Some of the experience
I have had or the most frequent ones that I have worked with would be those of the
break downs mentioned earlier. The first experience was with a girl named Jordan.
Jordan at the time was 14 and has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome. She was
a smart but shy. Rarely would she open up for just anyone. Jordans situation was
a mental break down. She was getting frustrated with her surroundings (which was
a loud and chaotic gymnasium) and she couldnt gather her thoughts clearly
enough or quick enough to tell me what was wrong. She began to become angry
and frustrated, not knowing what to do, I called a teacher over for help. We ended
up removing her from the gym and walked around hallways so that she could
recollect and find words again. After she calmed down she recognized what had
happened and apologized for getting angry. My next situation is one of an

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attention melt down. This childs name was RJ. RJ had autism, anger issues and a
defiant issue as well. My mom was the assistant teacher at the time that worked
one on one with him. Well one day my mom was absent and I volunteered to take
her space. Never truly working with RJ before and only hearing stories was kind
of terrifying. Getting into the classroom RJ is already going crazy because his day
is wrong with out my mom there. He began to calm down once I explained who I
was and that I was going to work with him today. RJ got this grin on his face, it
was one of I am going to take advantage of you when you dont know it. Not
realizing the grin and processing it, I continued to go on with his day and schedule.
Lunch time rolled around and boy that was a surprise. RJ went through the line
better than he ever had before, I guess just to set me up for what was next. We sat
down and began to eat well RJ began a food fight. Looking for attention he
started screaming when I took his food from him and removed him from the
situation. His attention seeking melt down was enough to call attention to the
principal. The principal, Mrs. Thomas, is a lady of patience but doesnt put up
with behavior like that especially knowing he was only doing it for attention. Mrs.
Thomas restrained RJ. When she restrained him forcing all eyes on him, he began
to life. Then I knew that it was all a game he had been planning. As a Special
Education teacher being prepared for any situations is something that I learned
from my experiences.

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When becoming a Special Education teacher there is a great vocabulary that

must be learned. Such words include: Developmental Disability, Intellectual
Disability and Learning Disability when talking about disabilities and categories
different disabilities such as Autism, Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy fall
under. Other words that a teacher must know for inside a school setting are
Individualized Education Program (IEP), Universal Design for Learning and the
504 Plan.
According to the Special Education Guide an IEP can be identified as a
legal document that defines special education services between the school district
and parents. The Special Education Guide also defines Universal Design for
Learning as an approach that makes a curriculum accessible to all students,
regardless of their backgrounds, learning styles and abilities. A 504 Plan is
designed to provide protection for a disabled child to receive adequate care and
accommodations to help modify or improve the way of learning for the individual.
The 504 also protects a child from discrimination due to disability.
While working with special needs children both in and outside of the
classroom, I have gained the experience of secondary discourse by having hands
on experience with children of all disabilities and mannerisms. There are lots of
things that have to be learned when you enter the Special Education field such as
words, how to help in situations, and how to stay calm. But some things are not

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book taught or taught in a classroom then tested on, some situations require instinct
and just a pure feeling. No child is the same even if they have the same disability.
Having this discourse of language and values will prepare me for my career.