Working With The Challenged..Society's Lowest Priority!

I started working with those who were challenged quite accidently. I was training to be a psychiatric nurse when a new program came about in New York; attempting to teach those who were intellectually challenged and psychotic who were in institutions. Crazy huh? Not really!

At first I was skeptic, but my major in college went from psychology to teaching quite quickly, at the encouragement of a wonderfully insightful professor. As a psychology major, my goal was to be a forensic psychologist...a new field back in the 70's. Without going into drastic boring detail, my professor explained to me, that special education was expanding and going to be very lucrative. What he didn't predict was that the salaries would never be what they should be for such a demanding and vital profession.

So, I received my nursing certificates from the  State Psychiatric hospital that I volunteered at and then worked at. My college education continued as I had a duel major; Education/ Psychology and I worked at the hospital and went to school as well. Everyone thought I was as crazy as the patients I dealt with on a daily basis. Caring for a young child, working full time and going to school full time WAS crazy! But I did it!

The teacher in charge of this pilot project picked me to help her. Why? Because I had teaching background ( all textbook at this point) and a curious mind. I believed her when she said these programs worked and these patients can be taught academics, reading and writing, besides everyday life skills, like hygiene and caring for themselves. She must have known that soon our President was going to open the doors of mental institutions and "free" the masses!

I learned ASL as most of my patients were either deaf or limited verbal or none verbal completely. Two times a week we took a handful of patients and marched them to the basement classroom where we "taught" those who had never been "officially" taught anything. We had a hospital psychologist, also very optimistic, helping with the programs. Boy oh boy...this sure was a challenge and I found myself so drained that I slept a lot in my college classes.

I quickly realized that these programs that were originally being done in Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, really had potential. I also quickly realized....I really enjoyed teaching as much as nursing.

When I started on my journey as a nurse, I also worked as a teacher for special needs, assisting lead teachers. I constantly found myself inventing new ways of teaching those who had a hard time learning. I found myself making a difference in lives that very few cared about. Really, you ask? Yes, really!

The means of funding at that time were scarce for special needs departments. Teachers shelled out money from their own purses for supplies and needed tokens of encouragement for the students. They were limited as to using the school office supplies and equipment. They did the best they could to effectively TEACH students who needed teaching more than any other. These students had so much potential that lay hidden due to bureaucracy and administrators without any vision. I was given that vision years previously in a lonely basement of a state psychiatric hospital. And so I continued.

It appears not much has changed since 1979!

Oh, we have lots of wonderful looking educational goals and funding from the state department of education, all on paper! The monies rarely reach the classrooms or the teachers and hardly those it was intended for; the students. We have laws and strict guidelines to follow when teaching our students with special needs, especially in the public school sectors. We have criteria and paperwork that is required to get the funding we never see at the classroom level.

The dedicated, hard working teachers are still emptying their pockets to purchase what is needed to teach effectively in their classrooms, as all the requests for supplies either take a road to China or they are denied due to budget cuts. Yet, it appears that other programs are funded with no or little issues and so the struggle continues. The more lucrative the school district , the less problems with funding special education, yet even still these teachers are digging into their own finances often times. The low budget, inner city and less populated schools lack the most resources frequently. They depend on those with means to donate money and resources and of course, those dedicated hard working teachers.

I have a feeling that many will not agree with me, saying , "Oh no.. this is simply untrue". But it is the truth, from coast to coast, town to town, just ask a teacher who teaches those valuable, overlooked students who happen to have special needs. If they are truthful, what I'm saying will be echoed.

Now, lets not forget those who are caregivers for persons with special needs.

They also are faced with the very same issues...out of their pocket expenses to properly care for and assist those with special needs. Even case managers and case workers make the lowest pay in most circumstances when working with clients with special needs. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself!

Ps...I worked in that field for years and the pay has stayed virtually the same, or actually gotten lower. Why? Because there is little value of a person with challenges in our advanced society.

 They can't contribute enough to the economic structure, therefore they are devalued as are our poor and uneducated. We need to speak out against these injustices now. Why? Because it is the right and just thing to do! They deserve every chance at prospering in our society and it's up to us to give them that chance!

*****Did you know many schools are still using programs from the 80's that didn't work very well then and don't work very well now?! Why haven't the new an innovative programs that researchers have painstakingly created, not being implemented? Good question!

So, do I say all this because my child happens to be one of the devalued or undervalued in our society? No...not really! Obviously I have an invested interest in her future, but being in this field since 1979 and seeing such little change makes me physically ill! What kind of society do we live in anyway?

Did you know, that most nations of Native Americans that I'm aware of, value their members who have special needs? They are looked upon as very important to their tribes, and often treated better than the general population. It is their belief that the Creator has given them a unique person with special "abilities" that their people can learn from. What a concept! I have always felt that way. I have learned so much more dealing with persons with special needs than I can ever hope to teach. They are truly wise in so many ways.

So, to all the teachers, caregivers, case workers, coaches, etc, who work with persons with special needs, I admire you greatly and pray that one day, this society we live in will see the true value of these persons, give them the opportunities they deserve ( not just on paper where it looks great) and allow them to prosper to the best of their abilities. I only wish that we could prioritize using our hearts and minds instead of bank books.

So, if I have offended anyone, I did not intend to, and I am sorry. If I have opened someone's eyes to the true realities of the dilemma of our special needs citizens, then I am content that I did what I intended.

If anyone doubts what I have said. .I challenge you to do your own research and see the ridiculously low wages for workers of the special needs populations in most fields and also see how the need of these said workers is growing and needed desperately. Pay them (us) what is deserved for doing a very difficult but very rewarding job.

I have seen some of my clients graduate college, marry and maintain their own dwellings. I have also seen my clients work a job at department stores, restaurants, and more and be so proud of their paychecks that they worked so hard for. For these reasons I continue working with this population, even though the pay is so menial ( even with a college degree or two) that I always need a second job.

It's what I do and what I love. There are many of us out there. Just try and remember, we, too, have ends to meet and all we ask, is for the funding and the pay that is appropriate for changing lives for the better. We all will prosper in so many ways, as a society, if we straighten out our priorities. I say this as a teacher, case worker, counselor and yes, parent of the most endearing population in our society. And I am blessed to be a part of their lives!

Namaste!