Why Special Ed?

Working in Special Education has come naturally to me. This might be because I spent a lot of time with my grandfather as a child. He was the area director of Special Olympics in Montgomery County, MD for many years. Every week I went with him to practice, spending a great deal of time with children and adults with various physical and cognitive disabilities.

I had friends with Downs Syndrome and what we now call Autism Spectrum Disorder. At the age of four, I learned how to swim from a veteran with polio. In addition, my uncle – who shared our household –  was born severely developmentally disabled and with club feet. They said he would never walk. But he ran, swam, and won gold medals at the International Special Olympics competition in Baton Rouge, LA in 1983.

In 2020 I began working as a paraprofessional for Wayne Finger Lakes BOCES. Since then, I’ve worked from Teacher Aide to certified Teaching Assistant, Level 3. My Teaching Assistant certification allowed me to serve as a long-term substitute in multiple classrooms. During that period, I excelled in all areas as classroom teacher, gaining high levels of praise from my peers and supervisors for my abilities in classroom management, leadership, and instruction.

I enjoy my work, especially engaging students with varying exceptionalities by employing creative approaches to meet them where they are in the educational setting. This includes using visuals, augmented and alternative communication devices, and various hands-on sensory strategies integrated into instruction. I look forward every day to helping students reach their highest potential. In turn, they help me to reach mine.

I had no idea how much the opportunity to serve as a classroom teacher would change the trajectory of my life. I know being a Special Education teacher is what I’m meant to do, and I’m determined to do it to the best of my abilities. I think my grandfather and my Uncle Ralph would be proud.

~ Lisa Barbero