Martin Luther The Great Reformer

Muriel R. Phillips

1912 10th Street, apt 103

Waukegan, Il 60085

Essay: Why did you decide to become a special education teacher?

I retired from the U.S. Army in October 1994 and returned to the United States to live in October 1995. I began to substitute teach in district 143 Ð... located in the suburb town of Posen, IL. The schools that I actually worked in were located in Robbins, IL. another small suburban town adjacent to Posen. I also began to work with and tutor students who were studying for their GED tests.

I had the opportunity to meet some of the parents of my students and because I lived in the same neighborhood, I could interact with many of the young people. Many of these young people were born to parents who used drugs. They were victims themselves of domestic violence in their homes, broken homes, oppression, depression, sexual, emotional and physical abuse. As a result, these children suffered from various medical, behavioral, emotional, social and academic problems. With these factors mostly as the cause these children are affected thereby developing disorders and disabilities to include EMH, LD, SED and TMH to name a few. These youth experienced not new, but more recognizable forms of learning disabilities. The cognitive development of these youth some more severe than others was hindered and should be addressed in order to provide them with the necessary tools to function productively in society.

Recognizing this need, I realized that the characteristics of these youth required intervention strategies and appropriate techniques for developing interpersonal, behavior, and academic skills. I also realized that these youth have difficulty comprehending content-area reading material due to several issues, one in particular

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