Life Skills Trainer Cognitive Retrainer
Learning Services, Inc.
After moving to the Northern Virginia area in May of 1997, I
accepted a position as a life skills trainer with Learning Services,
Inc., a neurorehabilitation facility in Manassas, VA. Learning
Services provided in and outpatient care for adults who had suffered a
brain injury. As a life skills trainer, I was responsible for
helping clients with their daily needs, including personal hygiene,
eating, medication administration, and leisure skills. Shortly
after joining the company, I was offered the position of cognitive
retrainer. Working as a cognitive retrainer, I collaborated with
the client, their case manager, and the neuropsychologist to develop
strategies and activities to promote language, reasoning, social, and
memory skills. I was able to meet with clients in a one-to-one or
small group setting, while continuing to work with the residential
clients before and after sessions on daily life activities. This
experience taught me much about the challenges individuals with
disabilities face. It also helped me to understand the importance
of honoring the concerns of family members and helping them to navigate
the medical and social concerns that come from living with a traumatic
brain injury. Unfortunately, due to difficulties with insurance
reimbursement, the center had to close its outpatient services in
September of 1997. I continued to work as a life skills trainer
until December, when I accepted a new position with a preschool.
Preschool Substitute Teacher
Westfield's Play and Learn After leaving Learning Services, I was employed as a
substitute preschool teacher at an accredited program for children
aged 6 weeks to 5 years. I enjoyed working with the young
children and stayed in this position from January of 1998 until August
of 1999. Additionally, I worked as a substitute in the summer in
2000. As a preschool substitute teacher, I learned a great deal
about child development and care from watching the teachers and from
working hands-on with the children. I also became familiar with
the curriculum for each age group and helped organize and carry out
activities in all of the classrooms at the center. This position
was my first experience with the ChildFind program and with teaching
students with developmental delays. Finally, the most important
skill that I learned at the preschool was the importance of flexibility
when working with both children and a team of adults, experience that
would later serve me well as a special education teacher.
Special Education Teacher
Beville Middle School
Prince William County Schools
Once I had completed my graduate program in neuropsychology in
May of 1999, specializing in traumatic brain injury, autism, and
executive functioning skills, I decided that I wanted to work with
children with disabilities full-time with the public schools.
Although I did not have a teaching license, I explored the
options for becoming provisionally licensed in special education and
sent out my resume to several school divisions. I was amazed at
the number of calls I received from principals asking me to interview
for teaching positions with emotionally disturbed students, but I did
not feel confident in this area and politely turned down these offers.
Then one afternoon, the assistant principal from Beville Middle
School called to offer me an interview for a teaching position with
middle school students with autism. I set up the interview and by
the time it was finished, I was offered a full-time teaching job.
As frightened as I was to have my own class, I was excited to
learn all I could about the special education process and teaching
techniques for older students with autism. The two years I spent
as a special education teacher were more meaningful and influential
years than I could ever have imagined. I learned about curriculum
development, classroom management, the IEP process, teaching diverse
students, assistive technology, behavior modification, functional
behavior assessment, and community-based instruction. I also
experienced collaboration and co-teaching, acceptance and resistance
from general educators as I tried inclusion with several students, and
the challenges of creating a departmental budget as chair of the autism
program. Additionally, I learned how to work with parents and
staff, outside consultants, and observers from state programs.
The most important skills, though, were taught to me by my
students: understanding that all children can learn, all children
have great gifts to share, and that children with disabilities have the
same worries and feelings as children without additional challenges.
As much as I enjoyed teaching, I felt that there was possibly
another way for me to incorporate my love of education with my passion
for psychology, and after being encouraged by our school psychologist,
I made the decision to return to graduate school to specialize in
school psychology. I was accepted to the education department at
the College of William and Mary in May of 2001 and decided to take the
challenge.