Special Education Teachers, Preschool

What Does a Special Education Teachers, Preschool Do?

Teach academic, social, and life skills to preschool-aged students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. Includes teachers who specialize and work with students who are blind or have visual impairments; students who are deaf or have hearing impairments; and students with intellectual disabilities.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• 1Employ special educational strategies or techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, or memory.
• 2Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement.
• 3Communicate nonverbally with children to provide them with comfort, encouragement, or positive reinforcement.
• 4Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, or social skills, to preschool students with special needs.
• 5Develop individual educational plans (IEPs) designed to promote students' educational, physical, or social development.
• 6Confer with parents, administrators, testing specialists, social workers, or other professionals to develop individual education plans (IEPs).
• 7Teach students personal development skills, such as goal setting, independence, or self-advocacy.
• 8Develop or implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of disabilities.

Required Skills

• Speaking
• Active Listening
• Critical Thinking
• Social Perceptiveness
• Reading Comprehension
• Writing
• Learning Strategies
• Monitoring
• Service Orientation
• Active Learning
• Instructing
• American Sign Language Browser
• Children's educational software
• Drawing software
• Email software
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Office software
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Word
• Screen magnification software