Online Education

Having trouble finding a job without a high school education? Well you’re not alone, thousands of companies place far too much emphasis in your previous schooling, and not enough in what really matters, work ethic. Even a monkey can be educated, but a solid work ethic can’t be taught. I realize how much people without diplomas/degrees are being discriminated on so I wrote this article to help those people.

You can earn thousands per month, and you don’t need a high school diploma or a college degree to do it. It’s called Ezine Publishing, and it’s a fairly simple way to make money online, but it requires quite a bit of work to be successful. You write articles and submit them to EzineArticles, and in your articles you include an advertisement. When someone clicks the link and makes a purchase, you get a solid commission. It’s a very effective high paying way for someone to get a job without a high school education.

How much can you expect to earn? Well that all depends on how much work your willing to do. As a general rule, well written articles of about 250 – 400 words make anywhere from 15 – 30$ a month. They continue to make money for about 2 – 4 years. So every article you write will make on average 720$ over a course of 3 years. Articles only take 20 – 30 minutes to make, so just imagine how much money you’ll be making after a single month!

If you’re interested in getting started in ezine publishing there is a few things you should know. First off, the entire process is entirely free. Writing and publishing and hosting the articles will cost you nothing. The only thing that will cost a dime, is learning how to write and publish these articles correctly so they will get indexed on Google. The schooling wont cost you an arm or a leg and it wont bore you to death like Highschool/College/etc. try to do. It’s quick and to the point.

Autism is a disorder that affects the entire person and most often lasts for the lifetime of the person that it affects. Specifically this disorder affects one’s ability to create emotions, memories, sensory abilities, non-verbal communication skills and much more. It affects one in one hundred and fifty individuals of all races and social status; and tends to affect more boys than it does girls.

A common description that I have heard among professionals is that many people who suffer from autism can think thoughts but cannot vocalize those same thoughts.

Key Symptoms Include the Following:

Repetitive Behavior – For example, a young child may seem unusually fixated on a particular toy, constantly arranging objects in a specific way or obsessive about certain things.

Lack of Social Interaction – Another symptom is in the area of relationships. Research has found that people who suffer with autism are usually ‘socially unaware’. This means that they are oblivious to the feelings of people around them.

Verbal and Nonverbal Communication – By nature, autism is a neurobiological disorder. Hence it affects the manner in which the brain converts thoughts into words. Therefore, a child might be thinking of an answer to a question, but vocalizing it becomes a very difficult task! Non-verbal communication is difficult for many of us who are considered “normal”, so imagine what it must be for one who has difficulty connecting with their emotions – let alone the emotions of others!

Limited interests in activities or play – For example, a child might focus on a part of a toy instead the whole toy or play a specific tune on a toy over and over again, rather than play the twenty-nine other tunes on the toy. Also the need for a rigid routine would mean that any new activities are met with resistance.

Tell Tale Signs
During early childhood it is not uncommon for parents to have troubling instincts about certain behaviors that their child may display – for example they may not want to be held, don’t look people in the eye, have delayed speech, lack of interest in games or what I call ‘super repetitive play” – where the child only seems interested in one toy – ever, etc. As both a parent and a teacher (as well as one who has an autistic half-sister), please, please, please follow your instincts.

Nobody knows your child the way you do, so if your pediatrician says “wait and see” yet you feel strongly that your child needs to be evaluated – do what YOU feel needs to be done. Parents that I have heard from have mentioned some of the following as red flags that got them concerned – their child was ‘not pointing’,'not giving them eye contact’, didn’t seem to be ‘able to focus’, ‘unaware of their surroundings’ or as one lady put it “I just don’t feel like she is connecting with me”.

Early Intervention
Early intervention, especially in the pre-school years has been proven (by researchers) to, in many cases improve social, cognitive and communication skills – especially if it is in an educational setting that is tailored to meet the needs of a child with special needs. Remember, for some children, the earlier the intervention, the better!

Types Of Autism
A spectrum has been created for autism which makes it possible for the medical profession to accurately diagnose the disorder. The disorders range from mild (Asperger Syndrome) to severe (Autistic Disorder) and can be diagnosed by the age of three and sometimes as early as eighteen months. Autism Spectrum Disorders are categorized based on the degree of impairment that the sufferer encounters in the following areas;

o Communication Skills

o Social Interaction

o Restricted Patterns of Behavior

Asperger’s Syndrome
In 1940, Hans Asperger’s described a set of behavioral symptoms that occurred mostly in his male patients. They all seemed to have normal intelligence and language development, yet they had poor co-ordination and communication skills. In addition their social skills were very noticeably lacking.
Typical symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome include the child being diagnosed much later in life than with typical autism – usually between the ages of five through nine. In addition they are known to have limited facial expressions, obsessive behavior, poor social interactions, difficulty reading the body language of others, odd speech patterns and obsessive routines.

In addition to the above, symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome include an unusual sensitivity to sensory stimulii such as lights (that others will not notice as being too bright) or sounds (that others might barely be able to hear.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder or CDD was discovered by a special educator by the name of Theodore Heller. Children with CDD are said to develop a disorder that resembles autism, but only after two to four years of normal development. In other words, the children unexplainably seem to regress. They lose their language skills,their toileting and self care abilities, their interest in the environment, etc. While the disorder begins to look exactly like autism, the history is very different.

Symptoms include increased risk of seizures as well as the symptoms of autism.

Rett Syndrome
Rett Syndrome was first diagnosed in 1954 by Dr Andreas Rett, an Austrian Pediatrician. It is a developmental disorder that has a greater tendency to occur in girls more than it does boys. It is caused by mutations on the X chromosome on a gene called MECP2. Symptoms include normal development until six to eighteen months after which there is after which there is a stagnation or slowing down of skills. Following the stagnation, there is a period of regression when the child looses their communication skills and eventually all purposeful use of their hands. Symptoms that follow include the stereotypical hand washing movement, seizures, slowing of normal head growth and disorganized breathing patterns.

The disorder can be confirmed with a simple blood test.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified
Otherwise known as PDD – NOS, is a condition on the spectrum in which one person doesn’t act like another with the same disorder. In other words, John may display some symptoms, while Mary may display something totally different. Also they may often be subject to the same key symptoms, but may be in varying degrees.

Due to the very nature of PDD – NOS (meaning that there are no strict symptoms because they vary from one child to another), PDD-NOS is very difficult to diagnose and is therefore often misdiagnosed. Treatment also has to be very specific to the needs of the person in question and may often include alternative therapies such as martial arts and music.

Autistic Disorder or Classic Autism
Is sometimes referred to as ‘mind-blindedness’ – referring to the need to be in their own world, lack of social interaction and, limited ability to communicate, a display of repetitive behaviors and distress over changes – no matter how small. Children (or adults, for that matter) who suffer from classic autism are not considered to be “high functioning”.

How Does Autism Affect Your Child’s Education?
In many cases, the ‘autistic child’ will be required to be in Special Education classes – where teachers are trained to understand how to deal with the symptoms, autistic tendencies and other disorders. While “inclusion” is the new buzz word in special education, I find that children with severe autism do not usually benefit from it. However I have seen children with autism benefit and even excel in certain subjects; for example, I was observing a business computing class once where the code html was being taught. During a test, the teacher deliberately placed errors in part of the code for the students to correct and re-write. Well there was a young man in the class who corrected the teacher before the test began – and he had Asperger’s Syndrome. His ‘obsessive behavior’ worked out to his advantage – it converted into ‘attention to detail’ resulting in him becoming an outstanding website designer.

Weaknesses can be turned to strengths sometimes – and I hope that they will for your child.

(c) Copyright Lydia Riddle 2009

Because a special education teacher’s job requires far more than just teaching, administrators will seek candidates who are true specialists in the field. If you’re hoping to be hired as a special ed teacher, you need to be an expert at the art of adapting lessons, an active advocate for student needs, a professional IEP writer, a wealth of information on student disabilities, and a dedicated individual who is 100% committed to doing whatever it takes to help all students reach their fullest potential.

As with any teaching interview, I recommend you familiarize yourself with possible questions beforehand. This will make the interview questions seem familiar so you’ll be more comfortable answering them. You will be asked a series of general teaching questions as well as questions that specifically relate to special ed.

Below are a few thoughts on ways to be prepare for the special education questions that will be asked.

Be prepared to comprehend and respond to all of the jargon, acronyms, and special requirements of special education. You should know exactly how an IEP and/or CSE meeting is conducted. You need to speak and act as though you are very familiar with IEP meetings, CSE meetings, child study meetings and any other special education committees the school may have. Understand how least restrictive environment works. Know what services and support the school district does and does not offer. Be sure you understand and are able to talk about a wide range of disabilities. Familiarize yourself with Asperger’s/autism, ADHD, emotional disorders, processing delays, speech disorders, physical handicaps, and every other common disability children may be classified with in the district. Emphasize your ability to work cooperatively with colleagues. Special education teachers are usually required to work closely with and/or team teach with regular education teachers. They’ll also be communicating regularly with special education administration, social workers or counselors, PT/OT teachers, and resource teachers. There’s a lot of specialized teamwork involved in educating children with special needs. You need to understand your role in acting as an advocate for each of your students and in meeting their social and academic needs. Know how to utilize support staff. Oftentimes special education students will have teachers’ aides or assistants. Be sure you know how to use the support staff in a professional way the benefits the student. You don’t want the child to become dependent on a teacher’s aide for doing simple tasks that he/she can perform himself. On the other hand, you want to be sure the student is receiving the full support he/she needs. Be sure you’re an expert in differentiation. While all teachers should differentiate their lessons based on their students’ needs, special education teachers need to be especially confident in their ability to adapt lessons to meet the very unique needs of their students. You simply can’t teach a concept and expect every child to be doing the same work, the same way. You need to individualize instruction so that it is presented in a way that all of your students can learn. You will not be able to look at the school’s curriculum or instructional materials and use them as-is. You’ll need to show that you can adapt your resources to meet the learning needs of your students.
Final thoughts: To succeed in a special education interview, you need to be able to talk-the-talk, understand how to be an advocate for special needs students, fully understand responsibilities associated with the job, and be willing to go above and beyond to meet the unique instructional needs of classified students.