I had considered leaving my job for a while, but when I finally decided to take the plunge I had several jobs I considered. I eventually landed in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (check back on Sunday to learn more about that job). This blog post will walk you through all of the job changes I considered, in case you are looking for a change as well.
Different Type of Classroom
This was the first switch I considered. I taught in a self-contained program for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders grades 3-5. I saw a job opening at a school near mine in a self-contained program for students with Intellectual Disabilities grades 3-5. I thought changing the type of program might help, but after much consideration, I decided that I really enjoyed working with the ASD population.
Different Age of Students
When I knew I wanted to keep working with the ASD population, I thought about changing the ages I worked with. I started to be really interested in working with preschool-aged students. My district has 3 self-contained pre-school programs, one of them being at my school. The job at my school actually opened, but I didn’t want to make the switch and watch someone else teach my old class. That helped me decide to leave the job.
Private School Setting
We have a couple of private special needs schools in my area. I thought about switching to a private setting. I liked the idea of being in a special needs school. I wanted to work in a place where everyone was familiar with my world, but I ultimately decided that “teaching” was not what I wanted to do anymore.
Rehabilitation Counselor
This position works more with adults with disabilities in the community. The goal of this job is to help those individuals with independent living skills. The job sounded interesting, but as I shared I was interested in working with younger students. Working with adults was going in the wrong direction.
Adapted Recreation
This seemed like a fun job. My school was the host site for my county’s adapted recreation summer camp. I was curious about the job, but I ended up deciding it wasn’t for me. As much as I didn’t want to teach anymore, I still enjoyed doing programs and taking data. If I was going to continue to work with children, I wanted a little more structure.
Working from Home
As many of you know, I have a Teachers Pay Teachers store. I did consider just working from home. I ultimately decided that I wanted to keep working with students so this was not a good fit for me.
ABA Center
I ended up taking a job at an ABA center. One of the BCBAs at the center served as a BCBA for a student of mine. That’s how I found my job. It’s part-time, the hours are flexible and I get to work with preschoolers. It’s been the perfect fit!
I hope this blog was helpful for thinking about other jobs you can do in the field of special needs!