<p>I know that I want to work with disabled children, more specifically I want to work with Autistic and mentally challenged children. I've always wanted to major in Special Ecuation and become a special education teacher, but I'm just wondering...what other jobs are there out there that involve working with mentally disabled children, and what kind of college courses are available or required for those jobs? Are there any other majors out there involving disabled children besides Special Education/Teaching?</p>
<p>You might look into psychology, social work, or the training necessary to become a speech, occupational, or physical therapist. There are also recreational therapists (e.g., horseback riding for special needs kids) but I don't know the training they get (courses versus on the job training).</p>
<p>Check out national organizations for autism, mental retardation, and the like. In the course of telling parents what can be done for their children, they will mention WHO does the helping and you can take it from there.</p>
<p>These are great ideas, and as you explore the kinds of services that are typically required for special ed kids, think about what type of work or contact you want with them as well as how much education will be required. Psychology could involve diagnosing or consulting (which may require PhD), social work might be related more to family issues (and often requires a masters), speech/occup/phys therapists are areas where you would be working more directly with the kids/much more hands on, to help them overcome their physical disabilities; I think good therapist programs can vary from 4-6 yrs.</p>
<p>i recommend majoring in something like psychology or human development, and getting a masters in Special Ed (i know several who have gone this route successfully)</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions you guys...that's really helpful. I know for sure I want to be really hands on with the kids, that's why I've always wanted to be a special education teacher. But I was having a pretty serious conversation with my parents about income, and they pretty much told me that I won't be able to support a family on the income of a special education teacher (they told me i'd have to marry a rich man!), which got me thinking...so do you guys know how much recreational therapists make? I'm just exploring my options here...I kind of want to find out if there is a way that I can keep my dream and help these children but support myself financially at the same time.</p>
<p>Unfortunately rec. therapy is also not a really high paying career but here is a link to the Dept of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics for recreational therapists that you can look at; it also includes some links to a few national therapeutic associations that you might want to check out as well </p>
<p><a href="http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos082.htm%5B/url%5D">http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos082.htm</a></p>
<p>Look into Communication Disorders (Speech Pathology, Speech & Hearing Science, etc--many names, same program, more or less).</p>
<p>Even with a PHD, special Ed teachers in public schools are not going to live particularly well in most cities in California (I am assuming that you are from there from your other posts). You should be able to find teacher salaries posted on many school district websites, if you want to find out what the salaries look like.</p>
<p>Another career to consider that might be more lucrative is in the Psychiatry/Psychology (PHD) fields. I have an Asperger's son who has a wonderful therapist (Psychology PHD) whose practice has a working Asperger's group of 7 kids, so he gets individual and group sessions. Health insurance pays fairly well for these kinds of services, so there should be continued opportunities. You can make pretty good money in this field, not investment banker money, but much better than teaching.</p>
<p>The downside of course, is that you only get to work with these kids an hour a week, so you don't get as personal of a relationship as the day-to-day interaction of a teacher, but you can impact more kids.</p>
<p>As to how to best prepare in college... Majoring in Psychology, but take coursework to prepare for med school, as you will need knowledge of psycopharmacology and other related subjects to be of best use to your patients as there are more and more drugs developed to deal with symptoms.</p>
<p>BTW, my DW works in Special Ed with autistic children in public schools. Very rewarding personally, but not financially.</p>
<p>Speech and Language Pathology is a great field for working with exceptional children - and good paying also - it does require a Masters Degree - and if you are really energetic - a double Masters in reading/writing specialist - and be school based is a great career and financial stability. There is a huge demand in this field right now.</p>
<p>Recreation Therapy is somewhat of a newer career choice - not as financially lucrative - but has alot of directions to go with. It is a 4 year degree - with quite alot of experience during the undergrad piece - with at least 1 full semester - full time - internship required.</p>
<p>Occupational Therapy - school or home based - is another great way to work with special ed/exceptional kiddos - and well paying as well - many/most programs are changing over to a 5 year Masters now.</p>
<p>Physical Therapy - is a high paying job but now pretty much is a PhD program at most schools - or soon heading in that direction.</p>
<p>Any of these fields will get you into the Special Ed field - just depends on which direction you would be best enjoy.</p>
<p>This school has all of the above - plus Education/Special Ed</p>
<p>Just as an example - East Carolina University in NC has all of these majors</p>
<p>Speech and OT/PT - School of Allied Health Sciences
Rec Therapy - College of Health and Human Performance
Special Ed - College of Education</p>
<p>Good Luck :)</p>
<p>Speech and language pathology might be something to look into. You would be working directly with kids.</p>