This month I decided to write post for teachers. Throughout my educational career, I have had some amazing teachers and I have had some not so amazing teachers. Someone recently asked me if I could tell teachers anything what it would be. So, I put together some basic guidelines that I think every teacher should know.

First, if you have a student with a communication disability, do not treat them any differently than other students. We have more in common with the other students than you may think we do. This also includes playing favorites. Not only is it unfair to the other students, it also embarrasses us. We are different already, we don’t need more attention.

Encourage us – just as you should do with any other student. I have had teachers in high school tell me that they didn’t think I would make it in college. Five years and a Bachelors of Science degree later, those memories are still with me today. You don’t want to be that teacher, do you?

Finally, you should give the student as much independence as possible. In high school, my aide was glued to my hip all day, every day. Not only did it prevent me from making friends (nobody wanted to talk to the girl with the adult around), it did not help me prepare for college whatsoever. At college I only had an aide come four times a day. So, please, if you take one thing from this blog post, please help your student become more independent!