What are some experiences I should do in order to truly see if I want to be a special education teacher?

Go to volunteermatch.org and look up special education. Find a place to volunteer. Or reach out to a university to survey the special education class. By the way, the are a plethora of inclusion program that look for volunteer clinicians.

I am a speech-language pathologist who also holds certification in special education and educational diagnostics. My clinical interest are augmentative communication, cognitive disorders and autism. I guarantee that you will find the population that your prefer to work with but should you choose public schools you will be given a choice of mild disorders, like learning disabilities, of which primarily provides services in the mainstream, Lifeskills which population consist of cognitive disorders, physical disorders and possibly behavior disorders. With this population, you will also expect to work with students in the mainstream as well as teaching functional skills in a self contained classroom. Then you have the behavior disordered students (emotional disturbed) that provides the same services as the Lifeskills, only you have to deal with pretty severe behavior problems. Then you have the autistic classroom in which you are required to address academics, behavior, communication and functional lifeskills. Best of all, most states academic requirements are certifications entitled "generic special education" endorsement tied onto an elementary teaching certificate. Loved working in public schools, but not truly happy with the intervention provided to our children under the special education umbrella.

Hi, Casey! It's great that you've gotten a lot of experiences with kids already - that will be really helpful. Do you have experience working with special education students specifically? If not, I would look into that. (You might be able to find camps specifically for children with Down Syndrome or autism, or an organization with whom you could volunteer.)

It might also be helpful to spend some time in a school and see if you like the work environment. You've obviously spent a lot of time in class for your own education, but there's a huge variety of schools and each feels a bit different - especially when you switch from student to teacher. Sometimes there are opportunities to volunteer to help tutor students or be teachers' aides in schools, and you might try to get a taste for whether or not this experience appeals to you, especially in a special ed class.

Take time to volunteer at a school. Our children are our futures! If you know a special needs child ask to tutor them in a field that they enjoy or have questions. Always be a student of learning! I think it’s amazing that you want to held and it takes an amazing person to choose challenging children! Thank you!