If you’re looking for a rewarding special education career that will both challenge you and provide you with opportunities to learn and grow, look no further than the Watson Institute. At Watson, we pride ourselves on the expertise of our special education staff.
As a recognized special education school, our staff of teachers, therapists, aides and social workers strive to create a supportive, inclusive environment, not only for the students with special needs but for each other. Knowledge sharing and teamwork are key to the success of our special education programs and build an environment in which staff can continue to learn and build their skills.
Over the past five years, the Watson Institute has built a relationship with educators at Key Germaine, a school for children with special needs in Haiti. Watson staff have worked with Haitian educators throughout their special education career, teaching them strategies and techniques to care for their students with special needs, including autism spectrum disorder.
Recently, Watson Institute Education Center Sewickley staff members Jane Singletary, a Team Coordinator and Occupational Therapist, Brenda Mellon, an Occupational Therapist, and Sally Rea, a special education Teacher and Team Coordinator, visited Haiti to continue sharing their expertise and knowledge.
A Special Education Career of Mentoring Other Teachers
During their time at Key Germaine, Watson educators trained local staff in positioning of students with special needs, feeding, using equipment, and strategies to help students with visual impairments. Many of the strategies employed at the Watson Institute had to be adapted to fit with Haiti’s local culture.
Since their previous visit to Kay Germaine in 2012, Watson staff noticed improvements to the special education school and the expertise of the Haitian educators and caretakers. Jane Singletary noted that there were more classrooms available for students with special needs, they were using better equipment such as switches and iPads in the classrooms, and they had special education teachers present throughout most of the school day.
The Watson Institute values our partnership with Kay Germaine and the benefits of these trips are experienced both by the Haitian staff members as well as our own.
“It is wonderful that as an organization we can reach across the globe and share what we have learned with others who are charged with educating students diagnosed with autism and those with multiple disabilities.” said Sally Rea, a Team Coordinator at the Watson Institute Education Center Sewickley.
If you are interested in a special education career at the Watson Institute, check out our Careers page for current postings!