PROFILE September 18, 1989 Issue

Teaching in special education—bringing a calm that comes with prayer

with contributions from Joanne Cuccurullo

Self-confidence and self-control are things we would all like to give our children—if we could. But these qualities often come through hard-won lessons. Joanne Cuccurullo has seen firsthand the rewards of these lessons. For eleven years she worked with children considered emotionally disturbed and learning disabled. At the time of this interview she was a teacher in special education. She found the work rewarding, particularly as she relied on prayer and a growing understanding of man's real nature and purpose.

Joanne, what are some of the demands in a special education class?

To be placed in a special education class, children have to have had a bad experience or to have flunked out of another class. Sometimes children have experienced two, three, four, failures—some were even kicked out of their day-care program. I had one little girl tell me of an awful experience she had had when she was four. And she still remembered it. Most of my students are children that are labeled "emotionally disturbed"; children with troubled homelife may be special education students.

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