Daisy Delgado

Joni Flowers

EDU 214

8/29/2022

Personal Essay

As a child growing up we always get asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”.

Some kids want to become a doctor, astronauts, dentists, or something along those lines. I've

always wanted to become a teacher. Growing up I always liked helping others or teaching them

subjects that I was passionate about and found it rewarding when others took what I taught them

into their daily lives. After finding out my two boys got diagnosed with autism spectrum

disorder, six years ago. I knew I wanted to pursue my career in teaching or becoming a therapist.

When my two boys started school, they were put in an autism classroom. I had no clue what

an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) or a BIP (Behavior Intervention Plan) meant or what

they were. Sometimes during parent-teacher meetings, the administrators would use vocabulary

that I was not familiar with. I was a bit intimidated by what they were telling me at the time, but

in my mind, I was up for a challenge. I did change my degree to special education in the fall of

2019. I wanted to help other parents that were in my situation that were not educated about

autism and how the school district can help them with resources, getting services, and educate

them on the importance that they're their child's voice and advocating for them so they can make

a difference in their child's education.

 I am getting my license to become a registered behavioral technician (RBT) to work at a

ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) clinic, which is a type of therapy that can improve social,

communication, and learning skills through reinforcement strategies for children and adults with

autism or behavior issues. My two boys have been doing this therapy since two years old and it

has helped them with being social and how to do daily life skills. I want to incorporate this

therapy and what I’ve learned on my teaching journey into my classroom for my future students

who cannot get this type of therapy.

As a single mother of two boys with autism, going to school, having a job, and trying to juggle

life has not been an easy road, but my kids are my motivation to keep on going. Teaching and

educating others is something I am passionate about. I want to make a difference in a child's life

and that it's okay to be a little different and that it doesn't make them any less. You can be

whoever you want to be when you grow up with the right support by your side.