Special Education Teacher Burnout

Not that I never had really hard days, and stayed awake at night worrying about IEP issues, but I never burned out. I started out a loooooong time ago, and gradually worked into the dream job of a special education resource specialist at a small diverse neighborhood school. I feel like I can be creative, and make a difference. But, burnout is a real thing among all teachers, and special education is a tricky and difficult field to be in at times. I have mostly worked with mild to moderate disablities, and all ranges of socio-economics. The hard things for me have been mental illness and behavior disorders, endless paperwork(IEP documention, reporting, testing), and an occasional difficult adult to deal with. Notice I did not say parent. All kinds of adults! So my advice to you youngsters is: set boundaries(no, I am not always good at this), take care of your family and yourself first, and find ways to be passionate about your job. I have attached a page from my Resource Specialist Manual that addresses this! The "First, Then" chart is a useful goody too!