A quick internet search about tutoring reveals many options available to families needing educational support. However, students with special needs require a little more than regular tutoring. To choose the best tutoring choice for your child, consider the differences between traditional tutoring vs. special education tutoring.

Students with special needs require specialized instruction to help them rise above their unique challenges. Most children enrolled in special education services require curriculum and information to be taught in a way that mirrors their specific learning needs.

Special education tutoring molds the curriculum a child is currently learning into a way that maximizes retention.

Subject-Focused Vs. Student-Focused

Traditional education tutoring focuses on building skills in specific subject areas, while special education tutoring centers on a child’s unique learning needs.

For example, while a regular tutor may help a student brush up on fractions and decimals, a special education tutor will help develop and shape the current curriculum explicitly designed for the student.

Anyone with subject knowledge and a willingness to share it with students can provide regular education tutoring. In addition, certified special education teachers with a wealth of knowledge provide special education tutoring to help students overcome cognitive processing challenges.

Students with special needs require a tutor with a toolbox full of strategies and a heart full of patience. Special education tutors do whatever it takes to help students make meaningful connections with academic content.

Catching Up Vs. Creating Lifelong Learners 

Amid day-to-day school stress, it’s easy to fall into survival mode. Children must do homework. They must complete projects and pass tests.

Regular education tutors can surely help put out those daily homework fires, but the stress will always be on a slow burn unless parents can afford a daily tutor. Special education tutors see the big picture: creating lifelong learners.

To achieve content mastery, we must lay a solid foundation for students with special needs. Special education tutors realize it takes time for that foundation to become stable and ready for building blocks to be added.

Traditional Tutoring Vs. Special Education Tutoring- Examining the Purpose

When choosing a tutor, parents of children with special needs must examine the purpose behind the tutoring. For example, if the goal is merely to get ready for the big math test, then traditional tutoring may work if the tutor is skilled in differentiated instruction.

However, if the aim is to build overall academic skills and personal confidence, the supplemental learning provided by a special education tutor is the way to go.

Special education tutors know how to get to the root of a student’s challenges.

They look at: 

• Educational records 
• Individualized Education plan (IEP)
• Parent and student interview data

Then they create a prescriptive plan to help students learn their school and life skills. 

Special Education Tutoring Provides Specialized Support

Special education tutors are perfect partners for school educators trying to provide stellar services on a shoestring school budget and a large classroom. Unfortunately, because of inadequate school funding and a lack of resources, special educators can’t give struggling students everything they need.

Supplemental learning provided by a special education tutor will help struggling students gain crucial skills and confidence for school achievement.

What Is Best For Your Child? 

Traditional tutoring is a terrific option for typical students. But students with special needs often require specialized support inside and outside the school walls. Special education tutoring is a gift parents can give their struggling students—a gift that will last a lifetime.

The first step in knowing if special education tutoring is the best option for your child is a free consultation with a special education tutor. 

You and the tutor may decide the best option isn’t special education tutoring. But you will still leave that call with some answers to the massive mountain of questions you have regarding your child’s needs and future direction.

Remember, a label doesn’t have to define a child. It simply proves that all children learn differently.