Ep. 75: Special Education Burnout, Post-COVID Behavior Changes & Classroom Realities

The past few years have reshaped classrooms in ways many educators are still trying to make sense of. In this episode, Audra and Caitlin react to real conversations from teachers and parents about burnout, behavior changes, staffing shortages, placement decisions, and the growing gap between expectations and reality in special education. They share honest reflections, practical perspective, and reassurance for educators wondering if it’s just them… or if things really have changed.

🔑 Key Takeaways
• Post-COVID behavior shifts are still impacting classrooms — many educators report lasting changes in student readiness and regulation.
• Burnout often comes from systems, not students — paperwork, staffing shortages, and unrealistic expectations wear people down.
• No two schools are the same — a difficult placement doesn’t mean the entire field is broken.
• It’s okay to leave a setting that isn’t sustainable — protecting your mental health helps students too.
• Placement decisions must be individualized — least restrictive environment looks different for every student.
• Social media advice has limits — meaningful strategies require knowing the actual child.
• Independence skills matter more than academics at school entry — self-care and routines set the foundation for learning.
• If you’re still in this field, your commitment matters — staying doesn’t mean it’s easy; it means it’s meaningful.

📦 Resources Mentioned
• Join the Misfit Behaviorists Facebook Group → https://abainschool.com/misfits
• Share your experiences with post-COVID classroom changes 
• Submit future episode topics in the group

🙌 Join Us & Share
• Are you seeing lasting behavior or readiness changes in students?
• What’s been the biggest contributor to burnout in your role?
• What has helped you stay in the field — or decide to leave?
• Share your perspective in the Misfit Behaviorists Facebook Group 
• Know an educator who feels exhausted or discouraged? Send them this episode 

Join the Facebook group for collaboration and freebies: The Misfit Behaviorists

😍 More, you say? We’re here for you! 

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• Caitlin | Beltran’s Behavior Basics
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Transcript

[00:00:00] Audra: I had a colleague friend over the other day. I was like, you know, I'm semi-retired, so I'm not in the schools anymore and she's still in schools. But I saw after COVID this huge change in behaviors of the kids as well as teachers and burnout stuff. And I'm like, well, it's been a few years now, or what, five years passed? Six years passed. And I'm like, are you still seeing the changes that you saw? And she's like. She said, I don't think we're ever going to get back to what it was before. I think there's just been a permanent change in the learning of our students. 

[00:00:31] Intro: Welcome to the Misfit Behaviorist Podcast. Join your hosts, Audra Jensen and Caitlin Beltran here to bring you evidence-based strategies with a student-centered focus. Let's get started.

[00:00:43] Audra: Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Misfit Behaviorists. This week I thought we'd just do something fun, and I try to stay away from Reddit because it's a little crazy over there, but I went over and I looked at special education just to see what parents and teachers are talking about, and I started going to that rabbit hole [00:01:00] of comments and discussions and stuff and I'm like, wow, that's some really good "what people are thinking right now". So I just pulled a couple I thought were interesting. I thought you and I would just chat about it.

[00:01:08] Caitlin: I can't image what people are....

[00:01:09] Audra: oh my gosh, things are changing so fast, anyway. I had a colleague friend over the other day. I was like, you know, I'm semi-retired, so I'm not in the schools anymore and she's still in schools. But I saw after COVID this huge change in behaviors of the kids as well as teachers and burnout stuff. And I'm like, well, it's been a few years now, or what, five years passed? Six years passed. And I'm like, are you still seeing the changes that you saw? And she's like. She said, I don't think we're ever going to get back to what it was before. I think there's just been a permanent change in the learning of our students. And as a result of that and other, you know, educational things going on, the teacher burnout is higher. They're more frustrated with the behaviors in the classroom. And so I, I don't know obviously what the answers are, but I know that teachers are feeling this. And so anyway, [00:02:00] I ended up on Reddit reading some of these, so. Here's the first one. The title is, do Not Work in Special Education. Oh, I think I'm gonna read that. The system as is, is failing teachers. You will be incredibly overworked. Nevermind being underpaid. Take your skills elsewhere and allow the system to eat itself. Only then will it change? Do not sacrifice your nervous system. That's, yeah. And of course then there were a bajillion. Yeah. But kind of what's your first impression when you hear that?

[00:02:31] Caitlin: I mean, I get it because you are gonna be overworked and you are gonna be. It's hard because like you were saying, even before COVID or before, even five or 10 years ago, nobody was like, I'm going into special ed for the all the money I'm gonna make. We always knew, I mean, I started in what, like 2005. We always knew we were not gonna be paid enough for what our efforts were. Right. But like you said, there's been this like slow and steady build and then it was like the work compared to what we are making [00:03:00] and not even like to tie the money in, but just to like the sustainability of it is really hard. But I don't know, I still see so many, like I also teach at the college level, future teachers and I see, you know, I call 'em kids, but like young adults, they are their passion for like wanting to teach still so much there. Yeah. So how can you tell anyone, like just don't do it?

[00:03:21] Audra: I know, I don't know. I guess I used to call it, it's a labor of love and now I think it's more just the labor and so we gotta get back to the love. But I think the love comes from, and everybody always says that it's your one-on-one interactions with the students. It's all the other stuff. It's all the admin stuff and the red tape and the paperwork and the lack of staffing. Really, we all get into teaching because we love the kids, and we're so satisfied seeing that those little changes that happen, I mean, that's what it is. Yeah. And so here are some of the comments. Just recently resigned from a position because I had a caseload of 27 with no support, despite repeated request to admin, had gone on FMLA, which they had to [00:04:00] tell the entire grade I was going on leave and apparently didn't have a single person cover for me when I was out, came back, no changes, couldn't even make it through a full day. Former boss was also out to get me constantly trying to have meetings for my attendance, medical issues. They wanted to try and snag me for compliance and all this stuff. And, and so she's like, yeah, I'm just, I'm burnout.

[00:04:18] I remember I'd taken a position, it was around COVID time, and in the contract, it was a teaching position 'cause I was kind of winding down my career and I took a teaching position. And the contracts had a cap of students, right? And so you are only in the position supposed to have a certain number of students at max and then and that was it, right? And they started loading more and more students above that. Well, like, we'll just pay you extra for the students. I'm like, I don't want more pay. I want a caseload. I can't even meet the minutes that are on the IEPs right now. How is this legally? And they just, well, we don't have anybody else. We're not gonna hire anybody else. And finally, I had to [00:05:00] say, I ethically can't continue to do this and left the position. I'm like, you, you can't keep doing this. You have to staff them enough so that we can, first of all just provide the minimum number of minutes that are legally responsible, but then just ethically to make it so that the kids are safe, the other kids are safe, and that we're doing the best for them.

[00:05:19] Caitlin: Yeah, like you're trying to fit a round peg into a square hole at some point. I will say, like I always say, it gets a little harder to say year after year, but like everything else, it is one, what you make of it. You have to drown out a lot of the noise, and I don't mean like that, that's a legitimate, valid concern, but a lot of the like, "but I'll never meet all the expectations admin has and the behaviors are never gonna get better." A lot of that too is your expectations have to be realistic. But the second part of that is as much as it's very overwhelming and there's so much pressure, we can't just paint it with this one size fits all, every school, every clinic, every company is different. So like what you just described is one setting, [00:06:00] I would encourage anyone, don't stay at a setting like that. Right? It's not, oh, you're not in compliance with the law. You're not going to see progress. It just doesn't make sense. But there are other settings that aren't doing that, and so maybe they are fewer and further between. But I don't like it sometimes where it's, "yeah, every admin this and every district this" yeah, there's no perfect system, of course. I've worked at several different districts and there's a like ocean of things in between, of the way they run things. So it is important too if you're just starting out, like no, the first school experience you have is not gonna be all of them, right? So you can be choosy, hopefully over time too, and find a spot that you actually feel comfortable with and then combine with reframing your expectations as well.

[00:06:39] Audra: I think, I think that's spot on. And I would say to a teacher, don't be afraid to leave because that's not only gonna support you and your life, but it's also going to make a change, eventually, if they can't keep any teachers because of a certain situation, they're gonna have to change the situation. So don't be afraid to go and find the position that fits you. It could be [00:07:00] within the same school or school district, you may find a different position that fits better, what your good skills are, what the staffing is that works for you. I mean, don't be afraid to leave, and people are worried about contracts and stuff. You know, it's more important your mental health and that you find a place where you are successful as well as the kids are.

[00:07:17] Caitlin: Yeah. And I don't wanna skate over that too. Like I don't wanna, I know when you're starting out, you don't have the ability to leave like at the drop of a hat. No one's saying that, but you might have to bide your time a little bit. You gotta pay your rent, you gotta pay your mortgage. But know that like you do have options at the end of the day.

[00:07:33] Audra: Here are two quick other comments and we'll do the next one. So don't forget that the system also fails students. Some students are placed in education that shouldn't be there, that impedes the socially academic and waste resources. And many who actually need it and never get evaluated. And I think that's something just we need to be mindful of that we're not always putting somebody in special ed because we think it or glossing over somebody that does need services, so I think that that's a really good point, and I've seen that too. Here's the [00:08:00] last comment I pulled. I've seen so many autistic kids get wrongfully put in self-contained. I think this is a big one. Just because they have a certain diagnosis doesn't mean they need a certain placement. Just because they have autism doesn't mean they have to be in a self-contained setting. Where's the least restrictive placement for them? And also I've seen kids, talking about the least restrictive setting doesn't always mean gen ed too. It's like the least restrictive is for that specific student. And if the student is in gen ed, but they need a para always there, constantly hovering over them in order to be successful, that's not least restrictive because maybe in a semi or self-contained classroom, they can be more independent and you know, have friends and stuff. And so it's just really about individualizing that student.

[00:08:43] Caitlin: That part is so tricky because I've definitely seen and heard examples of both of those things, like where you feel like the placement is too restrictive or not enough. And to that, I just say too, like we have to be so thoughtful and carefully consider each one and also respect that if it's not your student [00:09:00] or if there's a team making the decision, you're not always gonna just agree. And I know a lot of people say it's a broken system and it's far from perfect. There are gonna be times when it's a really, really hard decision and so you might have to try something, see if it works, try it again. What you think is least restricted might be a little bit different than what I think. So I think that's a really hard to make that blanket statement too like I hear it from teachers a lot. These kids never get tested. These kids always get put in that room. And again, it's just like case by case basis and knowing that it's really hard to make those decisions and there's no magic wand that's gonna put place everyone perfectly.

[00:09:36] Audra: No, I wish there were. Here's the second one. The title. Does anyone have any ideas how to teach a student like this? So this is the student. He has multiple disabilities, autism, intellectual disability. Does not talk, only opens his mouth to make sounds throughout the session. And she goes on to describe, it's a non-speaking, minimally skilled, weak fine motor skills. And he always wants people to sway him side to [00:10:00] side. And when I stop, he grabs my hand very tightly, which hurts me. There are also times when he hurts himself. Sometimes he suddenly sits on the floor, cries and hits his head on the wall and goes on. I'm like, yeah, this is like 90% of the kids that I've ever worked with.

[00:10:14] Caitlin: And like, yeah, I don't mean to cut you off, but like right away, I feel like we see this a lot on social media and then immediately people which are throwing suggestions, which are so wonderful that everyone wants to help, but right away it's like, what could you possibly say without having met this child and assessed them. Yeah, like ethically like done your due diligence and it's like, have you tried a first then, my kids like this and they love matchbox cars. Try and get box cars and it's like, oh my gosh. Again, I love the good intentions, but that is a really, really slippery slope downside of like social media, Reddit, Facebook, all of those things because we're all now experts, I guess, in the keyboards and also experts of this child, which is the scary and dangerous thing to think that that's what we presume.

[00:10:58] Audra: And I totally saw [00:11:00] this with this post and I grazed past all of those comments. I pulled only one comment and I thought this was good, is she says, blah, blah, blah, her background and stuff, and then she just says three things. She says. Accommodate, you know, just providing enough support for that student. And I like this that exactly like you're talking about. She's not telling her what to do with this particular student, but just think about, 'cause she doesn't know the student, you know the student. So you make accommodations for that student, you know, looking to assistive tech or something. And then they probably have more going on internally than you realize. I think that's good for all of our students to realize, especially those that are non-speaking, that they may have stuff that they can't communicate. So be mindful of that. The third thing is to adjust your expectations. You know, he already is communicating in some way, and so just be okay with that student, where they are, what they're doing. And I think the thing that you pointed out is just getting people who know that student specifically to give you ideas and suggestions and stuff it's a great way to go.

[00:11:59] Caitlin: I would [00:12:00] rather if somebody posted that and somebody felt the need to respond, suggestions like that, what makes them happy? What seems to trigger like, start to help that person gather information. Have you connected with your speech therapist? Do you have an OT on staff rather than the here's a timer that I worked and it never failed for any.

[00:12:16] Audra: Yes, that's perfect. Here's the third one. This is good. There is a Kansas City bill, and I want your opinion on this, Kansas City bill that's going to require kindergartners to be potty trained. There's just this whole discussion about it. She says, so here's the one. I'm an early childhood sped teacher in California. I do understand the thought behind this law. There's been a dramatic increase in children who are not toilet trained in the past five years. Imagine that. Our general education programs are not designed to assist neurotypical kids with diapering. Many daycares and private preschools will reject students who aren't toilet trained by three or four. I absolutely agree that children should not be denied access to public preschool if they're still in diapers. This change still has a big impact on our gen ed programs. In our [00:13:00] district only paraprofessionals are required to diaper. General education teachers and aides regularly refuse to do it, forcing overworked paras to serve kids without IEPs or demanding parents show up to change their kids. It's just not possible for a kindergarten teacher who has 27 to 28 students to change diapers.

[00:13:18] Caitlin: First of all, I didn't hear that Bill, and that is such a interesting topic 'cause this is coming up a lot since the last five years. I feel like back in the day, you really didn't have that many kids without an IEP going to kindergarten not toilet trained. I don't know, this one's really hard for me because my first thought is like, yes, of course, ideally every child going to kindergarten is potty trained. But they're not. So then to say, well you can't go, like, what does that look like and what does that...

[00:13:44] Audra: yeah. I don't know, what do you do?

[00:13:46] Caitlin: Where do they go? And then are we like not infringing on their education because of their parents or guardians or family members? And I understand it's one thing to say hold that family accountable and say you need [00:14:00] to toilet train. But what if they can't and there is an underlying diagnosis or disability that they don't have access to, for whatever reason, investigate. I don't know. It becomes like a really tricky,

[00:14:11] Audra: well, let's see what they said here in the bill. It says it would require public school districts to only enroll kindergarten students who are toilet trained. There are exceptions for children with disabilities or medical conditions. I assume that. The bill gives parents the option to designate an adult to assist their child. It would also authorize the district to remove a child from kindergarten until they're toilet trained. In the bill toilet trained is defined as being able to communicate the need to use the bathroom to an adult, use the toilet without assistance from an adult, and tend to personal hygienic needs after using the toilet. And if an accident occurs, the child can independently tend to hygienic needs and change clothes. I get the reason behind it and I have true empathy for our kindergarten teachers and they would just need to staff it. [00:15:00] That's, and we're just back to the staffing problem. That's really the problem. This wouldn't be an issue if you staffed your kindergarten classrooms appropriately.

[00:15:07] Caitlin: I think it's crazy that kindergarten classrooms don't have aides. I mean, some,

[00:15:11] Audra: not regularly. I know typically they don't. And you've got 20 to 25 kids, half of them have never had any schooling.

[00:15:20] Caitlin: Right. And even if you could say they're toilet training, you're telling me like even 10, 20 years ago, like kids have been having accidents in kind.

[00:15:25] Audra: Well, I remember having an accident in kindergarten.

[00:15:27] Caitlin: And then it becomes, we're not just gonna put a person there to maybe, I guess people could feel like they're enabling parents not to potty train their children or something. But even regardless of this bill, I feel so strongly that we need more support in those early education classrooms.

[00:15:41] Audra: And if nothing else, this is kind of bringing that to the forefront that parents, you need to be working on this. And that, that's true that parents have a history in the last few years, just because kids are home and they can do whatever they want at home and they're able to be easily acclimated with their devices and stuff. And so I have seen a decrease in [00:16:00] toilet training neurotypical kids and not just ours.

[00:16:02] Caitlin: I've also seen a lot, I'm surprised by the amount of children who are still coming to school, like you said, with kindergarten being their first exposure to school, and I'm not saying that's right or wrong, I understand every family, but you do have to understand like you nowadays, the more often the norm is kids are starting at three, if not before, going to at daycare. So you're sending this five or 6-year-old who's never been to any kind of structured program. It like makes my head spin sometimes. Yeah. Because now they're sitting and playing with kids who have been literally going to a structured program since six weeks of age. And again, I'm not saying this is right and this is wrong, the disparity and the discrepancy, and for that one teacher trying to teach up to where these kids are in terms of classroom expectation, but all the way down to where these kids are, it's nearly impossible sometimes.

[00:16:48] Audra: I remember they asked some kindergarten teachers, what are the top couple of skills that you would like a student to have coming into kindergarten? It wasn't letters or numbers or reading or, it was being able to blow their own nose, put [00:17:00] their shoes on and off, not even tie, just get them on and off. Put their coat on and off. There was another one. Toilet training definitely was one, but there was one that

[00:17:08] Caitlin: It was like opening their snack

[00:17:10] Audra: that's it, their snack, opening their own lunches. And they would tell parents look, over the summer, make your kids' lunches like you would at school. At lunchtime, sit them at the table and see if they can open their own packages. I'm like, those are the skills they need. They don't need to know their ABCs in kindergarten just yet. We'll get to that and they all pick up. You know, I had very early readers in my own home, but, and I heard this and it was absolutely true, that by the time that they're six or seven, that gap just disappears. Those who started really early, and those that didn't have any exposure till kindergarten, believe me, they all catch up and they do fine, and they figure out. That there's no worry about, kindergarten coming in who doesn't know their ABCs yet. It's okay.

[00:17:48] Caitlin: It's fine. That's what they're there for. Yeah. But focusing on that independence so that they can learn.

[00:17:53] Audra: Anyway, that was just it.

[00:17:54] Caitlin: I feel like it's just definitely a testament if you're in this field, despite all these headaches and challenges we [00:18:00] have is a testament to you as an educator because despite all that, you still wanna do it. And I was thinking of that when you were talking about the first thing, like there's days where it's so hard, there's weeks where it's so hard and you're like you said, the working with the kids like is always great, but then you have the demands and the parents and the meetings and things. There's really never, for me anyway, been a time where I'm like, I just can't, I don't wanna do this anymore. And, and for other people, they've decided they don't wanna do this. Just like, I don't wanna do something else. No right or wrong, no shame in that. But if you are in this field and you feel like you still wanna do it, I think that's amazing.

[00:18:31] Audra: And just listen to your own heart, your soul, your family situation, and do what's right for you and, and it'll all be great. Anyway, we'll see you again next week and follow up for the next time.

[00:18:40] Intro: Thanks for listening to the misfit behaviorists, and be sure to tune in next week for more tips and tricks. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.