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Special Education Teachers, Preschool

Teach academic, social, and life skills to preschool-aged students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. Includes teachers who specialize and work with students who are blind or have visual impairments; students who are deaf or have hearing impairments; and students with intellectual disabilities.

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A look at the work

  • Develop or implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of disabilities.
  • Communicate nonverbally with children to provide them with comfort, encouragement, or positive reinforcement.
  • Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, or administrative regulations.
  • Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement.
  • Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, or changing their diapers.
  • Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, or social skills, to preschool students with special needs.
  • Develop individual educational plans (IEPs) designed to promote students' educational, physical, or social development.
  • Prepare classrooms with a variety of materials or resources for children to explore, manipulate, or use in learning activities or imaginative play.

A selection of source-listed tasks; duties vary by role and employer.

Interests involved in this work

These source scores describe occupational work activities. They are separate from your personal test results.

Hands-on

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

2.7 / 7

Investigative

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

3.5 / 7

Creative

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

4.0 / 7

Helping people

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

7.0 / 7

Enterprising

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

1.7 / 7

Organizing

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

3.2 / 7

Skills to explore

Source-reported importance on a 1–5 scale. Try a course, project or conversation to learn what these skills involve.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

2026-08

4.0 / 5

Social Perceptiveness

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

2026-08

4.0 / 5

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

2026-08

4.0 / 5

Learning Strategies

Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

2026-08

4.0 / 5

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

2026-08

4.0 / 5

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

2026-08

4.0 / 5

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

2026-08

4.0 / 5

Active Learning

Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

2026-08

3.9 / 5

Instructing

Teaching others how to do something.

2026-08

3.9 / 5

Writing

Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

2026-08

3.8 / 5

Plan a small next step

Talk to someone doing this work, look for a supervised activity, and explore the subjects that interest you. Admission, licensing and current program requirements should be confirmed with the relevant institutions.

Source preparation category: Job Zone 4 of 5 · 2026-08. This category describes typical preparation, not your eligibility.

Related study fields

Source crosswalk connections are research leads, not required qualifications.

Special Education and Teaching, General →

Education/Teaching of Individuals with Hearing Impairments Including Deafness →

Education/Teaching of Individuals with Emotional Disturbances →

Education/Teaching of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities →

Education/Teaching of Individuals with Multiple Disabilities →

Education/Teaching of Individuals with Orthopedic and Other Physical Health Impairments →

Education/Teaching of Individuals with Vision Impairments Including Blindness →

Education/Teaching of Individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities →

Education/Teaching of Individuals with Speech or Language Impairments →

Education/Teaching of Individuals with Autism →

Education/Teaching of Individuals Who are Developmentally Delayed →

Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs →

Explore all related study fields →

Source & methodology

O*NET-SOC code 25-2051.00 · Database 31.0 · Retrieved Oct 14, 2026. Dates on individual observations describe their source periods.

How interest exploration matching works →

Data: O*NET® 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Used under CC BY 4.0. StudyIndex normalizes the presentation and adds exploration features; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions.