Private Special Education Teacher

Job Description

Job Description

We're seeking a calm, thoughtful, highly relational educator to work one-on-one with a 21-year-old young adult in a deeply personalized, community-based learning environment.

This is not a traditional classroom teaching role. The right educator will help create structure, meaningful routines, learning experiences, and opportunities for growth across daily life. You'll support academics, communication, life skills, emotional regulation, community engagement, and increasing independence — while helping build a sustainable rhythm that allows the student and his family to feel more supported and hopeful.

This student has been significantly underestimated by traditional educational systems. His family is looking for someone who sees possibility where others have seen limitation — someone willing to meet him where he is, stay consistent, and thoughtfully build a program centered around dignity, growth, safety, and meaningful engagement.

This role offers unusual autonomy and the opportunity to make a profound long-term impact on both a student and an entire family system.

Student Profile

You'll be working with a 21-year-old young adult with significant disabilities and a history of epilepsy that has contributed to educational disruption over the years.

The student struggles with expressive language and does not thrive in traditional desk-based or highly academic instructional environments. He benefits most from experiential learning, consistency, relationship-based support, and activities that are meaningful, engaging, and grounded in the real world.

The family is looking for someone who can help thoughtfully structure the student's days in a way that balances:

• Academics
• Life skills
• Vocational exploration
• Community participation
• Recreation and leisure
• Emotional regulation
• Independence-building
• Healthy routines

Success in this role is not defined only by academic growth. It's about helping the student feel regulated, engaged, safe, capable, and genuinely connected to the world around him.

The family is deeply invested in their son and eager to partner closely with the right educator. Building trust and maintaining consistent communication will be an important part of the role.

What You'll Do

• Build and implement a highly individualized learning and life-skills program based on the student's strengths, interests, regulation, and developmental needs
• Create thoughtful daily routines and structure that support emotional regulation, engagement, independence, and safety
• Support growth in areas including communication, academics, ADLs, vocational exploration, and community-based learning
• Plan and facilitate meaningful activities both at home and in the community, including outings, walks, exercise, recreation, and experiential learning opportunities
• Adapt instruction and pacing based on the student's energy, attention, communication, and responsiveness
• Help identify leisure activities and productive uses of downtime that contribute to quality of life and long-term independence
• Maintain proactive awareness around safety, regulation, and seizure-related considerations
• Partner closely with parents through regular communication, collaboration, and shared problem-solving
• Take initiative in shaping the program while remaining responsive to family priorities and evolving student needs
• Coordinate schedules, activities, materials, and overall day-to-day organization of the student's learning environment

What Makes Someone Successful in This Role

• You are calm, emotionally steady, and able to remain grounded during stressful or unpredictable moments
• You genuinely enjoy working with students with significant disabilities and believe deeply in their capacity for growth and connection
• You are patient, creative, and willing to keep trying new approaches when something is not working
• You can balance collaboration with independence — communicating openly with parents while confidently taking initiative day to day
• You understand that relationship-building, trust, consistency, and emotional safety are foundational to learning
• You are adaptable and comfortable working in a fluid, highly individualized environment rather than a rigid school structure
• You have experience supporting teenagers or young adults with significant disabilities, ideally in special education, transition programming, community-based instruction, or similar settings
• Experience with epilepsy and seizure care is strongly preferred

Requirements

Credentials

• Bachelor's degree required; degree in Special Education or a subject-matter field strongly preferred
• State teaching certification strongly preferred
• BCBA certification or experience within the Applied Behavior Analysis field preferred
• Certification or training with AAC and/or autism preferred
• Candidates with equivalent demonstrated experience will be considered

Experience

• 5+ years of special education teaching experience
• 3+ years of direct experience with students with autism
• Minimum 3 years classroom teaching, private tutoring, or homeschool instruction experience
• Proven ability to teach across multiple subjects and grade levels (all K-12 subjects considered)
• Experience working with diverse learners, including students with autism
• Experience with epilepsy and seizure care strongly preferred

Skills

• Curriculum design: ability to select, adapt, or build lesson plans from a variety of frameworks (classical, Charlotte Mason, project-based, or traditional)
• Differentiated instruction: comfortable adjusting pace, depth, and method to match the student
• Assessment and progress tracking: ability to set measurable academic goals and report progress clearly to parents
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Proficiency with digital learning tools, educational platforms, and standard productivity software

Professional Standards

• Current background check (required; Thrive facilitates)
• Verifiable references from prior teaching or tutoring roles
• Professionalism, discretion, and adaptability -- you are working inside someone's home

Benefits

Compensation

• $60,000 - $75,000/yr, commensurate with experience, credentials, and placement scope
• Compensation is negotiated directly with the family; Thrive advocates for fair market rates on your behalf

Logistics

• Location: Fairport, NY
• Schedule: Approximately 4–5 days per week, roughly 6 hours per day

• Start Date: ASAP
• Transportation: Driving and community outings are expected as part of the role
• Program Context: The family is actively exploring transition programming options. With one year of school remaining, they are looking for an educator who can complement and reinforce what school is providing during this important period. This role may evolve as the student is accepted into specific programming, and the family welcomes educator input on identifying the best fit programs.

Work Environment

• One-on-one or small-group instruction -- no classroom management overhead
• Deep, ongoing relationships with students and families rather than high-volume throughput
• Schedule flexibility that mirrors the academic calendar you design together
• Opportunity to teach the way you believe learning actually works

Support

• Personalized matching -- Thrive vets families thoroughly before introductions, so your time is spent with qualified, serious clients
• Dedicated placement coordinator throughout the process
• Access to Thrive's educator network, resources, and ongoing placement opportunities
• Long-term career development: many of our educators build lasting careers across successive placements