As I was absent-mindedly scrolling through my Facebook news feed one day, I came across a picture that rubbed me the wrong way. The photo did not have to do with a scantily-clad woman or offensive terms. It had to do with IEPs.

Anyone and everyone in the education field knows that IEP stands for "Individualized Educational Program." An IEP is what teachers most commonly use for their special needs (SPED) students, and is a legal document that details that student's specific needs and accommodations within a classroom setting.

For example, if the student tests better having the questions and answer choices read aloud to them, that would be information included in their IEP, and I believe schools should do their best to accommodate that specification.

But an IEP isn't just for students with visible "disabilities." There are students with varying levels of ADHD and even anxiety that ought to have an IEP because it better benefits them within the classroom. I'm a future educator that believes students should take advantage of every opportunity they have to be successful in the classroom, and if that includes having an IEP, that's great!

The photo I saw on Facebook had to do with the work it takes to keep IEPs updated and in use, and what particularly aggravated me was that the picture had been reposted by TWO educational/teacher resource accounts!

Here's the image:

While the picture was obviously intended to be humorous, I can't help but think about educators, parents, and students who carry a special place in their hearts for these children. One of those people happens to be my current roommate.

While the education system has much it needs to improve on, the special education program, and the negative stigma associated with special education students, needs a major reboot.

While IEPs are certainly tedious and difficult, this picture could serve to show that people look at SPED students the wrong way.

Many people, even some teachers, think of SPED students as "disabled" and "deficient" in certain subjects. That's where I think we as educators get it wrong.

Our job is not to tell a student they're not meeting the mark, but to work our butts off so that they want to learn and exceed that mark for themselves, not for a set of preconceived standards.

If we start off the first day of class going down a list of all the things students can't do or how hard a particular subject is, those students won't be encouraged or want to put in the work because they'll have been conditioned to think they can't.

That same logic goes for SPED students.

These students are not "disabled," rather their brains require a different type of learning. For example, some students require more time to grasp a certain unit or subject. Because it's unrealistic to expect every student, even those without IEPs, to learn at the same pace.

Instead of pointing out the increased difficulty due to their IEP, why not encourage them even more because their success means they worked 2x as hard to grasp that information. That's no small feat!

Education is hard, and being or having a child in the SPED program makes it even more time-consuming and difficult. That's just the reality of it all.

But we have to look through an optimistic lens, instead of setting up those students to fail because we continue to look at it as impossible or surprising when a SPED student exceeds.

That's our problem, not theirs.

All any child should ever be expected to do is work their best towards success in school and proving those naysayers wrong.