80+ Special Education Quotes To Inspire Students And Teachers

Special education is the practice of educating students in different ways that help them learn at their individual needs and pace.

Special education can be seen as specialized instruction designed to meet the learning needs and providing opportunities to their fullest potential. Children with special needs have to be treated with love and patience.

Special education includes issues like dyslexia, behavioral disorders (ADHD), physical disabilities (Cerebral Palsy), and developmental disabilities like Asperger's syndrome and autism to name a few. According to the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, approximately 2% of children with disabilities of the general population in the entire world have access to individual or special attention from instructors.

In the United States, special education is provided free of charge through the public education system thanks to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA was first passed in 1975 and later reauthorized in 2004 under George W. Bush.

The primary goals have remained the same all these years which is the protection of the rights of children with disabilities and providing them special education.

If you like what you read special needs quotes and [preschool teacher quotes].

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Quotes About Special Education

Some of the best inspirational special education quotes that will help you in learning more about the cause.

1. “The best way to improve the American workforce in the 21st century is to invest in early childhood education, to ensure that even the most disadvantaged children have the opportunity to succeed alongside their more advantaged peers.”

― James Heckman.

2. “We have a responsibility to ensure that every individual has the opportunity to receive a high-quality education, from prekindergarten to elementary and secondary, to special education, to technical and higher education, and beyond.”

― Jim Jeffords.

3. “Inclusive education seeks to address the learning needs of all children, with a specific focus on those who are vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion. The goal is to promote opportunities for all children to participate and be treated equally.”

― Andie Fong Toy.

4.  “When inclusive education is fully embraced, we abandon the idea that children have to become ‘normal’ in order to contribute to the world. We begin to look beyond typical ways of becoming valued members of the community, and in doing so, begin to realize the achievable goal of providing all children with an authentic sense of belonging.”

― Norman Kunc.

5. “One of the first things is that the deaf are fully functioning citizens of society, and should be accorded every right granted to the non-hearing impaired.”

― Charles-Michel de l’Epee.

6. “Deafness, though it be total and congenital, imposes no limits on the intellectual development of its subjects, save in the single direction of the appreciation of acoustic phenomena.”

― Edward Miner Gallaudet.

7. “For every child who is blind, deaf, crippled, or otherwise physically handicapped, and for the child who is mentally handicapped, such measures as will early discover and diagnose his handicap, provide care and treatment, and so train him that he may become an asset to society rather than a liability.”

― Herbert Hoover.

8. “For those with learning disabilities, today's tools for differentiation no longer hold the stigma they used to nor highlight disabilities, but provide opportunities to find success in the classroom.”    

― Sharon LePage Plante.

9. “The advancement of knowledge must be translated into increasing health and education for the children.”

― Herbert Hoover.

10. “It is different than in special education where you have no alternative. For the gifted, it is an issue that is not absolutely required.”  

― Arthur Allen.

11. “Every student can learn, just not on the same day, or in the same way.”  

― George Evans.

12. “We need to add to the three R’s, namely Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic, a fourth--- RESPONSIBILITY.”

― Herbert Hoover.

13. “When you judge someone based on a diagnosis, you miss out on their abilities, beauty, and uniqueness.”  

― Sevenly.

Special Education Teacher Quotes

Special education quotes teachers can use to inspire their students and parents alike.

14. “Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same. Fairness means everyone gets what they need.”

― Rick Riordan, ‘The Red Pyramid’.

15. “As a society, we’ve learned that we’re all better off when everyone is included in the opportunities of this great nation.”

― Edward Kennedy.

16. “Children are our most valuable natural resource.”

― Herbert Hoover.

17. “All of the children of silence must be taught to sing their own song.”

― Thomas Gallaudet.

18. “The highest result of education is tolerance.”

― Helen Keller.

19. “The same arguments which go to show that knowledge is power, that the condition of a people is improved in proportion as the masses are educated, have their application with equal weight to the deaf.”

― Edward Miner Gallaudet.

20. “I decided to study special education and fell in love with working with individuals with autism. That’s what I planned to do with my life.”

― Clay Aiken.

21. “The secret in education lies in respecting the student.”  

― Ralph Waldo Emerson.

22. “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.”  

― Ignacio Estrada.

23. “A good special education teacher is hard to find and even harder to hang on to.”

― Lourdes Garcia-Navarro.

24. “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”  

― Nelson Mandela.

25. “Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.”  

― Plato.

26. “It shouldn’t matter how slowly a child learns. What matters is that we encourage them to never stop trying.”

― Robert John Meehan.

27. “I went to school for special education. I always assumed when I had the opportunity I would love to try and help kids with disabilities.”

― Clay Aiken.

28. “It is not to the rich, that I have devoted myself; it is to the poor only. Had it not been for these, I should have never attempted the education of deaf and dumb.”

― Charles-Michel de l’Epee.

29. “‘No child left behind’ requires states and school districts to ensure that all students are learning and are reaching their highest potential. Special education students should not be left out of this accountability.”

― Dianne Feinstein.

30. “The gap between the abilities and capacities of children related to their learning, adjustment and development found at the time of their birth, may further be widened by the nature of the environmental difference encountered by them in their nourishment and education.”

― S. K. Mangal.

Special Education Inspirational Quotes

Just because you are different doesn’t mean you are any less. Here are some of the best inspirational quotes to inspire yourself with!

31. “What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.”

― Oscar Wilde.

32. “It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”

― Maya Angelou.

33. “When we listen and celebrate what is both common and different, we become wiser, more inclusive, and better as an organization.”

— Pat Wadors.

34. “Wisdom often consists of knowing what to do next.”

― Herbert Hoover.

35. “Braille is knowledge, and knowledge is power.”

― Louis Braille.

36. “All kids need is a little help, a little hope, and someone who believes in them”

― Magic Johnson.

37. “Some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don’t fit into boxes.”

― Tori Amos.

38. “I had a lot of trouble in school to begin with. I got left back in kindergarten, and I was in special education. My teachers didn’t have very much faith in me.”

― Jesse Ball.

39. “Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.”

― Malala Yousafzai.

40. “Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.”

― John W. Gardner.

41. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.”    

― Dr. Seuss.

42. “When I see you through my eyes, I think that we are different. When I see you through my heart, I know we are the same.”

― Doe Zantamata.

Special Education Teacher Appreciation Quotes

Sometimes teachers need to be appreciated for all the hard work they put in for your learning and growth! Show them some love with these great quotes and sayings.

43. “Everyone who remembers his own educational experience remembers teachers, not methods and techniques. The teacher is the kingpin of the educational situation. He makes or breaks programs.”

― Sidney Hook.

44. “The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to use its own powers rather than to fill it with the accumulation of others.”

― Tyron Edwards.

45. “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”

― Henry Brooks Adams.

46. “The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”

― Khalil Gibran.

47. “I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.”

― John Steinbeck.

48. “Education is a shared commitment between dedicated teachers, motivated students and enthusiastic parents with high expectations.”    

― Bob Beauprez.

49. “Great education is a combination of a supporting environment, dedicated teachers and students who take joy in learning.”    

― Hermann J Steinherr.

50. “What most people don’t know is that most Special Education teachers are really angels disguised as extraordinary humans.”    

― Joe Martin.

51. “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

― Xunzi.

52. “Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me."

― Fred Rogers.

53. “I’ll say this: It takes a special person to see the special needs of a complicated kid.”  

― James Duff.

54. “The educator must believe in the potential power of his pupil, and he must employ all his art in seeking to bring his pupil to experience this power.”  

― Alfred Adler.

Special Needs Quotes

Inspirational special needs quotes for parents and teachers to show them they have our support!

55. “Parenting a child with special needs will be the greatest challenge of your life, and if you make good choices, it may also prove one of the most rewarding.”  

― Judy Winter.

56. “Special needs children deviate from the normal children either in the positive direction or in the negative direction.”  

― Neena Dash.

57. “I have a child with special needs. I didn’t know if I would be strong enough. Turns out I am. And so are you.”

― Lisa Thornbury.

58. “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.”

― Kahlil Gibran.

59. “All children with special needs have a right to be part of a family, a community and society.”  

― Angela Dare.

60. “If every child matters, every child has the right to a good start in life. If every child matters, every child has the right to be included. And that is so important for children with special needs.”

― Cherie Blair.

61. “When you have a child who has special needs, you really start thinking about children across the board with special needs.”

― Soledad O’Brien.

62. “The earlier a child’s special need is recognized and assessed, the sooner effective and ongoing help and family-centered support can be provided.”  

― Angela Dare.

63. “Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge, and children with special needs inspire a very, very special love.”

― Sarah Palin.

64. “The past haunts and the future taunts. This is particularly true if you love a child with special needs.”  

― Lisa Thornbury.

65. “Children with special needs are unique individuals.”    

― Neena Dash.

66. “Becoming familiar with special needs issues and caring for children with special needs reduces anxieties and fears and leads to an understanding and appreciation of different abilities.”    

― Angela Dare.

67. “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.”

― Oprah Winfrey.

68. “Every child deserves a champion – an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”

― Rita Pierson.

Disability Quotes

Quotes that will make you feel motivated! Find others and send these to them to inspire them too!

69. “Fitting in allows you to blend in with everyone else, but being different allows you to be yourself, to be unique, and to be more creative.”

― Sonya Parker.

70. “The only disability is a bad attitude.”

― Scott Hamilton.

71. “Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you’re needed by someone.”

― Martina Navratilova.

72. “Disability need not be an obstacle to success … It is my hope that … this century will mark a turning point for inclusion of people with disabilities in the lives of their societies.”

― Professor Stephen Hawking.

73. “Though people with disabilities have become more vocal in recent years, we still constitute a very small minority. Yet the Beautiful People - the slender, fair and perfect ones - form a minority that may be even smaller.”

― Debra Kent.

74. “My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically.”

― Stephen Hawking.

75. “I’m officially disabled, but I’m truly enabled because of my lack of limbs. My unique challenges have opened up unique opportunities to reach so many in need.”

― Nick Vujicic.

76. “….what I learned was that these athletes were not disabled, they were super–abled. The Olympics is where heroes are made. The Paralympics is where heroes come.”

― Joey Reiman.

78. “I do not have a disability, I have a gift! Others may see it as a disability, but I see it as a challenge. This challenge is a gift because I have to become stronger to get around it, and smarter to figure out how to use it; others should be so lucky.”

― Shane E. Bryan.

79. “Use the skills that I have got.

Do not focus on what I have not.

Of course, I am aware of my limitation.

Yet, I am a part of God’s wonderful creation.”

― William E. Lightbourne.

80. “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.”

― Nido Qubein.

81. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

― Confucius.

82. “When you hear the word ‘disabled,’ people immediately think about people who can’t walk or talk or do everything that people take for granted. Now, I take nothing for granted. But I find the real disability is people who can’t find joy in life and are bitter.”

― Teri Garr.

83. “I have had this desire my whole life to prove people wrong, to show them I could do things they didn’t think I could do.”

― David A. Paterson.

84. “Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life.”

― Les Brown.

85. “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

― Christopher Reeve.

86. “The measure of a man, or woman, is not so much what they have accomplished, though that has weight. It often is much more though what that man or woman has overcome to accomplish what they have.”

― Leif Gregersen, ‘Through The Withering Storm’.

87. “Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.”

― Helen Keller.

88. “As a disabled man, let my life be a reflection of the endless amount of ability that exists in each and every one of us.”

― Robert M. Hensel.

89. “A bend in the road is not the end of the road. Unless you fail to make the turn.”

― Helen Keller.

90. “Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.”

― Bethany Hamilton.

Temple Grandin Quotes

Find the best inspirational special education quotes from the spokesperson for people suffering from autism.

91. “In college, I did a lot of talking out loud because it helped me organize my thinking. A lot of autistic people talk out loud for the same reason.”

― Temple Grandin.

92. “What would happen if the autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool? You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done.”

― Temple Grandin.

93. “Social thinking skills must be directly taught to children and adults with ASD. Doing so opens doors of social understandings in all areas of life.”

― Temple Grandin.

94. “I don’t want my thoughts to die with me, I want to have done something. I’m not interested in power, or piles of money. I want to leave something behind. I want to make a positive contribution – know that my life has meaning.”

― Temple Grandin.

95. “If I could snap my fingers and be nonautistic, I would not. Autism is part of what I am.”

― Temple Grandin.

96. “Unfortunately, most people never observe the natural cycle of birth and death. They do not realize that for one living thing to survive, another living thing must die.”

― Temple Grandin.

97. “Sometimes you have to go outside your field of study to find the right people.”

― Temple Grandin.

98. “There needs to be a lot more emphasis on what a child can do instead of what he cannot do.”

― Temple Grandin.

99. “I cannot emphasize enough the importance of a good teacher.”

― Temple Grandin.

100. “In special education, there’s too much emphasis placed on the deficit and not enough on the strength.”  

― Temple Grandin.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for special education quotes then why not take a look at Hamilton quotes, homeschool quotes, or study quotes.