This started because the system failed our family.
The story
In 2014, our son was diagnosed with autism. Then with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Suzie and I — Luke — watched the school system try. We watched it try with the kindest, most well-intentioned teachers we'd ever met. And we watched it miss. Not because anyone was bad at their job, but because the system had stopped letting good teachers do the work they trained for.
So we built something different. We started SpecialEdResource.com to give families a place to find tutors who actually specialized in special education, who weren't trying to wedge a kid with dyslexia into a generic reading program, who could teach a kid with autism in a way the kid could actually access.
12 years later, we have 44 special education tutors on our team. We've worked with thousands of children and adults. Families come to us from every state, and from Canada. We're certified providers in Arizona's ESA program. We've grown — but we're still the same little company that started because we needed it to exist.
Why this satellite site exists
If you've ever taught special education in a public school, you know what we're about to say. The job is two jobs stacked on top of each other. There's the actual teaching — the part you trained for, the part you love. And then there's the paperwork, the IEP meetings, the standardized testing prep, the parent communication, the documentation, the legal compliance. The teaching is maybe a quarter of what fills your day.
We're trying to give teachers a way to do just the teaching.
That's the whole pitch. Five to ten hours a week, online, paid weekly, with all the administrative work removed. We do the matching, the platform, the parent communication, the scheduling. You teach. That's it.
If you're currently in a classroom and tired,
this is what we built for you.
If you're retired and miss the kids,
this is what we built for you.
If you left teaching for caregiving or a career change,
this is what we built for you.
Connection to the parent company
This site is part of specialedresource.com — our main site, where parents and districts come to find tutors. We built this satellite as a dedicated place for teachers, because the experience of being a parent looking for help and the experience of being a teacher looking for work are different and deserve different homes.
Same company. Same mission. Same team. Different door.
By the numbers
2014
Founded
44
Active special ed tutors
thousands
Students served
12
Years Luke & Suzie have been doing this together