Special Education takes a special person as they say.
It is not for the faint of heart. I consider myself a patient person, but these kiddos have made me even more patient than I thought was possible.
As I am working with students, I also work with General Education teachers and support them in various ways. It is not always easy for teachers to change their mindset towards students who have special needs, especially those who have been teaching for a long, long time. Students with ED take an extra ounce of patience and you will never win in a power struggle so why do some teachers even try push their buttons and try to trigger them? I am not saying give in to them. They follow the same rules and expectations. You just may not be able to talk to them or say the same things as you would to any child - jokingly or not. Not everyone likes sarcasm, for example - even I'm not the biggest fan of sarcastic people. Another example: students with Autism need to be told things as directly as possible. They may not get body language or tone of your voice. So don't get mad at them because you may not have made yourself clear. You need not escalate things, but find strategies to deescalate! I could go on.
My main vent isn't with the students, but it is with the adults. lol Not all of them, just the ones that teach older elementary students.