Dr. Vaughn Bicehouse

Tell me about yourself. What is your educational background and where have you worked previously?

In the 1980s, I went to Grove City College and received a degree in social studies education. I didn’t get a job immediately, so I substitute taught and was called in a lot to work with children in special education and fell in love with the field. I then came back to Slippery Rock to get another Bachelor’s degree in special education, started in the field, and spent 20 years teaching. I did emotional, learning, and autistic support before coming back to Slippery Rock for a Master’s Degree and certificate in special education. I then received my doctorate at Duquesne. This is my 9th year of teaching college.

What attracted you to Slippery Rock University, and in particular, the education department? 

Slippery Rock was one of the first colleges in the 1960’s to have a special education program. They were state-of-the-art in that regard. We received a lot of federal grant money to sponsor trips and that was very beneficial to the students. I also had wonderful professors (Badgett, Dinger, and Berner), and I appreciated the “lab school” where students would get exposure to individuals with diverse disabilities and learn about IEPs.

What research projects are you currently working on?

I am very interested in the best teaching practices and studying people on the autistic spectrum. One story that I wrote was about the parents of special education children, which is a perspective that many people do not think about. I contacted a woman who was featured in a story on “60 Minutes” and was the mother of a very low-functioning child. I wrote a story about her. We learn so much about complicated disabilities and the students that it can be easy to forget about the other people who are affected by these disorders.

What classes do you teach?
Low Incidence Disabilities, a class about the Autism Spectrum, Practicum, and Special Education Laws.

What is your favorite course to teach? Why?

I like anything that helps prepare somebody to teach. This includes specific learning strategies to benefit children with disabilities, how students learn, and the best teaching practices.

What has been your most rewarding experience as a teacher/professor? If you cannot narrow it to one, describe one rewarding experience.

I moved to Florida for a year and taught in one of the most socioeconomically-challenged school districts. I learned more that year than I did in all of my other 19 years of education. I was the learning support teacher. The school had 20 year-old textbooks, out-of-date technology, poor environmental factors, housing, and home situations. But the students and I had a genuine connection because they viewed me as a parental figure, and that was very important for them to have because of the home lives that many of them were coming from. Consequently, I learned never to take education for granted and try and instill that passion in every student that crosses my path.

This is one story that stuck out to me:

I was working as emotional support for students, and on the first day, one of my students ripped up my rules the moment that he received it and made it clear that he would not follow any of them! This was very typical of the behavior that I had seen at that school with this population of learners. Several years after however, he ended up being the best man at my wedding. He even told me later, “I would never have gotten my diploma were it not for you.”

Another meaningful experience that I had did not deal directly with teaching. The whole field of special education came to life the first time that I had sat in the parent side of the IEP meeting table and realized how precious my daughter’s future was. Before, I was always the person who created the IEP’s. This new perspective was tremendously powerful and eye-opening for me.


What were you like as a college student?
When I was at Grove City, I did not take it very seriously. My attitude was geared toward being more social and joining every club that I could. Teaching was never on my radar. I majored in political science and intended to go to law school. However, one of my advisers told me during my junior year that I should teach instead of pursue a political science degree! So, he changed my major immediately and scheduled me to begin student teaching just weeks later!


What do you know now that you wish you would have known as a college student?
I would not have taken myself so seriously. Life is really about helping other people. The most I would want others to say about is that “he was a good guy because he helped others.” I always ask my children, “what have you done for somebody else today?”

Also, we should not pity. Rather, we should give people opportunities. With special education, many of our IEP students never have the opportunity to give back and have that unmistakably warm feeling of giving to others, for example. I have dealt with this as a teacher before. In an economics class that I taught, a few of my special education students had won some money from a business simulation, and instead of spending that money on ourselves, we used it to buy Christmas gifts for economically-disadvantaged people in our area. The students loved it because they did something that they rarely had the opportunity to do.


What advice would you give to students who are entering or are currently in the teacher preparation program?
Teaching is about lovingly treating each child as a person of worth who can reach their full potential. The stereotypes that are often imposed on children are very bad, and we need to understand students in a more positive way.

When I taught in Florida, I had 5-10 students who would come to my room to each lunch and talk with me. These experiences were so important because the students had the opportunity to be honest and feel secure outside of the general education classroom environment. I was also able to learn more about the students’ personal lives and give them advice.

It is also important to mention that teachers plant seeds. Teachers often won’t see direct effects immediately, but those seeds eventually blossom. I was messaged one day on LinkedIn by a former student who asked me to meet with him. Whenever we met, he told me how conflicted his life was around the time that I was his teacher, but how important my presence was to him as he grew up. He thanked me for the influence that I had on his life. Teachers might not see their effect on students for years, but it is greater than you might imagine.

As many teachers know, the profession is not about the money; it is about feeling good about what you’re doing and making an impact on other people.

What is one way that Slippery Rock University has positively influenced your life and/or professional career?
Slippery Rock has positively influenced me on both a professional and personal level. My daughter with epilepsy attended multiple programs through the Equestrian center which were so beneficial to her confidence. Slippery Rock also offered adaptive swimming programs which gave her 1-on-1 experience doing activities that she enjoyed.

Slippery Rock has taught me professional skills by helping me see the value of other people. The school has offered me many opportunities that I would not have had otherwise.