Blog

I’m heading into my seventh year working as a bus driver for differently abled students with Sunrise Transportation outside of Chicago in Naperville, Illinois. If I had to sum up the experience in one word, it would be special.

I've always had a soft spot for helping kids with special needs, and Sunrise gave me the opportunity to turn my desire to give back to my community into something really meaningful.

If I’m being honest, the work isn’t always easy. Caring for special needs students can be complicated and stressful, and the job certainly requires a lot of patience. But these kids deserve to be treated with dignity, compassion, and care, and I often remind myself: if not me, then who?

What makes this job truly unique is how the kids and I communicate with each other, whether it’s spoken or not. Even when a student doesn’t communicate in traditional ways, we still find ways to connect, and that connection means everything to me. It makes me feel like I’m not just their bus driver, but their friend. I’m a part of their lives, and they’re a part of mine.

Over the years, I’ve had families who’ve requested me specifically to be their child’s driver year after year. In fact, I’ve done door-to-door school bus pickups for two families with special needs students for four years in a row.

When a family requests and entrusts you to drive – and really, to care for – their children, it is and incredibly rewarding feeling. But that familiarity is also really important to the work we do as caretakers for differently abled students. Regularity and consistency matter deeply to these kids, and I’m honored to be a part of their daily routine. I’ve been invited to birthday parties, graduations, and have received more thank-you cards than I can count.

Even after a student moves on from my care, their parents will sometimes reach out to remind me how much our relationship meant to their child. That means the world to me, and I know how much it means to them to have someone they can trust transporting the most valuable thing in their life: their child.

At the end of the day, anyone can drive a car, but it takes someone special to drive a school bus for special needs kids. And I’m grateful every day that I get to be that someone.