Questions: Education & Career

When I was around 3 years old, I was sexually abused by my mother. Then at around 4 years old my mother abandoned me by leaving me in a government center and walking away forever.

I moved in with my grandparents because my father was homeless. My grandparents saw that I was a child that was mute, had trouble speaking due to an attached frenulum layer in my tongue, and I was a Black/Native American child moving in with grandparents that were white.

For many years I have had strong feelings that I was labeled "handicapped" by my grandmother without getting the emotional support that I needed to deal with the sexual abuse and abandonment that tortured me. Instead, I met with education supports on math, reading, and speech. At 3rd grade I was no longer in "Special Education" and continued to remain in normal classes but without the additional help. I went on to graduate high school, get a bachelor's degree, and then a masters degree. But I am left with so many underlying emotional issues with the sexual abuse and such. I haven't told my grandparents about the sexual abuse yet.

Anyways, the point is that I had always believed that the assistance I received was education based because I never talked to any professional about what happened to me or how I felt about myself emotionally. But my therapist today says that the special education that I received WAS a form of therapy. He says that there is a therapy model that treats behavior and learning struggles rather than trying to get to the bottom of an issue.

Is this true? Or is my therapist just bullshitting me by suggesting that a special education teacher is the same as a specialized therapist?