Course Description: 

This course focuses on the educational and psychological characteristics of students with disabilities, mild to severe. Information useful for selecting and developing intervention programs for students with disabilities will be explored. Research in the field with emphasis on the study of instructional approaches emphasizing specific methods and materials will be introduced.

Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of the course, each participant should be able to:  

• Understand how language, culture, and family background influence the learning of individuals with exceptionalities.

• Create safe, inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments to engage individuals with exceptionalities in meaningful learning activities and social interactions. 

• Use motivational and instructional interventions to teach individuals with exceptionalities how to adapt to different environments.  

• Develop crisis plans to intervene safely and appropriately with individuals with exceptionalities in crisis. 

• Demonstrate how to modify general and specialized curricula to make them accessible to individuals with exceptionalities. 

• Identify technically sound formal and informal assessments that minimize bias. 

• Demonstrate an understanding of measurement principles and practices to interpret assessment results and guide educational decisions for individuals with exceptionalities.

• Use multiple types of assessment information in making decisions about individuals with exceptionalities.

• Use technologies to support instructional assessment, planning, and delivery of instructional strategies. 

• Identify augmentative and alternative communication systems and a variety of assistive technologies to support the communication and learning of individuals with exceptionalities.

• Develop and implement a variety of education and transition plans across a wide range of settings and different learning experiences. 

Textbooks:

Kirk, Samuel; Gallagher, James; Coleman, Mary Ruth; and Anastaslow, Nick. 

Educating Exceptional Children, 14th Edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 

2015.

Materials:

Students will need a 2-inch 3 ring binder and 17 tabs for a portfolio.