| TEXTBOOK No textbook is required. Instead, a course notebook is provided on the first day of class. COURSE REQUIREMENTS Attendance | Three Exams | Field Experience Report |
| EDPS 26000-01 Course Description and Information |
EDPS 26000 joins in the civil rights movement on behalf of people with disabilities, an often misunderstood, mistreated minority
group. By promoting empathy, positive self-concept, independence, and self-advocacy, this course emphasizes education’s
purpose of helping all students achieve their potential.
Federal definitions and group characteristics of disability categories are addressed while stressing the remarkable individual
differences that exist within each area and the ways that students with special needs are like other students. Teaching
strategies, differentiated instruction, adaptations, and accommodations to achieve meaningful supported inclusive education for
learners with disabilities and students who are gifted are the focus of EDPS 26000.
Promoting understanding of students with special needs as PEOPLE FIRST, this course advances the principle of normalization
in the most appropriate least restrictive environment. Effective teaching, advocacy, and family involvement are explored as the
foundations of our efforts to improve quality of life for all students, families, and service providers.
Addressing the needs of learners with disabilities and students who are gifted, the course promotes unbiased prereferral
services, referral, evaluation, planning, placement, and instruction in classrooms that respect pluralism and embrace diversity.
Early childhood and transition to adulthood are identified as critical stages of intervention. Characteristics of effective teachers
are identified and celebrated.
Considering the role of society in limiting the lives of people who are differently abled, EDPS 26000 promotes realistic, positive
expectations and acceptance within the home, school, and community. Partnerships among general and special educators,
other service providers, students, and families are advanced as the key to minimize barriers imposed by misunderstanding.
The central theme of this course is to affirm that we cannot be content with schools and programs that serve only some
students well. It is our responsibility to maximize opportunities for all students.
Advocacy efforts are driven by the firm belief that “our lives begin to end on the day we become silent about things that matter”
(Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) and that "one child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world" (Malala Yousafzai).
group. By promoting empathy, positive self-concept, independence, and self-advocacy, this course emphasizes education’s
purpose of helping all students achieve their potential.
Federal definitions and group characteristics of disability categories are addressed while stressing the remarkable individual
differences that exist within each area and the ways that students with special needs are like other students. Teaching
strategies, differentiated instruction, adaptations, and accommodations to achieve meaningful supported inclusive education for
learners with disabilities and students who are gifted are the focus of EDPS 26000.
Promoting understanding of students with special needs as PEOPLE FIRST, this course advances the principle of normalization
in the most appropriate least restrictive environment. Effective teaching, advocacy, and family involvement are explored as the
foundations of our efforts to improve quality of life for all students, families, and service providers.
Addressing the needs of learners with disabilities and students who are gifted, the course promotes unbiased prereferral
services, referral, evaluation, planning, placement, and instruction in classrooms that respect pluralism and embrace diversity.
Early childhood and transition to adulthood are identified as critical stages of intervention. Characteristics of effective teachers
are identified and celebrated.
Considering the role of society in limiting the lives of people who are differently abled, EDPS 26000 promotes realistic, positive
expectations and acceptance within the home, school, and community. Partnerships among general and special educators,
other service providers, students, and families are advanced as the key to minimize barriers imposed by misunderstanding.
The central theme of this course is to affirm that we cannot be content with schools and programs that serve only some
students well. It is our responsibility to maximize opportunities for all students.
Advocacy efforts are driven by the firm belief that “our lives begin to end on the day we become silent about things that matter”
(Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) and that "one child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world" (Malala Yousafzai).
| Introduction to Special Education A Civil Rights Movement FALL & SPRING SEMESTERS EDPS 26000-001 Mondays & Wednesdays 8:00-9:20 AM Annex 121 |
| A Civil Rights Movement |
| INTRODUCTION TO SPECIAL EDUCATION |
| A Civil Rights Movement |
| Tom Mihail, Ph.D. Diversity and Special Education |
| THE PROMISE | Burton Blatt |
What is the "promise" that special education was to keep? It was to demonstrate to all people, and especially those of us most
intimately involved, that each person can contribute to the larger society, that all people are equally valuable, that a human being
is entitled to developmental opportunities and that development is plastic.
We have been faithful; we have supported humanistic precepts and philosophies, and we have believed that there is
enrichment through difference."
Thus, the promise of special education has always been, and remains today, not a special curriculum, or special methods, or
even special teachers. The gifts that this movement was to endow us with were the gifts of optimism and belief in the human
ethos, charity and love for our brothers, and the conviction that our work is not to judge who can or cannot change, but rather to
fulfill the prophecy that all people can change; each person can learn.
For the promise to be kept, for these things to occur beyond wish or fantasy, one must begin with oneself. Before I ask the world
to change, I must change.
I am the beginning step.
| SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & COUNSELING |
| COMPANION WEBSITES |
| PART ONE FOUNDATIONS OF THE SUPPORTED INCLUSIVE EDUCATION MOVEMENT Special Education: A Civil Rights Movement Negative Images Labeling, Stereotyping, and Individual Differences Nonlabeling ("People First") Language Expectations "Disabled, But Not Handicapped" Special Education's Mission and Primary Goals The Promise Historical Context of the Movement to Integrate Students with Special Needs Legal Perspectives: Major Legislation Protecting the Rights of People with Disabilities Supported Inclusive Education / Least Restrictive Environment Myths and Facts About Supported Inclusive Education Accommodations Normalization The Special Education Cycle |
| Course Content |
| PART TWO AREAS OF EXCEPTIONALITY / TEACHING STRATEGIES Including Students with Intellectual Disabilities Including Students with Learning Disabilities Teaching Strategies for Students with Intellectual Disabilities and Learning Disabilities Including Students with Emotional Disturbance and Students with Behavior Disorders The Case Against Punishment Positively Changing Behavior: Applied Behavior Analysis Including Students with Communication Disorders Including Students who are Hearing Impaired Deaf Culture Including Students with Visual Impairments Including Students with Physical Disabilities Other Health Impairments: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Other Health Impairments: Seizure Disorders (Epilepsy) Other Health Impairments: Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Including Students who are Autistic Including Students with Traumatic Brain Injury Positive Images Integrating Students who are Gifted |
| PART THREE CROSS-CATEGORICAL ISSUES AND TRENDS Students who are Culturally Different No One Model American: Multicultural Education Beyond Guns and Dolls: Gender Fair Teaching Family Involvement Roles of Parents Whose Children are Disabled Early Childhood Special Education Transition to Adulthood The Miracle Worker Myth What We're About: A Civil Rights Movement Advocacy Characteristics of an Effective Teacher Hope for the Future "Beautiful" |
