Disabilities in Society

Instructor: Jill Leafstedt Ph.D.
Email: jill.leafstedt@csuci.edu
Skype: Jill.leafstedt
Twitter:@jleafstedt
Office: Madera 1364
Phone: 437-2792 (least reliable way to get in touch)
Office Hours: Google + Hangout Tuesdays 10-12 or in my office
Email is the best means of communication for personal messages and will be responded to within 24 hours M-F. Questions about our course should be posted to the G+ Community. I will respond to message on our G+ Community on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When on our community I will respond to chat and Hangout requests as I am able.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Major types of disabilities and giftedness, including definitions, causes, characteristics, and educational implications. Disability perspectives. Historical, legal, social, and educational considerations of disability issues. 3 units

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Describe variations in children from developmental, educational, and psychological perspectives. (Standard 4 Integrative Study)

2. Differentiate characteristics of children in the major categories of disabilities and gifted and talented (Standard 14: Preparation to Teach Special Populations in the General Education Classroom)

3. State the federal laws pertaining to the education of exceptional populations (Standard 14: Preparation to Teach Special Populations in the General Education Classroom)

4. Describe the general education, special education and support personnel roles and responsibilities in the educational process (from identification, referral, assessment, IEP planning and meeting, instruction and evaluation) (Standard 14: Preparation to Teach Special Populations in the General Education Classroom)

5. Assess a students learning and language abilities for referral to special education and gifted and talented programs (Standard 14: Preparation to Teach Special Populations in the General Education Classroom)

6. Find information about disabilities and evaluate the quality of sources

All materials for this course are located on CI Learn. There is no required textbook for this section of SPED/PSY 345.

Students are required to check in on CI Learn weekly for assignments and readings.

Many of the course readings and resources are located on the Disabilities in Society Scoop It site.

For participation in this course you will need to sign up for a Gmail account and join our class G+ page. We will be using G+ Hangouts for class sessions and office hours. Follow this link to learn a bit about G+.

You can find our SPED/PSY 345 G+ Community here.

Module Activities and Final Assessments

Module 1: History and Law

Module 2: Mild/Moderate Disabilities

Module 3: Emotional Disorders/Mental Health

Module 4: Moderate/Severe Disabilities

Module 5: Vision and Hearing Disabilities

This course is broken into 5 learning modules. Each module contains 3-5 interactive and collaborative activities and 1 individual final assessment. The final assessment for each module is graded, all activities are complete/incomplete. Failure to complete all activities will result in a loss of points for that module.

Each module is worth 35 points (20 points for Final Assessment and 15 points for activities)

Fishbowl (25 points)

All students will be placed in a group the first week of class. each group will run one fishbowl discussion on Google+. The Fishbowl discussion involves a group of experts getting together to discuss a topic. In our class, each group will become an expert on a topic in the field of disabilities. The group will submit a resource list that may involve, articles, websites and videos on the given topic. The group will join Dr. Leafstedt on Google+ to discuss the topic at hand. We will use the OnAir feature of G+ so the others in the class will be able to view the discussion and submit questions throughout. Please note G+ Hangouts On Air are public and may attract viewers outside of our course, please let me know ahead of time if this presents a problem.

Total Points-200

Modules-175

Fishbowl-25

SUBMISSION OF WORK

All assignments are due on the dates indicated. All module activities including assessments must be complete when the module is due. It is expected that all assignments will reflect university-level composition and exposition. Use of electronic spelling and grammar checking is encouraged. Late assignments will not be accepted. Please contact the instructor if you have questions or concerns about a due date.

WRITING REQUIREMENT

Effective written and oral communication at advanced levels is important for full participation and success in this course. THIS COURSE MEETS THE REQUIREMENT OF UPPER DIVISION INTENSIVE WRITING.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

This course will follow the University Academic Dishonesty policy.

Inform your Instructor of Any Accommodations

Cal State Channel Islands is committed to equal educational opportunities for qualified students with disabilities in compliance with Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The purpose of Disability Resource Program is to assist students with disabilities to realize their academic and personal potential. Students with disabilities needing accommodation are required to contact the Disability Program office at (805) 437-3331. All requests for accommodations need appropriate advance notice by the student to avoid a delay in services. Please discuss approved accommodations with faculty.

This course is an online course. We will meet synchronously every third week on Tuesdays from 10-12. During this time there will be time for Q & A about course requirements, we will also hold our Fishbowl discussions during this time.

Course Calendar will be updated with schedule on CI Learn with regards to due dates and Fishbowl schedules.