200

This course covers the development of receptive and expressive skills in sign language and fingerspelling. Manual communication skills that are used in educational and social settings are emphasized. Deaf culture and community characteristics are discussed.

This course is designed to follow-up and expand on those signs taught in Sign Language I. Candidates are expected (following review) to be able to fluently use fingerspelling, numbers and other basic signs as well as demonstrate a certain level of precision and fluency. Extensions of deaf culture and school issues will be covered.

This course presents developmental theories of behavior, language and learning.  Candidates examine their personal learning styles and discuss how these styles affect their interactions with children and adolescents in the school setting. The psychology of exceptional learners, identification of exceptional learners and strategies for working with teaching exceptional learners are a focus of this course.  Candidates explore the characteristics and learning needs of exceptional learners via the integration of developmental theories using a case study approach. This course also covers the role of the middle school teacher in assessment, coordination and referral of students to health and social services.  

This course continues to examine characteristics of diverse learners, which were introduced in (54-207). An overview of the field of special education is covered, with emphasis on small and large group instruction, curriculum development, individual education plans, individual accommodation plans, philosophies of special education and current trends in the field. A case study and debate format is used. A 25 hour field experience in a junior high school or high school special education setting is associated with this course.