Diversity and Disability Issues: Students, Families, Schools and the Community

Catalog description

The focus of this course will be on how various social institutions, particularly the school and family, may define disability and how this may impact collaboration and communication in regard to service provision in special education. Research regarding how identification and service delivery, as well as the student's learning, may be impacted by issues of diversity, including disability, ethnicity/culture, socioeconomic level, language/linguistics/dialects, and gender, will be studied. The potential for bias during assessment and/or instruction and the potential impact on learning will be investigated. Moreover, how these issues are reflected in family systems and identity and how differences might lead to misconceptions or misunderstandings will be discussed. Finally, how strategies to support identity formation and retention can be incorporated into lesson plans or classroom activities will be addressed.