SPED 101 Typical and Atypical Development and Disorders

This course prepares candidates to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of typical and atypical human development from the prenatal stage through adulthood including knowledge of developmental stages and their implications for learning. Candidates will demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of atypical development associated with various disabilities and risk conditions, resilience and protective factors, and their implications for learning. Candidates will recognize the potential influence of varying cultural factors and practices on development. Candidates will demonstrate skills required to provide information to family members regarding typical developmental expectations as well as the impact of the disability on developmental progress. Candidates will demonstrate skills required to ensure that the intervention and/or instructional environment are appropriate to the student’s chronological age, developmental differences, and disability-specific needs. This course provides opportunities for each candidate to identify the characteristics of students with disabilities, including but not limited to students identified with specific learning disabilities, mild/moderate intellectual disabilities, other health impairments, traumatic brain injury, emotional disturbance, and autism spectrum disorders and to determine the implications of these characteristics for service delivery.

This course provides opportunities for the candidate to be able to identify the unique characteristics of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Candidates will demonstrate unique knowledge of cognition and neurology and the core challenges associated with language and communication, social skills, behavior, and processing and their implications for program planning and service delivery.