Ph.D. Program Information

Concentration in Children with Special Needs

The Ph.D. concentration in Children with Special Needs prepares students for a broad range of academic and applied careers in areas that include early intervention, assessment, special education, developmental neuropsychology, and pediatric psychology. Through the combination of a) an in-depth academic program in multiple aspects of child development and developmental disorders; b) applied internships in clinical, school-based, and/or hospital settings; and c) a careful sequence of research experiences, students develop both a theoretical and an applied knowledge base about children with special needs and the programs, practices, and services that support them and their families. The course requirements for this concentration are intended to provide a background both in theories of normal child development and also in theories and practice associated with children with special needs.

The course requirements for the Ph.D. degree with a concentration in Children with Special Needs are as follows:

1. Theory: Three of the following:
   • CD 211 Contemporary Perspectives in Child Development or CD 243RL Applied Developmental Science*
     *Note: Only 1 of these two courses may be selected to meet the 3 theory course requirements.
   • CD 151 Advanced Intellectual Development
   • CD 155 The Young Child’s Development of Language
   • CD 161 Personal/Social Development
   • CD 156 Applied Aspects of Physiological Development
   • CD 190 Children with Special Needs
2. Theory: CD 156 Applied Aspects of Physiological Development
3. Theory: CD 190 Children with Special Needs
4. Theory: One of the following:
   • CD 195 Developmental Disorders in Language and Reading
   • CD 197 Learning Disorders
5. CD 140 Statistics
6. Research Methods: Either 142 or:
   • CD 142 Problems of Research: Method and Design and
   • CD 144 Qualitative and Ethnographic Methods
   • CD 120 Evaluation of the Young Child
7. CD 120 Evaluation of the Young Child
8. Two Concentration Electives
9. Internship
10. Two Qualifying Papers
11. Doctoral Dissertation

Ph.D. Children with Special Needs Concentration Electives:

Child Development

• CD 137 Supervised Teaching: Children with Special Needs
• CD 143 Technologies of the Self
• CD 145/ED 182 Technological Tools for Thinking and Learning
• CD 158 Psychological Study of Creativity
• CD 164 Cultural Diversity in Child and Family Services
• CD 177 Bilingualism and Bilingual Education
• CD 191 Developmental Psychopathology and Adaptation
• CD 192 Approaches to Problem Behaviors in Children
• CD 193 Pediatric Psychology
• CD 195 Developmental Disorders in Language and Reading
• CD 196 Curriculum for Children with Special Needs
• CD 197 Learning Disorders
• CD 281 Consultation Strategies
• CD 291 Advanced Seminar in Clinical-Developmental
• CD 296 Seminar in Special Education

Education

• ED 112 Mathematics Learning Environments
• ED 142 Education of the Exceptional Child
• ED 162 Class, Race, and Gender in the History of the U.S. Education
• ED 243 Assessment and Diagnosis of Cognitive Abilities

Psychology

• PY 103 Brain and Behavior
• PY 129 Cognitive Neuroscience
• PY 144 Memory and Retention
• PY 149 Psychology of Language
• PY 244 Cognition and Learning
• PY 247 Cognition

Occupational Therapy

• OT 280 Early Intervention: Assessment and Programming
• OT 281 Early Intervention: An Ecological Approach

Courses offered by other departments, such as the Department of Education, can be used to fulfill the concentration elective requirements with approval from the Program Adviser.

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