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• 2014-2015
• Psychology 2043A-001

Psychology 2043A-001

Exceptional Children: Developmental Disorders

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

Welcome to Exceptional Children: Developmental Disorders! Below you will find a course description, evaluation summary, lecture outline, and some study tips. I will go over these points in class, but please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the outline right now. I look forward to teaching you and wish you all the best for a great year! - Alexandra Twyman

I’ll leave you with a quote from our textbook, to inspire you to starting reading ahead “Children can light up parents ’ hearts with a smile, and parents of children with disabilities, just like other parents, have their favorite stories of their child’s first adventures and antics. As a parent, your child is always your child first, and his or her exceptionality comes second.” Kirk et al, 14th ed.

1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

This half course will cover theory and treatment related to major childhood disorders affecting learning and development, including autism, learning disabilities, mental retardation, and physical handicaps.

Antirequisites:  Psychology 2041, 2320A/B, 3320F/G, 3434E

Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit.  So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.

3 lecture hours, 0.5 course

2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Alexandra Twyman
Office and Phone Number: SSC 7440, ext 84727
Office Hours: Monday 6 to 7 p.m. (in UCC-146, our regular classroom!)
Email: atwyman3@uwo.ca

Teaching Assistant: Jordynne Ropat
Office: Natural Sciences Building, Einstein’s
Office Hours: Wednesday, 11-12 a.m.
Email: ropat2043a@gmail.com

Time and Location of Lectures: Mondays, 7 to 10 p.m. UCC-146

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.

3.0 TEXTBOOK

Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M. R., & Anastasiow, N. (2015). Educating Exceptional Children (14th edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. ISBN-13: 978-1-285-45134-3 ISBN-10:1-285¬45134-1.

4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course is designed to provide an over-view of the major developmental disorders affecting children, including areas that influence intellect and learning, communication, and sensory experience. Over the course of the semester, we will discuss how disabilities influence the lives of children and their families, as well as interventions to help every child and family flourish.

5.0 EVALUATION
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages: 70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses 72% 2100-2990-level courses 75% 3000-level courses 80% 4000-level courses

The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf )
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail

6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Exams:

Exams are entirely multiple choice, and cover material from lecture, textbooks, and videos in class.
Oct. 26th =Non-cumulative Exam 1 (40%)
December Exam Period, Date TBA = Non-cumulative Exam 2 (40%)
Assignment Due Dates
Assignments are due on the Mondays listed below at 7 p.m. as a paper copy turned in before the start of class. There is a strict half page, 11 pt Arial font limit to each written assignment. I will use your top 4 of 5 assignments for your course grade, so each assignment is worth 5% of your course grade (20% of grade)
October 5 & 19th
November 16th & 30th
December 7th

7.0 LECTURE SCHEDULE
*Dates marked with an asterisk are days when an assignment is due at the start of class.

8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com .
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.

9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at: http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/pg117.htmlStudents must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation: http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html

10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following: http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2015 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.