Special Educational Needs

Recommended Prerequisites

Biology and Genetics; Developmental Psychology I and II; Psychopathology I and II; Neuropsychology.

Teaching Methods

Lectures supported by audiovisual aids, case studies, training with assessment and intervention material; development of intervention proposals, critical analysis of texts and DVDs.

Learning Outcomes

- To understand the diversity, complexity and the essential characteristics of the different types of special educational needs.

- To understand the legal framework and the organization of the care provided to students with special educational needs in our country.

- To characterize and identify the learning disabilities.

- To get knowledge on methods and techniques of assessment and intervention specifically targeted to the special educational needs.

- To allow the closeness to psycho-pedagogical real practice in special needs education.

- To perform psychological and/or psychoeducational evaluations seeking to screen and identify special needs or to develop individualized interventions.

- To design and implement interventions adjusted to the specificity of special educational needs cases.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Module I - Special Educational Needs (SEN): Concepts of Disability, Functionality, Incapacity and Handicap. Definitions, types and prevalence of SEN.

Module II - Transversal Areas of Intervention in Special Educational Needs: Inclusion, Early Intervention, Curricular Flexibility and Transition to life after school.

Module III - Learning Disabilities (LD): Identification, Characterization and Intervention: Definitions. Identification criteria. Obstacles to the concept operationalization. Types of LD. Assessment. Interventions aimed at the promotion of cognitive and / or motivational functioning.

Module IV - Specific Reading Disabilities: Problems related to decoding and/or comprehension. Dyslexia: Identification and characterization. Taxonomies and determinants. Assessment. Methods for re-education and compensatory strategies.

Module V - Specific Writing Disabilities: Characterization of learning disabilities related to the written product and/or writing process. Assessment procedures. The re-education of dysorthographia. The promotion of the writing process in learning difficulties.

Assessment Methods

Periodic
Type C Examination-and of the practical work done in classes: 20.0%
Type B Examination-evaluation of a synthesis work, submitted in its writing and oral format during classes : 30.0%
Type A Examination-assessment corresponds to the average, rounded off to one decimal place, of the sum of the exam grade: 50.0%

Final
Exam: 100.0%

Bibliography

Correia, L. M. (Ed.) (2008). Inclusão e necessidades educativas especiais. Um guia para educadores e professores (2ª ed. rev). Porto: Porto Editora.

Cruz, V. M. L. (2009). Dificuldades de aprendizagem específicas. Lisboa: Lidel.

MacArthur, C. A., Graham, S. & Fitzgerald, J. (Eds.) (2006). Handbook of writing research. New York: Guilford Press.

Reid, G. (2009). The Routledge companion to dyslexia. London: Routledge.

Shaywitz, S. (2005). Overcoming dyslexia: a new and complete science-based program for reading problems at any level. New York : A. A. Knopf.

Swanson, H., Harris, K. & Graham, S. (2003). Handbook of learning disabilities. New York: Guilford Press.