This considers the appropriate evaluation tools and techniques for evaluating and making differential diagnoses of preschool children who present as having significant developmental delays. Consideration is given to the special techniques necessary to evaluate children with challenging behaviors. The course will also deal with how to make appropriate programmatic recommendations, write reports, provide assistance, and how to share findings with parents and professionals. Behavior problems are considered from the point of view of genetic abnormalities, teratogens, deviations in normal development, effects of social and family stressors, and failure to develop appropriate social skills. The major theories and research related to the development of deviant behavior in children are examined within this framework.
Attention is paid to the legal aspects and ethics of being a school psychologist.
This course considers consultation with parents, school systems, and the community. Laws governing education will be reviewed. The application of research-based interventions to the social and behavioral problems of children and adolescents in the school setting and mental health issues in the schools will be discussed. This course has a practicum of shadowing educators, including a school psychologist, and working with special needs children. This practicum provides students an opportunity for students to apply their learning from content courses to elementary and secondary students who are failing to find success in school.