For 2007 revisions - Portland State University



UNST 421: Learning From and About Persons with Disabilities

Portland State University

Ann Fullerton, Department of Special Education

Course Website:



Brief Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) video of program:



Course Description

Human diversity includes the variety of abilities and disabilities we all experience. In this capstone, students learn how the lives of persons with significant disabilities are similar and different than their own. They examine the challenges and needs of persons with disabilities and their families in society. While working as student-counselors in a residential camp located near Mt Hood, they expand their awareness, knowledge, and skills for interacting with and supporting persons with a variety of disabilities. Working in smaller groups and under the supervision of qualified staff, students use teamwork and communication skills to support each other and campers in a range of outdoor recreation activities. The two-week practicum portion of the course enables students to strengthen their personal and professional development through extensive opportunities to interact with campers, camp staff and other student-counselor trainees.

Course Goals

1. Using one’s major field of study and career interests as a base; explore social, economic, political, and/or cultural aspects of disability.

2. Learn how significant disabilities can impact cognitive, social, and physical functioning.

3. Learn and apply strategies and skills to communicate with, provide personal assistance to, and include persons with significant disabilities in a group’s activities.

4. Demonstrate responsibility for the overall physical, educational, and emotional needs of camper-participants.

5. Assess and evaluate the achievement levels and interests of campers.

6. Work cooperatively with camp and PSU staff, and with other student-counselors.

7. Demonstrate interest, initiative, and reliability in carrying out planned student-counselor activities.

8. Develop a positive personal relationship with campers, staff, and other student-counselors.

9. Become part of a team that works together to provide a positive outdoor experience for campers.

10. Demonstrate a willingness to evaluate personal performance and contribute to the success of one’s small group and the overall program.

11. Through discussions and writing, reflect what one has learned about individuals with disabilities, the broader context of disability within society, and how the issues and concerns of persons with disabilities intersect with your intended career.

Instructions for Using Course Web Resources

Before you arrive at camp for your session, go to the course webpage at and open the “Student Resources”.

You will find instructions and many websites in the document. First, scan the entire list of websites, there is a wide range of topics to explore. Then visit a few websites that interest you and select three (one from each section) for more in-depth reading.

For each of the three websites, seek out and read information that you find to be important and that you would like to share with other students and your supervisors during discussions at camp. Print out 1-3 pages from the websites that will help you share the information during the discussions. Be selective, you needn’t print out all that is available at the site. Bring the web pages to camp.

Later, you can use the web resources again when writing your final paper (See “Instructions for Final Paper”). In that paper you will connect what you learned about persons with disabilities from the websites, the discussions, and the experience of being a student-counselor.

1 Student Evaluation for Practicum Portion of Course

The Counselor Expectations Checklist (CEC)

The Counselor Expectations Checklist (CEC) provides the primary training objectives and evaluation procedures for students during the practicum. The CEC has 16 items divided into three sections: Camper Supervision/Interaction, Program Responsibilities, and Personal/Professional. The Counselor Expectations Checklist (CEC) is shown at the end of this section. Specific performance indicators for each item are described in the student handbook.

It is important that every student-counselor review the CEC and these performance indicators carefully. The camp program has developed the CEC so that Counselor Supervisors and other staff can communicate clearly to student-counselors what is expected and needed from student-counselors.

Procedures for Counselor Evaluation using the CEC

Week 1 evaluation: At the end of the first week, the student-counselor uses the Counselor Expectation Checklist (CEC) for week 1 to self-evaluate their performance in all areas. The student-counselor meets with their Counselor Supervisor to share their self-evaluation and to receive feedback from the Counselor Supervisor. The Counselor Supervisor and student-counselor discuss:

• Areas of strength in the student-counselor’s performance thus far.

• Areas in which the student-counselor would like more support and training

• Areas in which the student-counselor can improve their performance during the second week of the program.

Week 2 and final evaluation: At the beginning of the second week, the student-counselor keeps in mind any areas where they intend to develop and improve their performance. The Counselor Supervisor offers support and training that they can provide. At the end of the second week, the Counselor Supervisor completes the Counselor Expectations Checklist, assigning a numeric rating for the student-counselor. The student-counselor and Counselor Supervisor meet to review and discuss the final evaluation.

The Counselor Expectations Checklist for week 1 and week 2 are shown on the last two pages of the syllabus.

Discussion Topics

Your Practicum Coordinator and Counselors Supervisors will schedule times for small group discussions of some of the following topics. You will bring your experiences at camp and the information you brought with you from the websites to these discussions.

|Before you begin…. |

| |

|The words, ‘persons with disabilities’ refers to a wide array of individuals. Many of the course websites address the issues and |

|concerns of this broad array of persons with disabilities in society. |

| |

|Most but not all of our camper participants are persons with significant disabilities, defined as persons who need some form of |

|intensive and daily support for everyday living. |

| |

|Some of the discussion topics below refer to the wider world of persons with disabilities. Other discussion topics are focused on |

|persons with significant disabilities, such as those who participate in the camp program. |

Discussion Topic 1: What have I learned from our camper participants?

What are you learning about persons with significant disabilities from this experience? In what ways are the lives and dreams of persons with significant disabilities the same or different than your own?

Discussion Topic 2: How do my academic/career interests intersect with issues that are important to persons with disabilities?

Share with each other your academic and career interests. Share what you learned from the course websites listed under your academic/career interests and the needs/issues/talents of persons with disabilities. Here are a few examples:

|Academic/Career Interest |Examples of needs/issues/talents of persons with disabilities |

|Business |What are some of the creative ways that employers have provided accommodations so that talented|

| |individuals with disabilities can contribute to their business? |

|Economics |What are the long-term social and economic consequences of not providing early intervention and|

| |early childhood education for infants and children with disabilities? |

|Urban Studies/Design/ Architecture |What is universal design and how has it been applied in urban planning and architecture? In |

| |what ways does universal design benefit everyone? |

|Psychology |What factors are important in psycho-social adjustment to disability? |

| |What are typical attitudes towards persons with disabilities, what contributes to these |

| |attitudes, and what can change attitudes? |

| |What can we learn about social cognition in general by exploring the ways persons with autism |

| |understand social situations? |

|Child & Family Studies |What are the major parent/family advocacy groups for individuals with disabilities and their |

|Social Work |families? |

| |What are the social and economic challenges faced by persons with disabilities and their |

| |families? |

|Fine Arts |How have persons who experience disability expressed that experience through arts and |

|English/Literature |literature? |

| |How has artistic expression helped individuals experiencing disability adjust to new life |

| |circumstances and discover gifts that stem from that experience? |

|Sociology |What is Disability Studies? Is disability a social construct? |

|Anthropology |What are the consequences of various national and global (United Nations – 2007) policies |

|History |regarding persons with disabilities? |

|Political Science |What are the key themes in the social history of disability? |

| |How is disability viewed in different cultures? |

|Chemistry |What do we know about the neurological basis of autism? How is research in this area helping |

|Biology |us to understand brain functioning in general? |

| |Are there relationships between humans’ impact on the environment and the prevalence and |

| |incidence of disability? |

|Engineering |What are the latest breakthroughs in rehabilitation engineering? How are individuals with |

|Computer Science |physical disabilities contributing to this research? |

| |What is augmentative communication and assistive technology? |

| |What are the latest standards and breakthroughs for accessibility in telecommunications and the|

| |web? |

| |How can engineering/information technologies help persons with physical disabilities be more in|

| |control of their lives? |

|Speech & Hearing Sciences |How can various disabilities impact language development? How do we use augmentative |

| |communication systems and visual systems to help persons with significant disabilities |

| |communicate? |

Discussion Topic 3: What are our civic and social responsibilities to families with members with significant disabilities in our community:?

What challenges do families who have members with significant disabilities that need high levels of personal assistance or supervision face? How can society support families with children that have significant disabilities? Consider not only governmental supports but also informal and community supports. What are the benefits to all members of society in doing so?

Discussion Topic 4: How can I be an advocate and agent for social change?

You are now one of a relatively few members of our community that have lived with and gotten to know persons with significant disabilities. You have read and/or discussed some of the social and economic challenges faced by persons with disabilities in our community. You have met family members of camper participants and now have a glimpse into the daily challenges and joys they experience.

In your lifetime, you are likely to have a person with disabilities move into your neighborhood or work alongside you on the job. Some of us will also experience a family member or friend becoming disabled.

What have you learned from this experience and from the course websites that would help you:

• Ensure that the individual with disabilities had a voice in decisions that affected them?

• Teach and coach others that are unsure what to do or how to interact?

2 Instructions for Final Paper

The final paper is a 3-5 page paper in which you reflect on what you learned from the websites you visited and your experiences at camp. The paper should be typed and double spaced.

Respond to two of the following three topics in your paper:

Topic 1: New awareness, new knowledge about persons with disabilities in society.

Briefly describe information that you learned about persons with disabilities and/or disability issues from the websites you visited. Say why you find this information important/significant. Provide the website name/address.

Topic 2: Being an advocate and agent for social change

You are now one of a relatively few members of our community that have lived with and gotten to know persons with significant disabilities. You have read and/or discussed some of the social and economic challenges faced by persons with disabilities in our community. You have met family members of camper participants and now have a glimpse into the daily challenges and joys they experience.

In your lifetime, you are likely to have a person with disabilities move into your neighborhood or work alongside you on the job. Some of us will also experience a family member or friend becoming disabled. What have you learned from this experience and from the course websites that would help you:

• Ensure that the individual with disabilities had a voice in decisions that affected them?

• Teach and coach others that are unsure what to do or how to interact?

Topic 3: Describe what you have learned about yourself and others during this experience

Choose and address questions such as:

a) What did you learn about yourself? What events helped you learn this?

c) What did you learn about others? What events helped you learn this?

d) How did you feel about yourself and what you did?

e) What have you discovered about working with others (the other student-counselors and staff)? What experiences at camp led to this discovery?

f) What have you discovered about persons with disabilities? What experiences at camp led to this discovery?

g) How have these experiences contributed to your thoughts about your career or other personal goals?

h) What have you learned about leadership and teamwork?

Your paper is due by noon on the Friday after you return home from your two-week session at camp. Instructions for delivery of your paper are in you Handbook.

1 Course Overview: Before, During, After Camp Session

Before you arrive for your two-week session at camp, complete the following:

1. Read the Counselor and Staff Handbook. (The handbook is handed out during Orientation). Bring your handbook to camp.

2. Log on to and then click on “Student Resources “. First, scan the entire list of websites, there is a wide range of topics to explore. Then visit a few websites that interest you and select three (one from each section) for more in-depth reading.

3. For each of these websites, seek out and read information that you find to be important and that you would like to share with other students and your supervisors during discussions at camp. Print out a few pages from the websites that will help you share the information during the discussions. Be selective, you needn’t print out all that is available at the site. Bring the web pages to camp.

4. Keep in mind that after your two weeks at camp, your final assignment is a reflection paper. In that paper you will connect what you learned about persons with disabilities from the websites, the discussions, and the experience of being a student-counselor.

5. Complete the take home exam, bring it to camp, and turn it in to your university supervisor. In the take home exam, list the names of the websites that you reviewed and will contribute to the discussions as camp. (The take home exam is handed out during Orientation).

6. Don’t forget to bring to camp:

• The Counselor and Staff Handbook

• Pages from the three websites you chose to bring for discussion

• The completed take home exam. Turn it in to your university supervisor.

During week 1 at camp:

1. Turn in your take home exam to the University Supervisor.

2. Participate fully in counselor training.

3. Perform your responsibilities as a student-counselor as described during counselor training and in the Handbook. The Counselor Expectations Checklist (CEC) for week 1 and week 2 can be found at the end of the syllabus.

4. During meetings with your Counselor Supervisor and other students in your group, participate in problem solving and planning to support the campers and student-counselors in the group.

5. Participate during discussions led by your Practicum Coordinator and Counselor Supervisors and contribute information you learned from the websites you visited.

6. Complete Experience Skills Checklist (ESC) that rates campers’ skill levels.

7. Assist camper in completion of a Camper Journal describing camp experience.

8. On Thursday of week 1, complete self-evaluation using the Counselor Experience Checklist (CEC) and turn in to your Counselor Supervisor.

9. On Friday of week 1, attend conference with your Counselor Supervisor to discuss first week’s performance as a student-counselor, and receive feedback and support.

During week 2 at camp:

10. On Sunday, the first day of week 2, arrive on time for scheduled meeting with your student-counselor group.

11. Continue to perform your responsibilities as a student-counselor as described in counselor training and in the Counselor Expectations Checklist (CEC). Incorporate any feedback you received from your Counselor Supervisor.

12. During meetings with your Counselor Supervisor and other students, participate in problem solving and planning to support the campers and student-counselors in the group.

13. Participate during discussions led by your Practicum Coordinator and Counselor Supervisors regarding persons with disabilities and society and information you learned from the websites you visited.

14. Complete Experience Skills Checklist (ESC) that rates campers’ skill levels.

15. Assist camper in completion of a Camper Journal describing camp experience.

16. Attend final conference with your Counselor Supervisor to receive and discuss final Counselor Expectations Checklist (CEC) evaluation.

17. Complete course evaluation and program evaluation.

After returning home from camp:

18. Complete final reflection paper and turn it in by the due date. See “Instructions for Final Paper”.

Evaluation:

Student-counselor performance as evaluated using the Counselor Expectations Checklist, student’s participation in discussions, and the student’s paper are all considered in the final grade.

Counselor Expectations Checklist (CEC): Week 1 and week 2:

Examples of all items on the checklists are provided in your Handbook.

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