Progressive Essay Assignment Description

.Teaching Students with Intensive Communication Needs

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Progressive Essay Assignment

The purpose of this INDIVIDUAL assignment is to provide a framework for your self-guided study in this course. To encourage you to work on this assignment throughout the semester, I am requiring that you turn in a rough draft of your responses to the essay questions. Because this assignment refers to material from the entire course, you will be able to answer more of the essay questions over time. By the end of the courses, you should be able to reflect back on your earlier answers with greater understanding of the complexities of the issues involved.
I am most interested in you forming your own, personally-meaningful answers to these questions. However, your answers do have to reflect your understanding of the professional literature, as well as your informed personal opinion on the relevant issues. Every answer should have several in-text citations included. You will also need to use outside resources to complete your essays successfully. However, the answers should NOT be a summary of the readings -- the purpose of this assignment is for you to integrate the material from the readings into your own understanding of this subject.
Each question is a stand-alone short essay -- do not integrate all of the questions into one massive paper/essay. Do not include a general introduction/conclusion to the assignment as a whole. Your draft and final version should be typed and follow APA format (see the writing and formatting checklist on page 10 of the syllabus). You must include the complete and numbered question at the start of each of your answers.
Essay Questions:

1. Compare and contrast communication and language. Include in your answer a discussion who might be considered to communicate vs. who might be considered to have developed language.

2. There are several important watermarks in the development of communication and language. These include the transition to intentional communication, the use of conventional forms of communication, the development of symbolic forms of communication, and the transition to language. Identify the behaviors that indicate that an individual is transitioning into each of these increasingly complex forms of communication and what the implications are for intervention in the classroom and at home.

3. Identify and discuss some of the important considerations/issues in the assessment of communication with individuals with intensive communication needs and/or young children with emerging communication abilities.

4. Compare and contrast at least three approaches to intervention for individuals with intensive communication needs. If you use information from your colleagues’ presentation(s), be sure to cite their presentation and/or handouts.

5. What is AAC? What are important considerations in facilitating the communication of students using AAC with peers and family members?

6. Compare and contrast at least three different definitions of literacy in the context of individuals with disabilities. Include your standpoint on this issue. (Note: the page on my web site is a model ONLY – you need to find your own definitions of literacy and compare and contrast them.)

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Home Courses Handouts Vision Vita e-mail me

Return to top Julia Scherba de Valenzuela, Ph.D.
Last updated: May 29, 2007

1.	Compare and contrast communication and language. Include in your answer a discussion who might be considered to communicate vs. who might be considered to have developed language.
2.	There are several important watermarks in the development of communication and language. These include the transition to intentional communication, the use of conventional forms of communication, the development of symbolic forms of communication, and the transition to language. Identify the behaviors that indicate that an individual is transitioning into each of these increasingly complex forms of communication and what the implications are for intervention in the classroom and at home.
3.	Identify and discuss some of the important considerations/issues in the assessment of communication with individuals with intensive communication needs and/or young children with emerging communication abilities.
4.	Compare and contrast at least three approaches to intervention for individuals with intensive communication needs. If you use information from your colleagues’ presentation(s), be sure to cite their presentation and/or handouts.
5.	What is AAC? What are important considerations in facilitating the communication of students using AAC with peers and family members?
6.	Compare and contrast at least three different definitions of literacy in the context of individuals with disabilities. Include your standpoint on this issue. (Note: the page on my web site is a model ONLY – you need to find your own definitions of literacy and compare and contrast them.)