City College of San Francisco
DSPS 1
CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
Examination of disability-related issues within various contexts including sociology, bio-medicine, psychology, civil rights, education, employment, media, and culture. Topics include: myths and attitudes; living with a disability; historical, recent, and proposed legislation; global perspectives; reasonable and unreasonable accommodations; and strategies for ensuring systems change. Emphasizes ways in which to improve quality of life for people with disabilities.
MAJOR LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Upon completion of this course, a student will be able to:
A. Compare and contrast the influences of historical, cultural, bio-medical, sociological, educational, legal and employment-related factors on disabilities.
B. Synthesize the complexity of disability and the notion of independence within the social construction of idealized mental and physical perfection; relate these dynamics to the stages of adjustment to a disability.
C. Analyze the multifaceted diversity within the disability community.
D. Describe, analyze and interpret disability-related court decisions, policies, and legislation at the international, national, state, and local level.
E. Differentiate between secondary and post-secondary education-related laws and demonstrate ways in which individuals can advocate within each system.
F. Formulate ways in which to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
G. Use critical and analytical thinking skills such as comparing and contrasting different media coverage of disability, to recognize incorrect assumptions, evaluate accuracy, completeness of information, and ability biases.
H. Critically evaluate the efficacy of disability-related technology in the home, classroom, and workplace.
I. Devise a plan for encouraging systemic change within an organization.
J. Critically assess the efficacy of local, national, and international disability-related resources.
K. Translate current global knowledge about the standard of life for people with disabilities into future trends in health, education, rehabilitation, technology, employment, and civil rights.
CONTENT:
A. Constructing a Model of Disability
2. Benefits/welfare agency definitions
3. Qualitative and quantitative aspects of disability
a. Incidence
b. Overview of diagnostic/evaluation instruments (DSM, UPDRS, etc)
c. Severity
d. Onset
e. Distinctions between invisible and visible disabilities
f.
Websites
that pertain to specific disabilities
B. Strategies for coping with a disability
1. Identifying limitations and adjusting to a disability
3. The self-help model
4. Approaches to forming supportive alliances with care-giving agencies
C. Societal views and attitudes about disabilities
a. Prejudice
b. Stereotyping
c. Discrimination
2. Disability viewed from various perspectives
3. Secondary implications of disabilities
4. Diversity
within and outside the disability community
D. Societal influences on disability before 1960
1. Social perspectives
a. Events, such as epidemics, soldiers returning from wars,
etc.
b. People, such as Helen Keller, Gandhi, etc.
2. Political
and legal historical perspectives
a. Laws, such as Smith-Fess Act, Social Security Act, etc.
b. Political movements, such as Women’s Suffrage, etc.
c. Court decisions
E. Societal influences on disability from 1960 to the present
1. Social
perspectives
a. Events, such as Stonewall, AIDS epidemic, etc.
b. People, such as the Kennedys, Ed Roberts,
etc.
2. Political
and legal perspectives
a. Laws,
such as Civil Rights Act, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, etc.
b. Political movements, such as Independent
Living Resource Centers, etc.
c. Court decisions
F. Media and disabilities
1.
Current national and international projects researching the topic
of the media
and
disabilities
2.
Contemporary disability depictions/descriptions
a.
Print
b. Radio and Television
c.
Internet
d.
Movies
3.
Ways to positively portray people with disabilities
4. Strategies
for media access
--------------------------------------Mid-Term--------------------------------
G. Education and disabilities
1.
Primary, secondary and post-secondary disability education
a.
Scope/purpose of disability programs
b.
Legal and policy differences in providing disability services
2.
The concept of “reasonable accommodations” and related controversies
3. Programmatic and
architectural accommodations
a.
Implementing architectural modifications
b.
Implementing programmatic accommodations
4. The role
of advocacy in secondary and post-secondary institutions
5.
Strategies aimed at improving advocacy skills
6. Resources for ensuring successful
disability education experience
H. Employment and disabilities
1. The distinction between career and job
2.
Phases of readiness to work
3. Case histories of
successfully employed people with disabilities
4. Laws and regulations that
protect people with disabilities from
employment discrimination
5. Resources
for successful disability employment experiences
I. Technology and disabilities
1.
Understanding the need for assistive technology
a.
Augmentative and alternative
communication systems
b. Technologies that
facilitate mobility and manipulation of the
environment
c. Sensory aids for
persons with visual or auditory impairments
2.
Advances in assistive
technologies for the classroom, the workplace, and home
J. Effecting systems change in
programs/services/agencies that
1. Understanding the role of
various organizational frameworks
2. Strategies for encouraging change
3. Practical examples of how to develop a blueprint for
encouraging
organizational change
4.
Designing a step-by-step plan for instituting change within an
organization
K. Trends and movements in
disabilities
1. Legislation
2.
Technology
3. Science
4. The arts
5. Education
6. Employment
A. Assignments
what it is like to be a person with a disability (or have a personal
relationship with someone who is a person with a disability, e.g., family
member, partner, significant other).
2. As an activity, students devise a list of appropriate reasonable
accommodations for varying levels of education and for an array of workplace
settings.
3. As an activity, students collaborate in groups on a plan for initiating
change within an organization.
specific disability conditions and diverse issues to be shared with all class
members.
5. As an activity, students write a press release announcing a
disability-related event.
6. As an activity, students complete weekly reading assignments
from the text, additional articles from scholarly journals, newspapers, blogs,
and websites.
B. Evaluation
1. Quizzes based upon assigned readings from textbook, journals,
and lectures dealing with topics such as societal influences on disabilities,
diversity within the disability community, etc.
2. Midterm examination that reviews all material previously presented such as definitions, perspectives on disabilities, etc.
3. Final Examination or final project.
4. Completion of optional projects.
5. Participation in Discussion Board as per guidelines provided in the course syllabus.
C. Textbook and Other Instructional Materials
1. Wilde, J. (2004) The Disability Journey: A Bridge from Awareness
to Action,
New York. iUniverse.
2. Supplemental materials
a. Journal articles
b. Newspaper articles
c. Disability-related websites