Special Education Techniques
Application Deadline
March 1st for the Fall Semester
This Program is for you if…
- You often find yourself in the role of the listener
- You enjoy the challenges of helping others in difficult situations
- You feel the ability to guide, support, and empower others comes naturally to you
- You want to further develop this kind of talent and refine it into a professional career
- You have a great ability to adapt to different situations
- You are open-minded
This program is available in the Fall semester only.
Prerequisites
Many fieldwork settings require students to undergo a police background check. A criminal record might bar a student from completing their fieldwork in certain services.
The Special Education Techniques program is not available to International Students.
The Program
First Year
All combined, the first-year courses share two main commonalities:
– To provide students with an understanding of the field, the role of the S.C.C. and the meaning and significance of professional behaviors and attitudes.
– To initiate explicit training in the fundamental skills essential to the field.
Students are informed that if they fail more than one core course in their first semester, they will be encouraged to take only general courses in the subsequent winter semester. They can resume in the following fall semester. The first semester lays a foundation and expectations and requirements increase incrementally with each semester. A student entering the second semester with a partial foundation will likely struggle and risk becoming frustrated and discouraged. This policy is designed to enhance student success.
Second Year
Within the classroom, students develop their theoretical and practical understanding of seven different client groups. In the fourth semester, a 225-hour fieldwork affords real-life experience with a clientele of their choice (where possible). The ability to generalize and apply the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom to the field is a crucial milestone in the training process. In most cases, only students who have completed all their first, second, and third-semester program-specific courses will be permitted to enter Fieldwork III. This is because all the skills learned in these courses are essential to succeed in fieldwork.
Third Year
The third year begins with an Internship where students are working in the field full-time for an entire semester. Throughout this final phase of training, students are expected to demonstrate competence in all areas and to show that they have integrated their theoretical and practical skills from the previous two years. In most cases, only students who have completed all their first and second-year program-specific courses will be allowed to continue into the third year.
The Integrative Project course encompasses the Comprehensive Assessment and evaluates the degree to which students can apply skills developed both in program-specific and general education courses. They must work collaboratively with a community partner to develop a project that will address an unmet psycho-social need. Accomplishing this task requires proficiency in all areas of the Graduate Student Profile.
Objectives
- To explore the profession
- To analyze issues relating to social participation
- To situate a person’s development
- To communicate in a professional context
- To adopt safe working practices
- To observe behaviors
- To examine intervention approaches and techniques
- To establish a helping relationship
- To determine interventions relating to Intellectual Disabilities (ID)
- To determine interventions relating to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- To animate clinical activities
- To determine interventions relating to Language Difficulties and Communication Disorders
- To determine interventions relating to Learning Difficulties and Disorders
- To determine interventions relating to the Ageing population
- To carry out interventions based on prevention
- To develop an Intervention Plan
- To determine interventions relating to Physical Impairments
- To determine interventions relating to Youth with adjustment difficulties
- To determine interventions relating to Mental Health Disorders
- To determine interventions relating to Addictions
- To carry out interventions based on adaptation and rehabilitation
- To carry out crisis interventions
Role of the Special Education Technicians
Special Education Technicians are trained to work with people of all ages and diverse needs. The essence of their role is to develop relationships that provide support and guidance to enhance clients’ development, adaptation, and quality of life.
Client-Groups
Students develop competencies to work with a variety of client-groups such as individuals with physical, neurological, or intellectual impairments, mental health issues, substance abuse problems, behavior, language, and/or learning difficulties, seniors in loss of autonomy, and victims of violence.
Work Settings
The main places of employment are rehabilitation centres, short and long-term care facilities, psychiatric hospitals, adapted work centres, schools, CLSC’s, community organizations, group homes, day centres, and halfway houses.
Graduate Student Profile
Graduates of the Special Education Techniques Program at Champlain-Lennoxville have developed the conceptual, technical, and human skills required to exercise effectively the role of the special care counselor.
Conceptual Skills (Savoir)
- The knowledge required to explore potential explanations regarding human behavior using diverse theoretical perspectives and paradigms.
- The ability and skills to remain continually abreast of current best practices.
- A rudimentary understanding of the needs and characteristics of individuals of all ages experiencing cognitive, physical, mental, and/or emotional difficulties.
- The critical and creative thinking skills to reflect, question, analyse, evaluate and problem solve.
- Technical Skills (Savoir Faire)
- Develop, implement and analyse a myriad of observation tools.
- Be able to communicate effectively in spoken and written English.
- Be able to communicate functionally in oral and written French.
- Write clear, concise, nonjudgmental reports.
- Gather pertinent data on clients from all sources available.
- Assess client needs, formulate goals/objectives, choose appropriate interventions, write, implement and evaluate intervention plans.
- Establish professional helping relationships that promote trust, autonomy and adjustment.
- Use communication techniques that encourage collaboration, mutual respect and openness.
- Work collaboratively as part of an interdisciplinary team.
- Human Skills (Savoir Être)
- Are empathetic, caring and sensitive to the needs, motivations, thoughts, and feelings of others.
- Are polite, dependable, dedicated and trustworthy.
- Are flexible and adaptable.
- Possess integrity and abide by the code of ethics.
- Understand the need to model the behaviour and attitudes they seek to cultivate in others
- Live a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle.
The Comprehensive Assessment
The Comprehensive Assessment (CA) is a requirement designed to demonstrate that a student has integrated all the knowledge, skills and attitudes developed throughout the program, including general education courses. At Champlain-Lennoxville, this is evaluated in the context of Internship. Students must demonstrate competency in all conceptual skills, technical skills, and human skills learned throughout the program. All skills required are found in the Graduate Student Profile and serve as the foundation for the CA.
The Comprehensive Assessment is evaluated through the student’s ability to demonstrate that they master the intervention process throughout all its phases. The practical component is evaluated through internship whereas the written and oral components are evaluated through an oral presentation to a panel of SCC teachers at the end of the semester. Consolidating questions by the panel regarding the students’ integration of essential skills and their ability to transfer knowledge concludes the CA. A pass in Internship is required in order to access the Comprehensive Assessment.
University Studies
Many Quebec universities offer credit for courses (passerelle) in related baccalaureate programs to Special Education Techniques graduates. Consult specific universities for details. The University of Calgary offers a Block transfer, giving SET graduates direct access to a two-year university diploma.
Program Grid
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
Semester 4
Semester 5
Semester 6
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
Semester 4
Semester 5
Semester 6
Topic
Note: Some course titles may differ slightly on students’ transcripts; please refer to course numbers.
What can I do with a DEC in Special Education Techniques?
Opportunities after Completing the Program
- Special Education Technician
- Social Rehabilitation Technician
- Youth Counsellor
Workplace Opportunities
- Recreation Centers
- Social Service Centers
- Hospitals
- Youth Centers
- Local Community Service Centers (CLSC)
- Provincial and Federal Detention
- Private Daycare Centers
- Transition Houses
- School Daycare Services
- Reception and Accommodation Centers
- Early Childhood Centers (CPE)
- Rehabilitation Centers
- Community or Social Action Organizations
- School Service Centers
This Technique can also lead to Undergraduate studies in Psychoéducation (DEC-BAC Agreement).
Did you know…?
This training is covered by the Perspective Québec scholarship program.