CSD 8235 Counseling Applications
in Communication Disorders

Course Syllabus

Course Objectives:

By the end of this course students will be able to:

Texts:

Luterman, David M. (2008) Counseling the communicatively disordered and their families (5th ed.). Austin, TX: Pro-ed.

Remen, Rachel Naomi (1996). Kitchen Table Wisdom. NY: Riverhead Books.

Reserve Readings:

Brammer & MacDonald (2003).  Characteristics of helpers. Ch. 2 in The helping relationship:  Process and skills (8th ed.).      Boston: Allyn & Bacon. pp. 26-47.

Brammer & MacDonald (2003).  Helping skills for understanding.  Ch. 4 in The helping relationship:  Process and skills (8th ed.).  Boston: Allyn & Bacon.  pp. 70-97.

Shipley & Roseberry-McKibbin (2006).  Prerequisites for effective interviewing and counseling.  Ch. 2 in Interviewing and counseling in communicative disorders (3rd ed.).  Boston:  Allyn & Bacon. pp. 15-35.

Shipley & Roseberry-McKibbin (2006). Working with culturally and linguistically diverse clients.  Ch. 8 in Interviewing and counseling in communicative disorders (3rd ed.).  Boston:  Allyn & Bacon. pp. 187-214.

Spillers, C.S. (2007).  An existential framework for understanding the counseling needs of clients.  AJSLP 16(3), pp. 191-197.

Requirements and Assignment of Grades

Policies:

1. Mitigating Circumstances: If you have any disabilities, either permanent or temporary, which might affect your ability to perform in this course, please talk to me at the beginning of the term. I will try to adapt methods, materials, or testing so that you can participate equitably in the course.
   

2. Exams and Make-up Exams: For any in-class exams, you will be expected to write the exam on the day for which it is scheduled. If you are ill or must be absent on that day, you must notify me prior to the class meeting time. For take-home exams, you will generally have one week in which to complete the exam.  Exams are due at the beginning of class on the due date.  The final exam slot for this course is Tuesday, Dec. 22 @ 10:00 a.m.  The case study final paper will be due at this time.
   

3. Due Dates: Due dates for written work will be announced in advance. Unless otherwise specified, the work is due at the beginning of class on the due date. Late work will be penalized one letter grade for each day it is late.
   

4. Incompletes: If life becomes overwhelming during the term, come and visit me. We can talk about some options that you may have before deciding on an incomplete. The Graduate School policy on incompletes appears on p. 267 of the 2007-2009 catalogue.
   
   
   
   

5. Reading Assignments: The reading assignments will come from the Luterman and Remen books, library reserve materials, and links to the unit outlines. Use the Course Itinerary to help you plan what readings correspond to which topics of discussion. The Remen book is full of stories, all of them short. I have assigned a few stories that correspond to some of our topics.  The rest of them are well worth reading and will be useful for sparking discussions and reflection papers.
   

6. Preparation: Instructors usually assign readings with the expectation that students will read the materials BEFORE coming to class and use the information as a foundation for understanding the day's activities and for discussion. Quite often this does not happen and students come to class ill prepared, assuming a passive role in class.  One of the two things that irritate professors the most is students' lack of preparation for class.  To me, lack of preparation often signals a lack of ownership for one's learning.  The more prepared you are, the more interesting and fun class will be for you; the less prepared you are, the less interesting and fun it will be.

Classroom Etiquette

1. Attendance: Daily class attendance is not required, although it is encouraged very strongly. Since this class meets one time per week, you miss a lot when you miss one class session. You will be responsible for obtaining lecture information and handouts presented on days that you miss. Unfortunately, you will not be able to make-up for missed discussions and in-class experiences. This could be a problem.

2. Tardiness:    Most of you are adult enough and responsible enough to get to class on time.  That said, it is easy to lose track of time in the computer lab and work room, and cleaning up after a therapy session can take longer than you anticipate.  Watch your time so that you can get to class and be ready when class starts. Arriving late to class can be very disruptive.  If you must arrive late to class, try to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible.  If you know before hand that you will be late, please let me know with a quick email or phone call (contact info is at the top of the page).  If you have a tight schedule that involves traveling from the upper campus or from an internship site, talk to me at the beginning of the semester so that we can work things out.  I will notice habitual tardiness and will think less well of your motivation and interest in this course.  

3. Leaving Class Early:  Again, most of you are adult enough and responsible enough not to leave class early.  Sometimes other obligations and appointments require you to leave early, however, so please let me know before hand.   Leaving class before the end can also be disruptive, so if you must leave, do it quietly and respectfully.
   
   

4. Cell Phones:   Most of you are very conscientious and respectful about cell phone use in class.  As a general reminder, please turn off your cell phone before class and leave it off.  Put it out of sight so that you are not tempted by its beckoning. If you use your cell phone during class, I will ask you to leave.  I may even confiscate your phone and you must see me to have it returned.

5. Laptop Computers:  Laptop computers bring a world of resources to your fingertips; they also bring a world of distractions to your fingertips. If you use your laptop in class, you are expected to use it appropriately and respectfully i.e. for course related activities only.  Reading email, surfing the net, shopping, playing games, etc. are not course related and are not appropriate activities.  If you use your computer for non-course related activities during class, I may ask you to close it down.  If you habitually use your computer for non-course related activities during class, you will lose the privilege of using it in class.  UW-Madison has some excellent advice for students regarding laptop use and attentiveness in general (see below).  (Advice for Students) As a courtesy, please do not use your laptop when guest speakers are visiting.  If you want to take notes on their presentations, please take hand-written notes.
   
   

6. Attentiveness:  The second behavior most likely to irritate faculty is lack of attentiveness -- seeing students sleeping, reading the paper, preparing for another class, emailing, texting, surfing, etc.  Students often engage in multiple activities in class under the false assumption that they are multitasking.  This simply isn't true.  Michelle Tessier and Linda Marnich multitask.  Students doing multiple things in class are engaging in a behavior known as continuous partial attention.  Continuous partial attention means that we give partial attention to one task while we scan our horizons for something more interesting, and then give partial attention to that while we continue scanning our horizons. We never fully engage ourselves in any one thing.   Remember that you are in the classroom for only one reason:  to learn.  Your primary responsibility in the classroom is to open and engage your mind in the activity at hand. If you engage in non-course related activities during class, I may confiscate those materials and you must see me to have them returned.

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
©2009 Cindy S. Spillers. For concerns about this course contact the instructor at cspiller@d.umn.edu

posted September 2009