The Autism/Severe Disabilities concentration in the 4+1 track of the M.Ed in Exceptional Children and Youth program is for current UD early childhood education majors and K-8 teacher education majors in the special education concentration. This five-year program combines undergraduate and graduate coursework. Students will earn a bachelor’s degree in their major at the end of four years and a M.Ed. in Exceptional Children and Youth in one additional year. Students who complete the M.Ed. requirements during the +1 year are eligible for teacher certification in Autism/Severe Disabilities.

Application

To apply to the 4+1 you must complete an Abbreviated 4+1 Application.

Prior to starting the application, you should prepare the following documents to be uploaded.

• Copy of your unofficial UD transcript
• Essay: A personal statement (essay) for 4+1 applicants to any of the College of Education & Human Development graduate programs is required. In the essay, respond to prompts 1 and 2 below:
  • 1. Outline your educational plans and career goals and discuss how your proposed plan of graduate study relates to them. Some areas of discussion might include: Specific attributes of the program at UD that lead you to believe that this degree is appropriate to help you achieve your professional objectives. Within the area of study you have selected, are there areas of special interest to you?
  • 2.a. Select an important problem facing individuals with disabilities or the schools, teachers, or other people who work with them and propose a solution to this problem; or, 2.b. Describe an experience in your own life that influenced your decision to work with individuals with disabilities; or, 2.c. Upload a brief paper that you submitted in a recent education course to your application file.
• Resume: Add your resume to the essay document and upload both as a single file.
• Graduate Course Approval Form

Recommendations. After submitting the application, you must separately request two letters of recommendation.

• Please forward this link to your recommenders and ask them to complete the 4+1 Letter of Recommendation Submission Form. For any questions related to this requirement, please follow up with your program of interest directly at cehd-info@udel.edu.
• ONE of your recommendations comes from UD professors (i.e., School of Education for ETE, HDFS for ECE, and Arts and Sciences for Secondary Ed), who can speak to your academic abilities.
• The SECOND recommendation should be someone who has observed you teach or work with children. This could be your methods supervisor or from a part-time job with children (e.g., tutor, summer camp counselor, YMCA).
• When you ask your recommenders to provide a reference for the 4+1 application, you should email them your request and provide them with the link. Below is a suggested script to use that can be adapted to fit your situation.

  Dear xx,

  I am a junior in the xx major and am applying to a graduate program. Since you have observed my work in/at xx, I hope you can provide a recommendation for the 4+1 option in the M.Ed. in Exceptional Children and Youth program at the University of Delaware. If you can provide the recommendation, please complete the recommendation form at the following link by December 15: https://www.cehd.udel.edu/41-letter-of-recommendation-submission/. Thank you for your consideration.

  Sincerely,

  Applicant’s Name

Course Requirements

Students complete 33 graduate credits for the M.Ed. in Exceptional Children and Youth program. During the senior year, students complete 9 graduate credits (which may be in lieu of 9 undergraduate credits) and complete all remaining undergraduate requirements. During the +1 year, students complete 18 credits of graduate coursework plus 6 credits of a graduate teaching internship in autism and severe disabilities in local schools (i.e., elementary, middle, or high).

• EDUC 624: Introduction to Autism and Severe Disabilities
• EDUC 625: Special Education Instruction and Curriculum: Autism/Severe
• EDUC 626: Functional Communication for Individuals with Autism and Severe Disabilities
• EDUC 655: Assistive Technology: Autism/Severe Disabilities
• EDUC 669: Engagement in the General Curriculum for Students with Severe Disabilities
• EDUC 673: School-to-Adult Life Transitions and Disability
• EDUC 681: Techniques for Behavior Change and Positive Behavior Support
• EDUC 682: Special Issues in Special Education
• EDUC 745: Collaborative Teaming in Special Education
• EDUC 750: Graduate Teaching Internship (6 credits)

Internship Requirement

To fulfill the 6-credit internship requirement, students are placed 16 hours each week for nine months as an autism and severe disabilities graduate teaching intern in a local partnership school. Students receive supervision from UD and school staff.

Exit Requirements:

Students must complete a performance assessment as required by the state.