Education Commons^™

A Mother’S Prayer Through The Five Words Of A Son With Autism, Melinda S. Burchard Ph.D.

Faculty Educator Scholarship

Recently, my friend has been figuring out that her child has autism, processing what that means for education, for church, and for family life. She grapples with lost expectations, daily challenges, confusion, and isolation. My parenting journey is not her own, but I relate to her pain and her hopes. I wrote this first for her and now share this piece in love specifically for parents of children with disabilities. Through a very specific lens of parenting a child with a disability, using the five words of my son with severe autism, I reflect upon the deep meaning of the …

Recognizing Bias In Social Media News: Resources For Teaching Media Literacy In Special Education, Melinda S. Burchard Ph.D., Lori Konopasek, Betsy Layman, Sarah Myers, Linda Poston

Faculty Educator Scholarship

With the empowerment of social media news literacy, students in special education can interact with their world with deeper competencies of critical thinking skills and civic engagement. In exploring personal and news biases, online users will have the tools to effectively grapple with the content found in their newsfeeds.

The included lesson uses current social media news stories. Students will be able to identify vocabulary communicating possible bias, including absolute words or phrases, words or phrases communicating degree, and words or phrases that are positively or negatively charged.

Comparing Candidates On Issues When Voting: Resources For Teaching Media Literacy In Special Education, Melinda S. Burchard Ph.D., Lori Konopasek, Betsy Layman, Sarah Myers, Linda Poston

Faculty Educator Scholarship

While voting rights for adults with disabilities vary across states, the skill of voting is one important practice of citizenship, and thus active engagement in community. The skills required to inform voting require reading comprehension to reason with information, and self-determination to make choices based upon that information. This resource supports special educators of high school or postsecondary individuals with intellectual disabilities to articulate personal opinions on political issues, and to then compare political candidates using those issues.

Who Is My Friend? Resources For Teaching Media Literacy In Special Education, Melinda S. Burchard Ph.D., Lori Konopasek, Betsy Layman, Sarah Myers, Linda Poston

Faculty Educator Scholarship

Possible characteristics of autism or intellectual disabilities include vulnerability or gullibility in social situations. Therefore, some teens or adults with autism or intellectual disabilities may struggle to discern who is a true friend. In the context of media literacy, such challenges can lead to confusion in social media friend requests or related safe behaviors in using social media. This media literacy team intends for this resource to support teachers of special education or adult education to teach teens or adults with intellectual disabilities or autism about discerning friendships in the context of media literacy. A sample lesson is included.