B.S.,
Disability Services
College of Education and Educational Technology
What You'll Do
Creativity and compassion are essential traits for practitioners who provide assistance and services to individuals with disabilities. As a Disability Services major at IUP, you’ll learn about the challenges faced by people who live with disabilities. You’ll also learn ways you can help people with disabilities rise to their challenges and reach their goals.
Among the classes you will take are Methods of Teaching Reading to Persons with Disabilities, Introduction to American Sign Language, Transition for Youth with Disabilities, Educational Psychology, and Education of Persons with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders, Learning Disabilities, or Brain Injury.
A required internship will give you hands-on experience. This major also has 23 credits of free electives that make it possible to add a minor. Recommended minors include Child and Family Studies, Educational Psychology, Sociology, or Psychology.
What You'll Become
The Bachelor of Science degree in Disability Services prepares you to work as a professional who serves individuals with disabilities in a variety of public and private agencies, including adult mental health/mental retardation programs. Some jobs that may interest you in this rewarding field include instructional assistant in a school setting or therapeutic staff support personnel. You might also work in mental health/mental retardation programs, community-based employment/living programs, early intervention programs, residential treatment programs, preschool/daycare programs, and other service provider settings.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for mental health and substance abuse social workers may reach 30 percent during the decade from 2006 to 2016. Jobs in the individual and family services industry are expected to increase by 73 percent, the report adds, making it one of the fastest-growing job categories listed. Vocational rehabilitation services are expected to increase by 22 percent over the 2006-2016 projection period, the bureau claims.