Certificate in Disability Rights, Policy, and Services

Special Education

Certificate in Disability Rights, Policy, and Services

This is a new program and will be added to the online application system soon. Please contact the program coordinator with any questions.

This partnership between the School of Education, School of Social Work, and the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community (IIDC) provides students the opportunity to explore critical concepts impacting the lives of individuals with disabilities.

Through active engagement with national and state experts with and without disabilities, students will be provided the opportunity to analyze and critique the systems that provide services and supports to this broad community. The flexible and customizable program empowers students to take coursework that allows them to gain the knowledge and skills most relevant to their practice while expanding their horizons across multiple disciplines.

Major topics include the disability rights movement, policies, and services. Coursework will provide a broad overview of disability rights, policy, and services, and introduce students to frameworks and lenses to services, policymaking, and a historical understanding of those policies and services which impact people with disabilities across the lifespan. Students will also learn about contemporary approaches to service provision across the lifespan for people with disabilities.

The certificate consists of 12 total credits. Coursework consists of two required courses and two electives, equally distributed between the School of Education and the School of Social Work. The purpose of this interdisciplinary certificate is to:

  1. provide a pathway for professionals within and outside of these disciplines to obtain graduate education about disability-related services, policies, and practices to prepare them for leadership roles in the field;
  2. help learners stretch, cross, and connect disciplinary boundaries while learning about the disability field in a more holistic manner than any single discipline can achieve;
  3. provide learners with a strong grounding in the values and approaches that are intimately related to inclusion, equity, and human rights, which are critical to the development of our future leaders.

Our faculty

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Professor, Director of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community

Research Areas:
Disability, Adult Services, Policy, Employment, Community Living, Transition, Survey Research
Email:
dnord@indiana.edu
Phone:
(812) 855-7102

Affiliated Faculty

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Assistant Research Scientist, Indiana Institute on Disability and Community

Research Areas:
Transition and postsecondary programs for students with Intellectual disabilities (TPSID), employment for individuals with intellectual disabilities, teacher education disability policy advocacy
Email:
andresjm@iu.edu
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Assistant Professor, IU School of Social Work

Research Areas:
Disability policy and services; guardianship issues; family experiences; autism; intersections of disability with culture, health and human rights
Email:
khamre@iu.edu
Phone:
(812) 856-7896

Contact Us

John Andresen, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Scientist, Indiana Institute on Disability and Community
andresjm@iu.edu
812-855-6508