THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

Program in Human Development and Early Childhood Disorders

SPRING SESSION 2006

Course: ATYPICAL DEVELOPMENT - HDCD 5312-501

Instructor: Toosje Thyssen VanBeveren, M.A., Ph.D.
Office hours: After class or by appointment
Phone: 214-905-2181, until 2 o’clock
E-mail: toosje.vanbeveren@utsouthwestern.edu
Class time: Wednesday from 7.00 pm to 9.45 pm
Classroom: GR. 4.204

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

ATYPICAL DEVELOPMENT is a graduate level course which introduces and covers

disorders of development from conception through the preschool years. Students will be
introduced to the effects of developmental impairments on infant’s or young children’s
abilities to interact with others and their environment.

COMPETENCIES:

By completion of this course the Early Intervention Student will:

- Know significant medical, biological, and environmental risk factors and how these
impact infant and child development. This knowledge includes how these factors
influence the domains of cognitive, sensorimotor, communication, and social/emotional
development and health issues. The student will also recognize atypical patterns of
development in all domains.
- Know the most common medical conditions or diagnoses resulting in delays or
disorders that need referrals to Early Childhood Intervention. The student will also know
the characteristics and probable effects of those diagnoses on a child’s future
development and have knowledge of how to access information, including common
characteristics and developmental implications for any diagnosis.
- Recognize how an infant’s or toddler’s disability or developmental delay affects the
child’s ability to interact with others and the environment.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
- Assigned readings.
- Completion of a midterm and a final exam.
- Paper on a topic that will be discussed in class and which represents a special interest to
the student.
- Class attendance and participation in class discussions.

METHOD OF EVALUATION:
Course grades will be determined by performance on two exams (30% each), one paper
(20%), class participation (10%), and class attendance (10%).

READINGS:
A number of selected readings can be purchased at Off Campus Books (972-907-8398),
located on 581 W. Campbell Road, behind the Braum’s in the shopping strip. Students
are expected to complete the assigned readings before each class and they should be
prepared to contribute to class discussions. A general question on the content of the
readings can be expected on the exams. Lecture material is supplemented by the readings.

EXAMS:
Exams will consist of definitions, short answer, and essay questions. Students will need
to bring blue books to complete the exams.

PAPER OF SPECIAL INTEREST:

Each student is required to write a paper on a topic that will be discussed in class and that
represents an area of special interest to the student. The paper should be typed and
submitted in APA (5th edition) format. Special attention must be given to:
• grammar, punctuation, spelling
• sentence and paragraph structure
• organization, neatness, and content knowledge
The paper should be a minimum of four pages long and should be handed in on the day
that the chosen topic is discussed by Dr. VanBeveren. This will give each student extra
knowledge about the different topics and this should encourage participation in class
discussions.

CLASS ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION IN CLASS

Every student is expected to come to class every Wednesday evening for 15 weeks. The
expectation for this class is that students will be on time and in attendance. The student is
responsible for informing the professor prior to or immediately after an absence, either
personal, via email, or phone or voice mail. It is the student’s responsibility to access all
information presented during the missed class session from other students in class. The
faculty instructor is not responsible for ensuring that the student has the missed materials.
As a rule, the instructor will NOT give out lecture notes. It is the student’s responsibility
to get the information from other students.

No make-up tests will be given without prior approval. If a student is “a no-show”

on the night of the test, the student will automatically earn a zero.

If a student arrives to a class session after it has begun, he/she is expected to enter quietly
and take a seat in the least disruptive manner.
 COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS

January 11, 2006 Introduction

Typical prenatal development

January 18, 2006 Prematurity, LBW, and Congenital Disorders

Preterm Infants Benefit from Early Interventions, by M. Hernandez-Reif and T.

Field, in: WAIMH Handbook of Infant Mental Health, Joy D. Osofsky & Hiram E.
Fitzgerald (Eds.), (Vol 4), 297-325, New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2000.

January 25, 2006 Gross and fine motor impairment

Effects of Sleep Position on Infant Motor Development, by B.E. Davis, R.Y. Moon,
H.C. Sachs, and M.C. Ottolini, Pediatrics, Vol. 102, No. 5, 1135-1140, 1998.
Effects of Baby Walkers on Motor and Mental Development in Human Infants, by
A.C. Siegel and R.V. Burton, in: Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Vol. 20, 355-
361, 1999.

February 1, 2006 Hearing impairment

Visual impairment

Severe Retinopathy of Prematurity and its Association with Different Rates of

Survival in Infants of less than 1251 gram Birth Weight, by J. Vyas, D. Field, E.S.
Draper, et al., Archives of Diseases in Children, Fetal and Neonatal Edition, V. 82, F145-
F149, 2000.

February 8, 2006 Communication, language and speech disorders

Causes of Developmental Delays and Disorders: Implications for Communication

Competence, by Frances P. Billeaud, in: Communication Disorders in Infants and
Toddlers, by Frances P. Billeaud, Second Edition, Boston MA: Butterworth-Heinemann,
1998.

February 15, 2006 Mental Retardation

Fragile X Syndrome, by Randi J. Hagerman and Megan E. Lampe. In: Handbook of

Neurodevelopmental and Genetic Disorders in Children. Sam Goldstein and Cecil R.
Reynolds (Eds.), New York, NY: The Guildford Press, 1999.

February 22, 2006 Behavior disorders

Risk Factors in Childhood that Lead to the Development of Conduct Disorders and
Antisocial Personality Disorder, by Stacey E Holmes, J.R. Slaughter, and J.Kashani.
Child Psychiatry and Human Development, Vol: 31-3, 183-193, 2001
March 1, 2006 MIDTERM EXAM - BRING BLUE BOOK

March 8, 2006 SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS

March 15, 2006 Sensory Integration Disorders

Sensory Systems and Sensory Integration. In: Sensory Integration and Self-Regulation
in Infants and Toddlers: Helping Very Young Children Interact with their Environment,
by G. Gordon Williamson and Marie E. Anzalone. Washington, DC: Zero to Three, 2001.

March 22, 2006 Emotional and affective disorders

Post traumatic stress disorder

Excessive Stress Disrupts the Architecture of the Developing Brain, National

Scientific Council on the Developing Child (www.developingchild.net), Working paper
#3, Summer 2005.

March 29, 2006 Prenatal drug-exposure

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism,

Bethesda, MD, in Alcohol, Health & Research World, Vol. 24 (1), 32-41, 2000.
The Maternal Lifestyle Study: Cognitive, Motor, and Behavioral Outcomes of
Cocaine-Exposed and Opiate Exposed Infants through Three Years of Age, by D.S.
Messinger, C.R. Bauer, A. Das, et al., Pediatrics, Vol. 113, No.6, 1677-1685, 2004.

April 5, 2006 Pervasive developmental disorders (PDD)

Is there an Autism Epidemic? by Uta Frith, Autism - Explaining the Enigma (2nd ed.).
58-76. Malden, MA, Blackwell Publishing, 2003.
Emanual Miller Lecture: Confusions and Controversies about Asperger Syndrome,
by Uta Frith. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Vol. 45,: 4, 672-686, 2004.

April 12, 2006 Relationship disturbances

Attachment and bonding issues

Attachment Styles in Maltreated Children: A Comparative Study, by R. Finzi, O.

Cohen, Y. Sapir, et al. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, Vol. 31 (2), 113-128.
2000.
Maternal Sensitivity and Attachment in Atypical Groups, by L. Beckwith, A. Rozga,
and M. Sigman. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, Robert V. Kail (Ed.).
Vol. 30, 231-274, 2000.
April 19, 2006 Risks to optimal development:
Adolescent pregnancies
Child maltreatment and family violence
 Impact of the Social-economic environment
Pediatric HIV and AIDS

The Effects of Violence Exposure on Young Children. From: WAIMH. Handbook of

Infant Mental Health, Joy D. Osofsky and Hiram E. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Vol 4, 163-196,
New York: NY, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2000.

April 26, 2006 FINAL EXAM - BLUE BOOK

 THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS
Interdisciplinary Studies - Human Development

SPRING 2006

Course: CHILDREN IN A CHANGING WORLD - ISHD 3343

Instructor: Toosje Thyssen VanBeveren, M.A., Ph.D.
Office hours: After class or by appointment
Phone: 214-905-2181, until 2.00 o’clock
E-mail: toosje.vanbeveren@utsouthwestern.edu
Class time: Monday from 7.00 - 9.45
Classroom: GR. 2.302

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
CHILDREN IN A CHANGING WORLD is an undergraduate level course which
identifies and introduces issues which impact the development of children and
adolescents in the 21st century. These issues include topics such as the impact of the
socio-economic environment, child care, violence in US communities and in families,
living in non-traditional families, effects of prenatal drug-exposure on child development,
the differences in customs and attitudes in child rearing practices in various cultures, and
others. After completing the course, students will have a better understanding and
comprehension of the multiple factors that determine child development.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. No textbook, but a number of selected readings which can be purchased at Off Campus
Books (972-907-8398), located on 581 W. Campbell Road, behind the Braum’s in the
shopping strip. Students are expected to complete the assigned readings before each class
and they should be prepared to contribute to class discussions. The readings are
supplemented by lecture material.
2. Completion of three exams.
3. Class attendance and participation in class discussions.

NOTES:
As a general rule, professors do NOT give out their notes. It is the students’
responsibility to get notes from other students when they cannot come to class.

METHOD OF EVALUATION:
Course grades will be determined by performance on three exams (25% each), class
participation (10%), and class attendance (15%). Class participation and attendance
percentages will only be taken into account when a student’s grade is between two letter
grades.

EXAMS:
Exams will consist of definitions and short answer questions. Students will need to bring
blue books to complete the exams.

CLASS ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION IN CLASS:

Every student is expected to come to class on each Monday evening for 14 weeks. When
it is impossible to attend class, a phone call, e-mail, or some other form of
communication BEFORE class would be appreciated.

COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS FOR

CHILDREN IN A CHANGING WORLD - ISHD 3343

January 9, 2006 Introduction

History of Childhood
Overview of Theories of Child Development

January 16, 2006 MARTIN L. KING DAY – NO CLASS

January 23, 2006 Medical Progress

Fertile minds, by J. Madeleine Nash, Time, February 3, 1997, 1-8.

Your child’s brain, by Sharon Begley, Newsweek, February 19,
1996,1-6.

January 30, 2006 Impact of the Socio-Economic Environment

Long-term cognitive and academic effects of early childhood

education on children in poverty, by W. Steven Barnett,
Preventive Medicine, 1998, 27, 204-207

February 6, 2006 Child Care in America

Who cares for America’s children, C.D. Hayes, J.L. Palmer, M.J.
Zaslow, National Academy Press, 1990, 3-15.

February 13, 2006 EXAM I - BRING BLUE BOOK

February 20, 2006 Violence in US Society

No readings

February 27, 2006 Violence in US Families

The effects of neglect on academic achievement and

disciplinary problems: A developmental perspective, by
K.A. Kendall-Tackett, J. Eckenrode, Child Abuse &
Neglect, 1996, 20, 161-169.
 The long-term impact of the physical, emotional, and sexual
abuse of children: A community study, by P.E. Mullen, J.L.
Martin, J.C. Anderson, et al., Child Abuse & Neglect, 1996, 20, 7-
21.

March 6, 2006 SPRING BREAK – NO CLASS

March 13, 2006 Living in Non-Traditional Families

Families and change: Coping with stressful events, Divorce,

edited by P.C. McKenry, S.J. Price, Sage Publications, 1994,
197-218.

March 20, 2006 Growing up in Different Cultures

Acupuncture, National Institute of Health Consensus

Development Statement, 1997, 1-9.

March 27, 2006 EXAM II - BRING BLUE BOOK

April 3, 2006 Children, Adolescents, Risks and Expectations:

What happened to childhood?
ADHD
Drugs in Sport

Performance enhancing drugs in sport: A different form of

drug abuse, by J.R. Fuller, M.J. LaFontain. Adolescence, 1987,
88, 969-975.

April 10, 2006 The Effects of Maternal Drug Use on Child Development

Developmental outcomes of prenatal exposure to alcohol and

other drugs, by S.L. Hans, ASAM Principles of Addiction
Medicine, 1998, 1223-1237.

April 17, 2006 Issues of the 21st Century:

The Human Genome Project
Genetic research
Biotechnology

Article on The National Human Genome Research Institute

April 24, 2006 FINAL EXAM - BRING BLUE BOOK