McKay School of Education > CPSE > B.S. in Special Education > Description of Disabilities

Description of  Programs in Mild/Moderate and Severe Disabilities

Successful completion of all coursework and practica, including student teaching/internship, leads to professional licensure in special education from the State of Utah. This teaching license is transferable to states with which the Utah State Office of Education has reciprocity agreements. Holders are permitted  to teach children with disabilities, ages 5-22.

Mild/Moderate Disabilities  saas.byu.edu/advisement/pdf/08/354221.pdf

The program for teaching students with mild/moderate disabilities prepares candidates to teach individuals who have learning or behavioral difficulties which impede normal or expected academic achievement.  Elementary teachers work primarily with beginning or remedial skills in reading, written language, math, and social behaviors.  Secondary teachers address these skills in addition to preparing students to transition to vocations or to post-secondary education. 

Students with mild/moderate disabilities generally spend all or part of their time in regular classroom settings, but may also receive special education for part of the day in resource rooms or in self-contained classrooms within the school.  Most mild/moderate students have learning disabilities, communication disorders, or emotional and behavioral disorders.  Some students may have intellectual disabilities, high-functioning autism, or difficulties that result from traumatic brain injury.

Severe Disabilities  saas.byu.edu/advisement/pdf/08/354222.pdf

The program for teaching students with severe disabilities prepares candidates to teach individuals whose difficulties require functional academics and life skills instruction (e.g., communication, social behavior, and daily living activities).  These students may have intellectual disabilities, autism, other health impairments, multiple disabilities, or severe effects of traumatic brain injuries.  Students with severe disabilities are most often taught in self-contained classrooms within the school.  Where appropriate, these students are included in general classrooms.  Some attend separate schools designed to meet their special needs.