Innovative instructional programs for students with language or behavioral disorders.

Abstract

We described creative and innovative language programs for students with LLD and BD, or both. There are three models of learning that have had considerable impact on how language services have been designed and executed for these two populations of students. Our principal argument is that there is a fourth approach or model based on empowerment. We presented the premises and principles of the empowerment model and described two programs using empowerment as the foundation for the provision of communication and language services. Language and communication programs grounded in an empowerment model offer greater possibilities for students to acquire the discourses necessary for successful participation in the culture of school, as well as the cultures in which they participate outside of school. Discovering strengths and competencies across a wide spectrum of learning affords students opportunities for developing self-knowledge based in capability and adeptness rather than in deficiency and impairment. The emergence, unfolding, and eventual maturation of these competencies and capabilities are critical not only to those students who discover them, but also to the future of all of us.