Welcome to the Tri-County Educational Service Center Special Education Information Page!  Our office provides direct and consultative services to all school districts in a three county region.  We work collaboratively with districts to identify students with disabilities and to provide quality services to those students in a variety of settings. 

Special Education

• Acronyms
• Disability Definitions
• Q & A for Parents

Services to Districts

• Consultant Services
• Emotional Disturbance Classroom
• Speech/Language Therapy
• Work Study

Video Games Increase Aggressive Behavior

Columbia, Mo. (UPI) - People who play violent video games become less responsive to violence and are likely to become more aggressive, U.S. researchers suggest.  Bruce Bartholow of the University of Missouri says the study involved 70 young adult participants randomly assigned to play either a non-violent or a violent video game for 25 minutes.  After the playing, the researchers measured brain responses as participants viewed a series of neutral photos, such as a man on a bike, and violent photos, such as a man holding a gun in another man's mouth. 

The participants were given a task where they could give their opponent a controllable blast of loud noise.  The level of noise blast set for their opponent was the measure of aggression.    The study, to be published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, found participants who played one of several popular violent games, such as "Hitman", "Killzone" and "Grand Theft Auto," set louder noise blasts for their opponents during the competitive task, that is, they were more aggressive than participants who played a non-violent game. 

Bartholow says in a statement, "From a psychological perspective, video games are excellent teaching tools because they reward players for engaging in certain types of behavior.  Unfortunately, in many popular video games, the behavior is violence. 

Bachelor's Degree for Students with Autism

Albany, NY (UPI) - Two Albany, NY colleges are creating a bachelor's degree program for students with autism spectrum disorder, college officials say.

Officials at Sage College and Excelsior College created the Sage Achieve degree, an online program for students with autism spectrum disorder, which can be customized to meet a student's particular disabilities, but it is as rigorous as any other degree, the Albany Times Union reports.

The degree will include one-on-one mentoring and will lead to a bachelor's degree in liberal studies with a full 120 credits and an emphasis in computer science, say's Susan Scrimshaw, of Sage College.

Excelsior College developed the online program and Dana Reinecke, professor at Sage College, created the curriculum, Scrimshaw says.  Reinecke says the degree emphasizes critical thinking, analysis, writing and reading.  The program is expected to attract students from all over the world who may not be able to thrive in a traditional college classroom. 

Coursework will be available by video, audio and text, and students will continue their courses throughout the summer months.  Tuition for the first two years is about $27,000, but when the course load doubles in the third and fourth year, it is scheduled to increase to $43,000, the Times-Union says.