Introduction
Ⅰ. Establishment
The National University of Tainan has a long history of teacher training programs in special education. Way back in 1966, the Taiwan Provincial Program of Itinerant Teachers for the Visually Handicapped was set up on campus. The trainees were in-service teachers from regular schools and special schools for the children with visually impairment. After graduation, they functioned as itinerant teachers serving students with visual impairment and engaged in tasks related to Special Education in cities and counties all over Taiwan .
Based on the recognition mentioned above, the Department of Special Education at NUTN was founded in 1987. Besides the basic bachelor program, it provided a summer program in 1988, a master program in special education in 1989, a master program in special education for in-service teachers in 2001, and two master programs, Assistive Technology, and Severe & Profund disabilities, in 2006. A doctoral program of special education was approved in the year of 2008.In addition,to extend special education to the areas of Tainan,Kaohsiung,and Penghu,Special Education Center was established.
Ⅱ . Department Mission
It is the mission of the Department of Special Education to train students to
1• have a thorough understanding of children with disabilities and their needs
2• provide knowledge and skills for special education
3• cultivate the professional spirit needed for special education
4• promote research interests and abilities in the area of special education
Ⅲ . Courses
Students in the undergraduate program require successful completion of 128 credits including 72 credits in special education. In addition to the department requirement courses, there are five clusters of courses for students to choose from, namely, gifted education, mental retardation, learning disabilities, hearing impairment, and visual impairment. Students in the master program require completion of 32 credits and a thesis.