The Fall 2024 semester application is now open > Apply Now!
Beginning in Fall 2022, students in this program will be eligible to apply for the Québec Perspective Scholarship Program 
. This incentive scholarship will provide students in eligible programs with $1,500 for each full-time session successfully completed and up to $9,000 in total. More details will be available on the Quebec government website .
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The DEC in Special Care Counselling is a three-year pre-university or workforce preparation program. It allows the student to acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities that are necessary to exercise the profession of a Special Education Technician. Alternatively, the student also has the option of advancing to university studies in a related field.
Graduates of this program will be able to work with people who have different problems that cause maladjustment to social inclusion or people with physical or psychological disabilities, behavioral problems, or disorders linked to mental health. This program will teach students to create innovative interventions that may be adapted to all age groups, whether they target children, teenagers, adults, or seniors.
The DEC program also satisfies the same skills and competencies targeted by the two-year AEC program in Special Education. However, note that different admission requirements apply for AEC programs.
WHAT DO SPECIAL EDUCATION TECHNICIANS DO?
The role of a Special Education Technician, or a SET, is to analyze and evaluate the problem of the person involved in the family and his or her community, to develop a suitable intervention plan, and make individual or group interventions. These activities are based on the situations of everyday life to improve communication as well as every dimension of the life of the person in difficulty (emotional, social, cognitive, psychomotor, morale, etc.).
The SET will work closely with resource persons in the health and social services as well as education and community organizations. The personal development of the student, their understanding of human problems and of their social environment, their capacity to provide quality interaction, their knowledge of the approaches, and their adequate control of the intervention process are at the heart of the training offered and are part of the program goals.
WHAT WOULD MY UNIVERSITY OPTIONS BE?
Graduates of the Special Care Counselling DEC program have the option of advancing to university-level studies. The program fully prepares students to apply to higher education in:
- Kindergarten and Elementary Education
- Linguistics
- Educational Psychology
- Psychology
- Behavioural Science
- Child studies
- Human Environment
JOB WITH A PROMISING FUTURE
Qualified professionals and skilled technicians within the Education and Early Childhood Education sectors in the province of Quebec are currently in high demand leading to jobs with excellent compensation and benefits.
Evening Courses
TAV College offers evening courses in addition to daytime courses. For more information please contact the academic advisor for this program.
MORE INFO
PROGRAM TYPE
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION
APPLICATION DEADLINES
DURATION
PROGRAM CAPACITY
APPLICATION DEADLINES FOR
PROGRAM CODE
Comprehensive evaluation
ADMISSION PROCESSWHY STUDY THE SPECIAL CARE COUNSELLING DEC PROGRAM AT TAV COLLEGE?
Helped by dynamic teachers who are committed and active in the special education field, you will learn to share the experiences of people in difficulty and to intervene while developing caregiving skills for this customer base. You will have developed qualities and abilities that will make you a significant person for people who are themselves in difficulty in their personal and social environment. Throughout the program, you will be in contact with different working environments by visiting and meeting professionals in practical settings. All the teachers in this program are in the special education work field. TAV also offers an in-depth intervention approach with people with language difficulties.
One program, many opportunities!
Our Special Education programs allow students to do internships and apply practical skills in various locations, including the CIUSSS, the CSSDM, and more!
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this program is to train qualified individuals to serve as specialized educators. Special Education technicians work with people who have different issues: physical or psychological disabilities, conduct disorders, mental disorders, learning disabilities, or health problems, to support their adaptation, their rehabilitation, or their social integration.
GOALS OF THE GENERAL EDUCATION COMPONENT
The general education components are common to all pre-university programs and contribute to the development of twelve competencies that are associated with the three aims of college education:
- To educate students to live responsibly in society:
- Demonstrate independence and creativity in thought and action
- Demonstrate rational, critical, and ethical thinking
- Develop strategies that promote reflection on their knowledge and actions
- Pursue the development of a healthy and active lifestyle
- Assume their social responsibilities
- To help students integrate cultural knowledge into their studies:
- Recognize the influence of culture and lifestyle on the practice of physical activity and sports
- Recognize the influence of the media, sciences or technology on culture and lifestyle
- Analyse works in philosophy or the humanities emanating from different historical periods and movements
- Appreciate literary and non-literary works of other artistic expressions emanating from different historical periods and movements
- To help students integrate cultural knowledge into their studies:
- To help students master language as a tool for thought, communication and openness to the world:
- Improve communication in the second language
- Master the basic rules of discourse and argumentation
- Refine oral and written communication in the language of instruction
What will you learn?
Graduates from the Special Care Counselling DEC program will be well prepared to do the following :
- To examine the job functions of a special care counselor
- To become familiar with community resources and services
- To communicate with clients and members of a work team
- To examine biopsychosocial adjustment issues.
- To gather information about the client’s behavior
- To design development activities and clinical tools
- To evaluate the ability of the client’s living environment to provide appropriate support
- To assist a client in need of help
- To associate approaches, objectives, and techniques with specific adjustment problems
- To abide by the code of ethics of the profession
- To establish a caring and helpful relationship
- To carry out adaptive and rehabilitative activities for clients with an intellectual disability
- To carry out activities for young people with learning or language difficulties
- To carry out adaptive and rehabilitative activities for clients with a physical impairment or neurological disorder
- To act as a facilitator for groups of clients or work teams
- To carry out activities for older individuals who are no longer autonomous
- To carry out adaptive and rehabilitative activities for young people with adjustment difficulties
- To protect their personal well-being
- To analyze the relationship between social phenomena and adjustment problems
- To carry out rehabilitative activities for clients with mental-health and drug-addiction problems
- To carry out adaptive and rehabilitative activities for clients who are socially excluded or who are perpetrators or victims of violence
- To develop an intervention plan
- To interact with clients from cultural and ethnic communities different from their own
- To carry out adaptive and rehabilitative activities for clients who are reentering society or the workplace
- To intervene in a crisis
- To draw up and carry out an integrated intervention project
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE DEC AND AEC PROGRAMS?
While both the DEC and AEC Special Education programs prepare students to immediately enter the workforce and begin their careers, there are a few noteworthy differences between the two:
The difference between an AEC and a DEC in Special Education
The main differences between obtaining an AEC and a DEC in Special Education in Quebec are the following:
AEC
- Takes 24 months to complete.
- Students are only required to complete program-specific courses.
- There is no Ministerial Exit Exam.
- Graduates do not obtain the credits needed to advance to university.
DEC
- Takes 36 months to complete.
- Students are required to complete a general education component of their studies in addition to program-specific courses.
- Students must pass the Ministerial Exit Exam in order to graduate.
- Graduates may advance to university.
Information for international students
PGWP
This program is eligible for a post-graduation work permit.
Intakes
Fall, Winter
For more information
Updated: January 18, 2023
Do you have questions or comments?
LEGEND:
SEMESTER 1
202-NYA-05 GENERAL CHEMISTRY: MATTER
Course description:
Designed as an extension of concepts learned in high school, this course prepares students for the chemistry of solutions, organic chemistry, and biology courses while introducing them to laboratory work. The student is called upon to establish the relevant links between phenomena and fundamental concepts and verify them from data provided or observations obtained in the laboratory.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Apply the probabilistic model of the atom to the analysis of the properties of elements
- Solve problems affecting the structure and states of matter in using modern theories of chemistry
- Apply the laws of stoichiometry to the study of chemical phenomena
- Experimentally verify the physical and chemical properties of matter
203-NYA-05 MECHANICS
Course description:
As an extension of the notions of mechanics already studied in high school, this course will teach students to develop a rigorous working method through the resolution of physical problems and the explanation of various phenomena of everyday life by verifying them experimentally.
This course uses the mathematical concepts and skills acquired in the Differential Calculus course as well as certain concepts addressed concurrently in the Integral Calculus course. The course helps to equip the student with knowledge and know-how specific to a rigorous scientific approach: observation, modeling, comparison of theoretical models with real behavior, and validation of hypotheses.
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Describe the translational and rotational movement of bodies
- Apply the concepts and laws of dynamics in the analysis of the movement of bodies
- Perform calculations of work and energy in simple situations
- Apply the principles of conservation of mechanics
- Experimentally verify the laws and principles related to mechanics
The concepts introduced in this course will subsequently be used in the Electricity and Magnetism and Waves and Modern Physics courses.
603-101-MQ INTRODUCTION TO COLLEGE ENGLISH
Course Description:
The objective of this course is to analyze and produce various forms of discourse.
Competencies to be developed are:
- To identify the characteristics and functions of the components of literary texts
- To determine the organizations of facts and arguments of a given literary text
- To prepare ideas and strategies for a projected discourse
- To explicate a discourse
- To edit the discourse
All competencies lead to the production of an approximately 750-word essay.
345-101-MQ KNOWLEDGE
Course Description:
The objective of this course is to apply a logical and analytical process of thinking to how knowledge is organized and used.
Competencies to be developed are:
- To recognize the basic elements of a field of knowledge
- To define the modes of organizations and utilization of a field of knowledge
- To situate a field of knowledge within its historical context
- To organize the main components into coherent patterns
- To produce a synthesis of the main components
602-100-MQ BASIC FRENCH
Course Description:
The objective of this course is to apply basic concepts for communicating in standard French.
Competencies to be developed include:
- Writing and revising a simple text
- Understanding the meaning of a simple text
- Conveying a simple oral message
- Understanding the meaning of a simple oral message
201-NYA-05 CAL I: Differential calculus
Course description:
This course establishes the foundations of differential calculus for its use in pure and applied sciences. It prepares students, in particular, for the courses, Mechanics, Modern Physics, and Integral Calculus. The course explains the conceptual bases of differential calculus, i.e. the notions of a function, variation of a function, and limit, and applies them to concrete situations.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Recognize and describe the characteristics a function represented in the form of a symbolic expression or in graphic form
- Determine if a function has a limit, is continuous, is differentiable, at a point and over an interval
- Apply the rules and techniques of derivation
- Use the derivative and the concepts related to analyze the variations of a function and draw its graph
- Solve optimization and rate of change issues
SEMESTER 2
603-102-MQ LITERARY GENRES
Course Description:
The objective of this course is to apply a critical approach to literary genres.
Competencies to be developed are:
- To distinguish genres of literary texts
- To recognize the use of literary conventions within a specific genre
- To situate work within its historical and literary period
- To explicate a discourse and representative of a literary genre
- To edit the discourse
All competencies lead to the effective presentation of an approximately 1000 word integrated response to a text.
602-TVA-TV FRENCH FOR SPECIFIC PROGRAMS
Course Description:
The objective of this course is to apply basic concepts for communicating in the French language in relation to the student’s field of study.
Competencies to be developed include:
- Writing and revising a short text related to the student’s field of study
- Understanding the meaning and characteristics of a text related to the student’s field of study
- Conveying a simple oral message related to the student’s field of study
- Understanding the meaning of a simple oral message related to the student’s field of study
109-101-MQ PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH
Course Description:
The objective of this course is to analyze one’s physical activity from the perspective of trends in health relating to lifestyle choices.
Competencies to be developed include:
- Establishing the relationship between one’s lifestyle habits and their health
- Being physically active in a manner that promotes good health
- Recognizing one’s needs, abilities, and motivational factors with respect to regular and sufficient physical activity
- To propose physical activities and nutritional guidance that promote a healthy lifestyle
201-NYB-05 CAL II - INTEGRAL CALCULUS
Course description:
This course establishes the bases of integral calculus with a view of its applications to concrete situations: calculation of the area under a curve, calculation of the area and volume of solids, calculation of the length of a portion of a curve. The course follows and relies heavily on the concepts developed in Differential Calculus by consisting of doing the reverse operation of the derivation.
At the end of this course, students will be able
- Determine the indefinite integral of a function
- Calculate the limits of functions with indeterminate forms
- Calculate definite integral and the improper integral of a function over an interval
- Translate concrete problems in the form of differential equations and solve simple differential equations
- Calculate volumes, areas, and lengths to construct graphic representations in the plane and in space
- Analyze the convergence of a series
202-NYB-05 CHEMISTRY OF SOLUTIONS
Course description:
This second chemistry course deepens understanding, more quantitatively, of the basic theories relating to the nature of matter in aqueous solutions through its physical and chemical properties. Students will establish links between fundamental phenomena and concepts using models of approximations.
Students will experimentally verify certain theoretical models, establish their limits, and analyze them in order to establish the causes of variation in the results obtained. The practical work thus makes students able to criticize their results and to estimate the degree of precision and reproducibility.
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Analyze the colligative properties of solutions
- Resolve problems related to the kinetics of reactions in solutions
- Resolve the problems related to chemical equilibrium
- Experimentally verify certain properties of solutions
- Experimentally determine certain characteristics of reactions in solutions
101-NYA-05 GENERAL BIOLOGY I
Course description:
This course is the first biology course in the program, which presents the organization of living things in a hierarchical fashion, from the most fundamental level of life, the cell, to its most global level, the maintenance and the complexity of life on Earth.
At the end of this course, students will be able:
- Distinguish the relationships between the structures and functions of certain levels of organization of living things
- Analyze the mechanisms responsible for the genetic variation of living things
- Appreciate the action of the mechanisms of evolution of diversity and life complexity
- Analyze the integration of living in a community
- Explain the transformation process of matter and of energy
Students will also be able to recognize the characteristics of a rigorous scientific approach in the originality of the approach of some biologists who have marked the evolution of this science and to hold a critical discourse on current technological applications in the domain.
SEMESTER 3
603-103-MQ LITERARY THEMES
Course Description:
The general objective of this course is to enable the student to apply a critical approach to a literary theme. The student will study various examples in English literature in order to understand how well-known authors unify their works around themes.
Further, the student will be able to read various selections of unfamiliar literature, either fiction or non-fiction, and discuss them intelligibly in writing through the understanding of their themes.
By the end of this course, the student will apply their understanding of the theme by writing an analysis of a literary text (an approximately 1000 word paper.)
345-102-MQ WORLD VIEWS
Course Description:
The objective of this course is to apply a critical thought process to world views.
Competencies to be developed are:
- To describe world views
- To explain the major ideas, values, and implications of a worldview
- To organize the ideas, values, and experiences of a worldview into coherent patterns
- To compare world views
- To convey the ideas, attitudes, and experiences of the societies or groups studied
109-102-MQ PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND EFFECTIVENESS
Course Description:
The objective of this course is to improve one’s effectiveness when practicing physical activity.
Competencies to be developed include:
- Planning an approach to improve one’s effectiveness when practicing a physical activity
- Using a planned approach to improve one’s physical health
420-TVB-TV USE OF MICROCOMPUTER SOFTWARE
Course Description:
This elective course approaches the novel technology of 3D printing with an interdisciplinary perspective and opens it up to all DEC program students at the College. The course aggregates several disciplines into one coherent learning experience by drawing on perspectives of:
- Mathematics
- Design
- Physics
- Computer science
- Engineering
- Biology
In today’s world, every field and every industry needs innovative thinkers that can make a difference. Inquiry-based learning is a 21st-century teaching and learning philosophy that requires students to not only be “problem solvers”, but “problem finders” as well. Instead of simply presenting established facts, teachers guide students to discover their worlds and how they could make it better. This is accomplished by posing questions, challenging the norm, and pushing the boundaries. Innovation is a keyword at the core of this philosophy.
No other technology, since the invention of the computer has the potential to positively impact education and learning as the 3D printer. 3D printers are now being used in practically every field. Learning how to use them is becoming as essential a skill as reading and writing.
From the medical field, automotive and aerospace industry, fashion, food, and architecture, 3D printers are becoming a regular on- the scene. Putting the world of 3D printing in the hands of students will help better prepare them to shape their world and be innovative in their field of choice.
This course, on the fundamentals of CAD design for rapid prototyping and 3D printing, provides all of the foundational knowledge necessary to bring the world of 3D printing to the students and start their journey to innovation in whichever field they choose to pursue.
201-NYC-05 LINEAR ALGEBRA AND VECTOR GEOMETRY
Course description:
This course introduces students to the notions of linear algebra and vector geometry and to develop tools that can be used in particular, in the physics course, Electricity and magnetism given in the 4th session, but concurrently in the context of applications specific to the natural sciences, mathematics, economics, and computer science, at the pre-university level. The main subjects of study are matrix calculus, geometric and algebraic vectors, the structure of vector space, and representations and equations of geometric loci in the plane and in space.
At the end of this course, students will be able:
- Translate concrete problems in the form of linear equations
- Solve systems of linear equations using matrix methods
- Establish links between geometry and algebra
- Establish the equation of geometric loci (lines and planes) and determine their intersections
- Calculate angles, lengths, areas, and volumes
- Demonstrate propositions
- Construct representations of geometric places in the plane and in space
203-NYB-05 ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM
Course description:
Using several notions seen in mechanics: kinematics, forces, potential and kinetic energies, the moment of force, etc. and using the concepts of mathematics acquired in the differential calculus and integral calculus courses, widely used in the analysis of a continuous distribution system of stationary or moving electric charges, this course is an introduction to electric and magnetic phenomena. Starting from the formulation of the laws of electromagnetism, students will be able to explain the overall functioning of the various devices and the mechanisms describing the electrical and magnetic phenomena and also to apply electromagnetism in situations of everyday life.
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Analyze physical situations related to electric charges at rest and to electric current
- Analyze physical situations related to magnetism and magnetic induction
- Apply the laws of electricity and magnetism
- Experimentally verify the laws of electricity and magnetism
420-PRA-TV INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING
Course description:
In this course, students will learn the development of effective algorithmic solutions to simple problems following a correct analysis of the situation, the available data, the desired results, and the necessary treatments as well as the validation of it.
Students will also be able to use a programming language by correctly recognizing
- the characteristics and functionality of a computer and its network
- the correct use of a workstation in a development environment
- the correct translation of algorithms,
- the rigorous application of coding standards
- the efficient use of environmental functionality in tracking and correcting compilation errors
- the correct application of test sets necessary to verify the functioning of the environment program
- the appropriate debugging of the program according to the algorithm
- the basic concepts of object-oriented programming: class, object, method, and attribute.
SEMESTER 4
603-TVE-TV ENGLISH ADAPTED TO PROGRAM
Course Description:
The objective of this course is to communicate in the forms of discourse appropriate to one or more fields of study, focusing on citation styles and preparing the student for university-level writing.
Competencies to be developed include:
- Identifying the forms of discourse appropriate to given fields of study
- Recognizing the discursive frameworks appropriate to given fields of study
- Analyze and succinctly explain the main ideas of an oral and written discourse
109-103-MQ PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND AUTONOMY
Course Description:
The objective of this course is to demonstrate one’s ability to assume responsibility for maintaining a healthy lifestyle through the continued practice of physical activity.
Competencies to be developed include:
- Planning a personal physical activity program
- Combining the elements of a regular and sufficient practice of physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle
- Manage a personal physical activity program
345-TVH-TV CRITICAL THOUGHT APPLIED TO WORLD ISSUES
Course description:
The objective of this course is to apply a critical thought process to ethical issues relevant to the field of study.
Competencies to be developed include:
- Situating significant ethical issues within appropriate world views and fields of knowledge
- explaining the major ideas, values, and social implications of ethical issues
- organizing the ethical questions and their implications into coherent patterns
- Debating ethical issues
203-NYC-05 WAVES, OPTICS AND MODERN PHYSICS
Course description:
In this third physics course in the program, students will have to use the notions of mathematics acquired in the Differential Calculus, Integral Calculus, and Mechanics courses. Students will use functions with several independent variables necessary for the description of waves and obtain certain characteristics of them, which have recourse to partial derivatives and to integrals.
From revolutionary discoveries on several aspects of the Universe and of matter, students will be introduced, in particular, to geometric and wave optics, to the structure of matter and to radioactivity, to mechanical waves and vibrations, to the electromagnetic spectrum and relativity, which are notions useful both for students of the health, pure and applied or computer sciences.
The approaches followed will address the history of the main discoveries and will stress the importance of the major fundamental questions in physics, relating to science, technology, and social progress.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Apply the basic principles of physics to the description of vibrations, waves, and their propagation
- Apply the laws of geometrical optics
- Apply the characteristics of waves to light phenomena
- Analyze situations based on notions of modern physics
- Experimentally verify the laws and principles related to waves, optics, and modern physics
203-EPH-TV PROBLEM SOLVING IN ENGINEERING PHYSICS
Course description:
This course prepares students to apply an experimental/numerical analysis in order to solve physics and engineering problems using MATLAB/Octave.
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Represent various situations, drawing upon relevant concepts, laws, and principles of mechanics, electricity, magnetism, waves, and optics.
- Solve problems using numerical methods through MATLAB/Octave.
- Apply experimental/numerical analysis or validation specific to physics and engineering
360-200- TV INTEGRATION PROJECT
Course description:
This course is an extension of the comprehensive assessment that must be successfully completed in order to obtain a DEC in Science. By the end of the course, students will have demonstrated the integration of the general goals of the Science program.
Integration, in the context of this course, means to possess the ability to clearly make: connections between the elements of the student’s learning, to recombine knowledge in various ways, and to put them to use in order to adapt to new situations. To this end, students will be asked to propose, conduct and present a research project on a scientific theme of their choice.
The integration project is multidisciplinary in its approach and should take into account not only the specific components of the program but also, its components of general education as well.
The course is designed to support students throughout their independent projects by providing relevant theoretical guidance as the projects progress. The projects require students to draw on prior knowledge from previous courses as well as provide them with the opportunity to engage in personal, stimulating, and creative work in their chosen area of personal interest. The choice of a project should ultimately reflect the student’s learning goals throughout their DEC.