In this article, James Williams, a young man with Asperger's syndrome (AS) shares his experiences taking physical education in a generalized education setting and discusses the implications for students with AS. He was diagnosed with AS when he was 9 years old. School was tough at times, especially when social interactions came into play. One of…

Sibling interactions are challenges that all families face on a daily basis. These interactions are significantly more difficult when one child has autism. With the apparent increase in diagnoses of autism, there are more families each year who are dealing with issues of relationships. Children learn, as part of the growing up experience, how to…

Recent advocacy organization reports, Congressional hearings, and proposed federal legislation have called attention to the abusive use of physical restraint procedures in school settings. As a result, administrators and school officials wonder whether they should purchase "crisis intervention" training for staff and faculty members from outside…

Using collaborative teamwork to build unique response-to-intervention (RTI) systems responsive to the needs and strengths within their separate schools and communities, two Montana elementary schools forged a trail for other schools. Each school encountered different obstacles along the way as well as distinctive ways of defining success. How can…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an evidence-based practice that addresses the learning needs of middle school students who have difficulty comprehending science texts. The teachers used a single-subject reversal design to implement peer-mediated instruction while asking to what degree the use of peer-mediated…

William is 9 years of age, residing with his parent within the boundaries of an unnamed district ("the District"). As a student with autism he is eligible for special education programming and services. There was one issue presented for this due process hearing: What was the appropriate program and placement for him for the 2008-2009 school year?…

Conductive education (CE) is an intensive, holistic approach to the education of people with physical disabilities that recognizes that teaching and learning are related to the emotional, cognitive, and physical aspects of individuals. Despite its popularity in the United States and throughout the world, research has not demonstrated a clear…

The critical issue in special education today is no longer the assurance of access, but rather, the assurance of effectiveness. Determining which practices and interventions are most effective and efficient for ensuring optimal student achievement is a fundamental concern of special education teachers in this era of accountability. In this…

We taught a fifth grade student in resource room how to set goals and monitor his progress toward achieving them in the area of story writing by using the self-regulated strategy development model. The steps of this approach are included in the mnemonic PLANS (Pick goals, List ways to meet goals, And make Notes, Sequence notes). These steps were…

What advice do paraeducators offer regarding the work they do in inclusive classrooms? What barriers and benefits do paraeducators face? In this study, over 200 paraeducators from 38 different states in the USA volunteered to respond to a national survey. Their responses were corroborated in follow-up interviews with 27 different paraeducators at…

With the pressure of No Child Left Behind and state-ordered accountability initiatives building, local educators' angst with the challenges of documenting improvement on the part of special education students, as a function of their performance on high stakes content assessments, continues to grow. One major tool used to identify academic needs…

Organizational difficulties are major obstacles for many students with learning and behavior problems. These students often neglect to separate notebooks into various subject areas, forget to bring necessary items to class, and stuff assignments randomly into their book bags and pockets. Students' disorganization, including their inability to keep…

Benefits to using creative movement and dance as teaching tools in the classroom include increased student understanding of content, improved classroom behavior, and the development of new forms of assessment. Integration of these activities within the instructional day will meet the needs of a variety of learners, especially kinesthetic learners,…

In a recent ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court in "Parents v. Seattle" (Parents Involved, 2007) determined that race cannot be the sole factor in the assignment of children to public schools. The court also identified the conditions which would justify the use of race in assigning children to schools. In this article we (a) provide a historical…

Unified Sports is Special Olympics' response to the inclusion movement. The program includes both students with disabilities and students without disabilities working together in athletic competitions. We describe 4 students who participated in the program: 3 females and 1 male. The students' disabilities varied and included mobile impairment,…