This study examines the understandings and beliefs about disability of teacher candidates in a credential program to teach students with extensive support needs and shows how reading first-person narratives by disabled authors in a course influenced these understandings and beliefs. The study used deductive thematic coding to analyze reflective…

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted daily life, including the educational experiences of school-age children with and without disabilities and their families who supported them. This descriptive qualitative study examined the experiences of families with children with extensive support needs and complex communication needs during the…

Despite considerable legislative and advocacy-based efforts to end subminimum wage practices, many Americans with disabilities are still paid below the federal minimum. Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers holding certificates to pay less than minimum wage to individuals with disabilities whose work capacity or…

Supported employment (SE) and customized employment (CE) are vocational rehabilitation services designed to assist job seekers with significant disabilities to find meaningful competitive integrated employment. We conducted an analysis of Rehabilitation Service Administration (RSA-911) data for fiscal years 2017-2020 to determine the outcomes at…

The experiences of girls of color labeled with significant cognitive disabilities in middle school and high school have historically been excluded from educational research. This study sought to better understand how girls of color labeled with significant cognitive disabilities navigated multimodal discourses and classroom practices as well as…

In this special section of "Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities" ("RPSD"), the intersection of race, ethnicity, culture, and language influences schooling (i.e., what is taught, how, and where) for students of color with significant cognitive disabilities is explored. Contemporary issues facing people of…

This article draws parallels between the concept of "Black lives matter" and the efforts of caregivers to advocate for the value of the lives of their children who have disabilities. The authors identify three key concepts that undergird their argument: first, the concept of systemic bias as built in to the hierarchical valuing of…

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a natural science dedicated to using behavioral principles to address socially important problems. One area in which behavior analysts have made compelling gains in the last 50 years is in developing, evaluating, and disseminating effective interventions for people with significant intellectual and developmental…

The purpose of this article is to respond to the perspectives of Agran and colleagues concerning barriers to general education placement for students with significant support needs from an "on the ground" lens of participation in mediations and due process hearings, as well as conversations with parental inclusion advocates throughout…

Given the longer lives of individuals with disabilities and the increasing likelihood of siblings fulfilling family caregiving roles, it is critical to identify correlates of sibling caregiving. Yet, little research has examined the relation between the severity of the disability and sibling caregiving. The purpose of this study was to understand…

Families raising young children diagnosed with multiple disabilities encounter experiences that are often unique and extend well beyond the early childhood years due to the intensity and severity of their child's needs. The contexts of these families must be understood to provide meaningful services and supports, particularly during the child's…

Special education consists of specially designed services available for students with disabilities, and should be available across placements. Students with the most significant disabilities continue to be taught in restrictive settings, despite accumulating evidence suggesting their special education services can be delivered effectively in…

The use of restraint and seclusion in schools has been identified repeatedly as an approach that is overused, misused, and potentially dangerous. In this article, we emphasize the importance of an approach to supporting students with significant problem behavior that focuses on prevention, evidence-based intervention procedures, heightened levels…

In the last several years, there has been growing concern about the use of seclusion in schools. Little is known about its use, particularly with students with disabilities. This article presents the findings from an analysis of 26 due process hearings taking place nationwide over a 12-year period containing a description of the use of seclusion.…

Although functional communication training (FCT) is an effective intervention for increasing appropriate forms of communicative behaviors and decreasing inappropriate forms of communication (i.e., challenging behavior) in students with disabilities, its effectiveness might depend to some extent on the expertise of the interventionist. The purpose…