Concept maps make students' knowledge visible. Creating a mind map gives students an opportunity to organize their knowledge and allows instructors to visualize and assess it. When students create mind maps at multiple time points, instructors can compare the maps and use the themes, patterns, and gaps that emerge to reflect on their teaching and…

This article describes ways for early educators to support communication of young children with complex communication needs (CCN) in classrooms through a simple three-step process. First, identify the child's preferred activities and items. Second, identify vocabulary and prepare the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system. Third,…

Inclusive preschool classrooms have become increasingly common in recent decades, affording opportunities for children with and without disabilities opportunities to interact and develop positive relationships. Children with disabilities may be unintentionally excluded from these interactions due to communication differences. This paper discusses…

Robust vocabulary instruction is an important part of comprehensive English language arts (ELA) instruction. Vocabulary instruction supports students in learning the meaning of words to build a receptive vocabulary that they can rely on to comprehend the words they read and hear. Many students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD) and…

Telepractice offers speech-language pathologists (SLPs) increased flexibility to support language development, including emergent literacy in clients with complex communication needs. However, clinicians may feel uncertain how to pair books with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) over telepractice. Following an overview of…

"Augmentative and alternative communication" (AAC) refers to a wide variety of communication devices, systems, tools, and strategies that support or replace spoken language. Augmentative and alternative communication users represent a range of ages, abilities, and communication needs. Support for AAC often begins in the public school…

For rural locations, the use of remote learning may provide schools the opportunity to meet student needs without requiring students to travel long distances to access services. It is critical that teachers of students with disabilities understand how to support learning and know how to use the accommodations, modifications, and assistive…

Providing support to a child with complex communication needs during shared storybook reading activities can be challenging. Storybooks often contain specific vocabulary items (e.g., character names) that are key to conversations about the story but would be difficult to add and of limited long-term use in an augmentative and alternative…

This article describes effective ways for elementary general music educators to serve their special education students with autism spectrum disorder in the self-contained music classroom. It includes educational, social, and scientific rationales for selecting musical repertoire to support the development of joint attention communication skills…

This book presents how to keep working on education in contexts of crisis, such as emergencies, zones of conflict, wars and health pandemics such as COVID-19. Specifically, this work shows a number of strategies to support global learning and teaching in online settings. Particularly, it first presents how to facilitate knowledge sharing and…

The most researched and effective practice for instructing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is applied behavior analysis (ABA; Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968; Reichow, 2012; Smith & Eikeseth, 2011; Virués-Ortega, 2010). ABA is a scientific approach to systematic instruction, data collection, and data analysis based on observable…

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties in communication that limit their opportunities to participate in daily living and educational activities. Augmentative alternative communication is one of the strategies used to strengthen the communication skills of students with limited communication skills. Students with ASD…

Assistive technology enables young children with disabilities to more effectively access their environment, facilitating the development of social-emotional, communicative, and cognitive skills. Research indicates that when service providers make decisions about assistive technology, they are more likely to choose low-tech options over high-tech…

What are today's best methods for teaching literacy skills to students with complex support needs--including autism, intellectual disability, and multiple disabilities? This comprehensive guidebook has up-to-date, evidence-based answers for pre- and in-service educators. Developed by Copeland and Keefe, the experts behind the landmark book…

While governing bodies have mandated that all students have the right to an education, with disabled students treated to the same rights and opportunities as non-disabled students, policymakers do not always agree on what all-inclusive education should look like. "Challenges Surrounding the Education of Children with Chronic Diseases"…