Agran and colleagues have not only summarized the research on inclusive education, but they have also summed up the frustrations of many of us who have been working with families, teachers, and administrators to facilitate the inclusion of children and young adults with severe disabilities over many years. My response takes some of their most…

Little progress has been made in the last 20 years toward developing and sustaining effective inclusive programs for students with severe disabilities. An article by Agran and colleagues examines factors that contribute to this lack of progress and provides some initial discussion regarding alternatives for addressing this seemingly intractable…

The author is a special education teacher in New York and a mother of two children on the autism spectrum. The author's intimate involvement in the education system has made navigating the world of special education for her children easier in some ways, but also infinitely more difficult and heartbreaking in others. Since the passage of No…

Eight years ago, the editors of this special issue published another special issue focused on the topic of response to intervention (RtI; Vaughn & Fuchs, 2003). At that time, there was considerable interest in the application of an RtI model for providing services to children at risk for learning disabilities. The potential benefits have led to…

In this article, the author comments on the article by Sylvia Rodger and Alysha Vishram appearing in this issue, titled "Mastering Social and Organizational Goals: Strategy Use by Two Children with Asperger Syndrome during Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance." In the article, the authors explore the use of cognitive strategies,…

Reynolds and Wheldall reviewed research relating to Reading Recovery (RR) and concluded that "RR has provided an excellent model in demonstrating how to plan, promote, and implement an intervention across an educational system and how to design a professional development programme" (2007, p. 218). They balanced this praise with concerns about the…

This article presents the author's response to "Excessive Positivism in Person-Centered Planning," by Steve Holburn and Christine D. Cea. The author begins by complementing Holburn and Cea on their courage to voice concerns that perhaps may not appear to be politically correct or perhaps too bold to express in the context of a journal like…

In this article, the author offers his critique on Holburn and Cea's notion on "excessive positivism" that person-centered planners are overconcerned with scientific verification and logical proof. The author believes that Holburn and Cea's notion blurs the important messages they have for person-centered planners by leading toward a debate about…

Where are all the disabled people in children's picture books? This article will introduce an innovative three-year project, based in the United Kingdom, which asks this question of the book world. In The Picture, managed by disability charity Scope, aims to point out the invisibility of disabled people in children's media to publishers, writers…

Much has been made of the advantages of active support and person-centred planning, both of which have gradually been evolving and changing over the last 25-30 years. The latter is now mandated in the UK as part of the "Valuing People" strategy on disability (Department of Health UK, 2001), and is also central to the follow-up policy…

This paper is a reflection on practice. It begins by briefly describing an evaluation of an externally-funded education programme in Kosovo (a new country in south-east Europe). The programme was managed by Save the Children in Kosovo and aimed to develop and promote models of inclusive education through three strands of activity. The first of…

The article discusses the purposes of early screening for disabilities and examines some of the issues involved in implementing a successful program. Weaknesses in existing procedures are discussed and programs existing in the Canadian provinces are mentioned with brief reference to some existing practices in the lower mainland. (Author/CL)

Summarizes the present status of supported employment for people with disabilities, discusses major accomplishments of the initiative (such as positive results in benefit-cost analyses) and identifies challenges, including continuing high numbers of individuals in segregated programs, lack of supported employment services for individuals with…

In this article, the authors present an interview with Don Meyer, an advocate for the siblings of children with disabilities. Don Meyer has conducted "SibShops," a peer support and information for school-age siblings of children with disabilities, and written extensively on the difficult situation of children in this underserved demographic. Here,…

This commentary on "Natural Supports in the Workplace: The Jury Is Still Out" (Test and Wood), argues that the differing definitions of natural supports are constructive because of the evolving nature of the research, and that progressive policy is often ahead of documented knowledge, but concurs that additional research is needed. (CR)