The Board of Directors of the Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities (DADD) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is pleased to offer its 14th publication in the Prism series, which is the second edition of the earlier Prism 7 book, "A Guide to Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders." Each book in the series…

For students with disabilities (SWD), note taking during content area classes can be a puzzling process. Students often are not certain about what specific content to record, how many details to record, and how to write fast enough to keep up with the teacher. Smartpens are an underutilized type of technology that can help students to become…

In "(Re)Imagining Inclusion for Children of Color with Disabilities," Soyoung Park argues that the disproportionate segregation and isolation of children of color with disabilities from their nondisabled peers is the product of an educational system which upholds a racist, ableist agenda. Park puts forth a visionary call to end these…

Despite the prevalence of students with learning disabilities (LD), athletic coaches face challenges in recognizing and effectively supporting the needs of athletes with LD due to lack of professional development in this area. Sometimes referred to as a "hidden disability", LD is not easily perceived by teachers and coaches. Students…

Despite the importance of reading comprehension, many secondary students with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) struggle with this skill. Students with ID also experience greater challenges in foundational literacy skills (i.e., skills related to phonological awareness) and the cognitive skills temporal processing and nonverbal reasoning (Van…

Although many students struggle to comprehend text, some populations of students are particularly impacted. Students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), for example, perform lower on working memory measures, which can make reading comprehension even more difficult (Gropper & Tannock, 2009). Inattention, specifically, appears…

Nearly every secondary-age student must complete homework for their classes, and for many students with disabilities, completing homework at home is a struggle. Students with disabilities often require substantial support to execute homework assignments, and this responsibility frequently falls to their families. This dynamic can create a…

Many students with learning disabilities (LD) struggle to develop text-writing fluency: the skill of accurately and efficiently composing multiple words into sentences and passages understandable to readers. In prior studies, researchers have used instructional assessments to control for task difficulty and identify precise areas of text-writing…

Sometimes, despite the most perfectly delivered writing lesson implemented with fidelity, students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) do not make the progress expected by teachers or themselves. In these instances, teachers may individualize and differentiate for students with EBD not making adequate progress by purposefully…

Although many teachers hold generally positive views of using disability literature with children to support the development of more inclusive communities and schools (Beneke & Cheatham, 2020), little is known about how teachers work with families and address concerns families may have about using such literature. What follows are three…

Having the ability to read is an essential skill for an individual. However, comprehension, the aim of reading, is a complex cognitive process that involves constructing meaning through deliberate thinking. Unfortunately, students with learning disabilities (LD) often struggle with reading, which impairs their comprehension abilities. Repeated…

Schools and teachers must create optimal instructional learning environments for increasingly diverse student populations. Achieving such a learning environment requires teacher educators and teachers to recognize the voices and ways of knowing for students with dis/abilities who must be heard and accorded legitimacy. The purpose of this case…

Studies have shown the benefits of fingerspelling on literacy skills in school-age deaf and hard-of-hearing students. This study is an observation of 20 first- and second-grade classrooms. The classroom observations were coded for fingerspelling event frequency, type, length, and whether it was chained to print. The observations showed that…

This book provides new and experienced Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) with a critical approach to understanding the importance of outstanding leadership of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and how to effectively meet the current SEND policy requirements. Closely informed by the statutory guidance for SENCOs, this…

Social work education is mandated to provide inclusivity and accessibility to all students. Critical disability theory (CDT) challenges the notion that disabilities should be eradicated; rather, it declares that different abilities should be acknowledged and embraced as contributions. Universal design (UD), originating as a framework for…