Applied behavior analysis professionals have valuable expertise to share with parents of individuals with disabilities. Unfortunately, professionals also tend to talk like professionals, which means they use technical terminology that may be detrimental to productive relationships with stakeholders. Several studies have documented that laypersons…

This book responds to a critical need for highly qualified personnel who will become exemplary professionals because of their advanced knowledge, skills, and experiences in working with students and adults that have varying disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Since Board Certification for behavior analysts was introduced,…

Elopement occurs when an individual runs away from or leaves a supervised area. Elopement is a dangerous behavior that requires diligence from school personnel in order to effectively reduce its occurrence. Using a step-by-step process to identify the reasons goal-directed elopement occurs and then implementing an intervention to effectively teach…

We used a multi-method design to determine the quality of technology-enhanced performance-based peer feedback, teacher candidate strategy use, and child behaviors over time. We also explored teacher candidates' perceived social validity of technology-enhanced performance-based peer feedback. Eleven teacher candidates enrolled in an early childhood…

We draw from scholars in disability studies (DSE), critical race theory (CRT), and disability critical race studies in education (DisCrit) who argue that it is at the intersection of "justified" discrimination based on race and dis/ability, segregation and oppression that we must now work to name systems of exclusion at work in our…

Autistic students are faced with ableism and oppressive practices daily in their school environments. Special educators can mitigate this problem by celebrating the neurodiversity of the students in their classroom. Utilizing a critical disability theory lens, I conducted an instrumental case study through observations and interviews with six…

Many populations served by special education, including those identified with autism, emotional impairments, or students identified as not ready to learn, experience social competence deficits. The Social Competence Intervention-Adolescents' (SCI-A) methods, content, and materials were designed to be maximally pertinent and applicable to the…

In the province of Manitoba, Canada, there is a gap between the rhetoric of inclusive education and its practical implementation. In the absence of inclusive educational policies and guidelines, deficit-based approaches such as categorical labels for students who are deemed to have a severe emotional and behavioural disorder, segregated…

This article introduces a center-based direct instruction lesson using picture-based situation cards paired with a problem-solving poster that teachers can implement within the classroom to proactively teach the skill of problem-solving to children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old.

This research shares findings from a year-long observational study to determine if there were significant differences in the identified behaviors of teachers and students in fourth and seventh grade classrooms in schools with an achievement gap versus those with no achievement gap. Specific research questions addressed types of instructional…

Allegations of improper discipline are commonly the focus of special education litigation filed against school districts. Because ignorance of the law is no defense, administrators and educators must understand special education law. Yet many educators receive little to no legal training. To address the lack of training and prevent future…

Over the past 20-plus years, the instructional approach referred to as "explicit instruction" has been increasingly mentioned as an instructional method in the learning disabilities literature. Explicit instruction is not a unitary intervention, but can be a combination of over a dozen teaching behaviors or components used to design and…

Students with academic, social, and emotional disabilities often demonstrate challenging behaviors and struggle to remain focused on the lesson, learn less that their peers, resulting in lower academic achievement. Research has demonstrated that the more actively engaged students are in the lesson, the more they learn, and therefore the more…

Despite advances in evidence-based core instruction and intervention, many students with disabilities continue to achieve poor academic and behavioral outcomes. Many of these students are not sufficiently responsive to standardized programs and require more intensive, individualized supports. While many interventions and school problem-solving…

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommended that direct support professionals (DSPs) take additional steps to protect people with disabilities during COVID-19 and receive training on the use of personal protective equipment and infection prevention. The Golisano Institute for Developmental Disability Nursing identified this as an unmet need…