Parents of children with disabilities are an important part of their child's special education team. However, parents often have limited involvement in school-based therapies that are provided as part of a child's Individualized Education Program. The field lacks tools to assess the domain and extent of parent needs for optimal engagement in their…

There is a need to investigate the diagnostic utility of autism diagnostic questionnaires in school-age children, who are increasingly being referred for autism assessment. Aside from the standardization sample, little research has been conducted on the Autism Spectrum Rating Scales, particularly regarding teacher reports. This study investigated…

Each year, over 1.2 million children and youth identified as experiencing homelessness in the nation's schools face the educational disruption caused by not having a safe and stable place to live. Children and youth experiencing homelessness face educational challenges that include a lack of basic necessities, such as food, clothing, and medical…

Video games have become a mainstream form of entertainment that are played regularly by many around the world, including a large number of youth with disabilities (YwD). Video games' popular presence in our society has created exciting new opportunities for student learning that educators who work with YwD can leverage for both skill acquisition…

As advocates for children and youth with exceptionalities, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) believes that strong public education systems are necessary to ensure the promise of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004. This position statement presents the…

This document, from the Council for Exceptional Children, Division of Emotional and Behavioral Health (DEBH), provides clear and compelling support for the abolishment of solitary confinement with incarcerated youth and young adults in juvenile and adult correctional facilities. This is the first position statement from DEBH on the topic, and the…

This article synthesizes policy and intervention options for youth with disabilities based on recent reports from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy. To frame findings from both reports, we utilize a life course approach. This approach is important as…

The use of response-to-intervention (RTI) to identify children and youth with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) is described with multiple illustrations. Essential components of the RTI process are specified at multiple tiers of intervention, each essential to valid SLD identification. The RTI goals are prevention in general education, early…

This article briefly reviews the history of intellectual assessment of children and youth in the United States of America, as well as current practices and future directions. Although administration of intelligence tests in the schools has been a longstanding practice in the United States, their use has also elicited sharp controversy over time.…

Since the enactment of the "Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975" ("EHA"), Public Law (P.L.) 94-142 and its successor statute, the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA"), the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (secretary) (and her predecessor, the commissioner of…

Research suggests that youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are less likely than youth with other disabilities to be successful in transitioning to work and postsecondary education and therefore, they may face a lifetime of reliance on public assistance. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to examine services provided…

Since the enactment of the "Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975" ("EHA"), Public Law (P.L.) 94-142 and its successor statute, the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA" or "act"), the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (secretary) (and her predecessor, the…

Since its enactment, the "Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975," Public Law (P.L.) 94-142, requires the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (secretary) [and predecessor, the commissioner of education at the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare] to transmit to Congress an annual report to inform…

A number of best practices are recommended by researchers and professionals in the field of transition to improve postschool outcomes for youth with intellectual disabilities. This study analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 to examine whether best practices are predictive of postschool outcomes. The combination of five…

A qualitative exploration of a service-learning program for high school students with disabilities is presented. Focus groups with (n = 15) students and interviews with (n = 3) service-learning teachers at multiple service-learning sites were conducted to explore the perceptions of students and service-learning teachers regarding the impact of the…