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Most social scientists believe that schools serving the disadvantaged provide considerably poorer learning environments than schools serving advantaged students. As a result, schools are thought to be an important source of social problems like inequality. However, an important subset of research employing seasonal comparisons (observing how achievement gaps change when school is in versus out) disputes this position. These studies note that socioeconomic-based gaps in skills grow faster when school is out versus in, suggesting that achievement gaps would be larger if not for schools. I discuss the advantages of seasonal comparison studies and how they provide a more contextual perspective for understanding several important questions, such as: (1) What is the distribution of school quality? (2) How does inequality outside of school condition the way schools matter? and (3) Which policies, school or non-school, most effectively reduce achievement gaps? I conclude that our understanding of how schools influence inequality would be improved by employing the more contextual perspective offered by seasonal comparisons. Seasonal comparison studies have not played a meaningful role in public discussions and so the public lacks a proper understanding of the extent to which social context shapes achievement gaps. This is unfortunate because we continue to try and address achievement gaps primarily through school reform when the real source of the problem lies in the inequalities outside of schools.

Students who are visually impaired (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) need information and advice specific to their needs when they are in the process of making the transition from the school years to their adult lives. This chapter outlines disability-specific needs, instructional strategies, school professionals involved in teaching children who are visually impaired, and recommended resources for this population of students who are visually impaired with and without additional disabilities. Instructional supports for learners who are visually impaired during the transition years and many years in advance of the transition years are explicitly explored. The heterogeneous nature of the population of students with visual impairments and the long-standing, high unemployment rate are additional discussion points presented within this chapter for specific consideration.

This chapter discusses the elements of interventions provided to students who are visually impaired within the context of past instructional advancements still in effect today and current instructional advancements preparing the field for tomorrow. Disability-specific interventions and the theoretical framework that encompasses the unique areas of instruction for students with visual impairments are described. Important additional considerations of interventions for students with visual impairments are presented. Needs of students who are visually impaired, alignment with state standards, management of limited instructional time, and shortage of qualified specialists who teach students with visual impairments are examples of significant matters to be considered for effective instructional practice in present-day classrooms.

This chapter presents “what we know” about the application of technology to instruction for students with learning and behavioral disabilities. Information is presented on research-based effective practices in technological interventions for teaching specific academic skills, delivering content at the secondary level and using technology as a tool for assessment. The chapter concludes with a discussion on Universal Design for Learning and the promises this paradigm holds for educating not only students with special needs, but all learners. The chapter begins where parents and teachers typically begin: the consideration of technology.

For a number of years, the American School Counselor Association has been working to identify and clarify the role and function of school counselors within Developmental and Comprehensive School Counseling programs. The terms “Developmental” and “Comprehensive” mean that school counseling programs establish goals for their programs that are developmentally appropriate to the age and needs of students and that current and future goals build upon previous goal achievement. Thus, school counseling programs should be in place throughout students’ entire K-12 academic experience.

Assessment techniques for students with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) are designed to meet their unique learning needs. Considerations for assessment both within the general curriculum and expanded core curriculum (ECC) for students with visual impairments are presented. The roles of educational team members are discussed, especially as related to special education service providers trained to teach students with visual impairments. The heterogeneous nature of the population of students with visual impairments and the importance of assessment as a collaborative process are additional discussion points presented within this chapter for specific consideration.

Neuropsychologically informed rehabilitation (NIR) is one approach to supporting people with intellectual disabilities, cognitive impairment and challenging behaviour. This study aims to evaluate a five-day training course in NIR for staff working with adult male offenders with intellectual disabilities in a high secure hospital. The impacts on both the staff who undertook the training and the patients with challenging behaviour were explored.

Participants were psychology, nursing and day services staff and male patients. The staff completed a post-training questionnaire and three measures at pre-NIR training, post-NIR training and one-year follow-up. Patients completed four questionnaire measures within the same periods.

NIR training was positively evaluated by staff. Staff members’ perceived efficacy in working with challenging behaviour significantly increased post-training which was maintained at follow-up. Thematic analysis showed that the training staff members built their confidence, knowledge and skills. Because of these being high to start with, the study could not evidence statistically significant changes in these. Thematic analysis yielded two main themes, namely, benefits and quality of training, each with their own subthemes. The impacts of the training on patients were difficult to assess related to various factors.

The knowledge and confidence measures used were limited in scope with an experienced staff group and required development.

NIR training could assist staff in other secure and community settings in working with people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviours.

This study positively contributes to an area that requires more research.

Females with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may display superficial social skills which may mask their ASD symptomology impacting on the identification of the disorder – known as the “camouflage” hypothesis. Compared to males with ASD, it is increasingly recognised that females with ASD have a stronger ability to imitate behaviour which is socially acceptable, particularly those females who have higher cognitive abilities (i.e. intelligence considered to be within the normal range) (Ehlers and Gillberg, 1993). The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This paper will explore the literature on camouflaging or masking behaviour in females with ASD. A systematic PRISMA review was conducted.

The capacity to “camouflage” social difficulties in social situations is considered to be one of the main features of the female phenotype of ASD (e.g. Kenyon, 2014). Social imitation or camouflaging enables some level of success and coping, which results in some females never receiving a diagnosis of ASD. They typically may not exhibit any observable functional impairments. However, under the surface of the camouflage, females may experience high levels of subjective stress, anxiety and exhaustion and a need to re-charge or recuperate by withdrawing from any social interaction.

There is relatively little understanding and knowledge of the female phenotype of ASD. This lack of understanding and knowledge impacts significantly on the ability to identify females with ASD (Lai et al., 2015; Bargiela et al., 2016), which can have a number of negative consequence (Adamou et al., 2018; National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (UK), 2012).

There is a need for the development of a camouflaging measure.

There is a real need for further research exploring the positive and negative impact of the phenomenon of “camouflaging”, or “pretending to be normal” in females with ASD.

The purpose of this paper is to critically review the literature on design thinking training to elucidate guidelines for best practices of design thinking training interventions.

The literature was reviewed, which outlined several themes that informed a series of recommendations for organizations considering developing design thinking training.

Process-based training, delivery activities and content, skills-based approach, delivery format, support for training and training evaluation were identified as key themes in the literature. These themes highlighted practical recommendations for developing design thinking training interventions. Findings also demonstrate current limitations in the literature.

Research on design thinking training is limited; therefore, recommendations for training should be applied carefully. The limited research points to a fruitful area for future research and development of design thinking training.

This paper suggests that researchers and practitioners should develop face-to-face or hybrid design thinking training interventions that follow the design thinking process and focus on the development of relevant skills, using interactive, user-focused and design visualization activities. Results suggest that adequate support for training should be provided, and outcomes of training should be empirically evaluated.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to review the design thinking training literature and provide general recommendations for both design thinking training development and design thinking research.

This chapter discusses what special education means for students with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) including what is being done and how traditions are maintained. More specifically, this chapter explores the importance of advancing values for the diverse population of students with visual impairments, focusing on cultivation of supportive, inclusive, and collaborative educational environments that continue to stand the test of time. This chapter highlights the increasing heterogeneity of this population of students and specific instructional strategies to support the cultural and linguistic diversity of learners with visual impairments in today's classrooms. This chapter also discusses the significance of promoting core concepts that are rooted in a traditional and specialized instructional framework for students who are visually impaired.