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Values have long guided special education services and supports for students with extensive support needs; over the past four decades, those values have been backed by research evidence demonstrating the critical nature of values related to inclusive education, self-determination, and seeking strengths and assets. In this chapter, we investigate these values and their supporting research, documenting strengths and needs in extant research. We emphasize the need to continue to embrace and maintain these values while pursuing research that addresses research gaps while centering the priorities, perspectives, and preferences of people with extensive support needs.

Family–school partnerships are an essential component of the special education process for children with disabilities. Notably, recent legislative reauthorizations of IDEA (2004) have focused on increasing parent involvement. For many parents, participation occurs primarily through the individualized education program (IEP) meetings. Parent involvement often includes parent advocating for their children. However, many parents face barriers when advocating to obtain appropriate special education services for their children with disabilities. Culturally and linguistically diverse families face greater systemic barriers (e.g., language and cultural differences) to access services for their own children with disabilities. School professionals can foster opportunities to help families be active members of the IEP process. For example, school professionals should connect families with resources to learn about their special education rights. Specifically, school personnel can encourage families to reach out to their local Parent Training and Information (PTI) Center to be educated and empowered to advocate for services. In addition, parents can be encouraged to attend parent advocacy programs to help increase knowledge, advocacy, and empowerment to access and advocate for services for their own children. Advancing the values of working with parents of students with special education needs is discussed.

The evolution and trends of special education and educational leadership are evident, especially in recent years. The former has strived to provide equitable educational opportunities to students with disabilities. The latter has dealt with how people in positions of authority in K-12 schools create policy, use resources, and influence other people to achieve educational goals. Together, these notions constitute an idea that school leaders and administrators can provide insight, oversight, assistance, and guidance toward creating educational environments for students with and without disabilities. This chapter examines the current state of special education and educational leadership by exploring the evolution of special education, relevant legal cases, and the enactment of inclusive education. Furthermore, this chapter addresses contemporary issues for leaders, such as the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, while dealing with special education and the increasing pressure from families for equity for students with disabilities.

This chapter explores the complex intersection between students with disabilities and bullying prevention within educational settings. While bullying impacts all students, those with disabilities face unique challenges that make them more vulnerable to such experiences (Rose & Gage, 2016; Rose et al., 2011). By examining the underlying factors contributing to the heightened risk of bullying among students with disabilities, this chapter aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issue. It delves into the specific ways in which students with disabilities are targeted and engage in bullying behaviors, such as through verbal, relational, or physical, and highlights the negative consequences on their overall well-being and academic performance. Moreover, this chapter examines existing interventions and strategies employed to prevent bullying among students with disabilities. It critically evaluates the effectiveness of individual, classroom, and school-wide interventions, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach that addresses the unique needs and challenges faced by this subset of students. The importance of collaboration between educators, parents, and other stakeholders in implementing evidence-based practices is also emphasized. By promoting awareness, fostering inclusive school environments, and implementing targeted interventions, we can strive toward creating a safe and supportive atmosphere that enables students with disabilities to thrive academically and socially, free from bullying involvement.

According to national surveys, every year approximately 20% of school-age students report bullying victimization. The risk of victimization is even higher for students with disabilities, particularly those whose disabilities are characterized by social–emotional or behavioral traits. To address public concern over bullying, states passed anti-bullying laws and schools implemented bullying prevention programs, with little effect on the frequency of bullying. Consequently, parents of students with disabilities increasingly filed lawsuits to address the harm caused by bullying. Previous research established an increasing trajectory for the frequency of these lawsuits, although the outcomes remained largely favorable to the district defendants. To determine whether these trends continue, this study examined bullying-related court decisions over a 2.5 year period to determine the frequency of cases and claim basis rulings, the representation of disability categories among student plaintiffs, and the outcomes distribution for the claim rulings and cases. The findings noted a continued increasing trajectory for the frequency of cases with an overrepresentation of plaintiffs with ADHD, mental health diagnoses, and autism. Most commonly cited legal bases were Section 504/ADA and negligence, with the overall outcomes distribution more parent plaintiff-favorable than the previous research. To prevent potential liability, educators should strengthen efforts to both comply with reporting and investigation requirements as well as establishing a school culture that accepts differences among students.

This chapter honors the opportunity I have had to learn with David Maines over the past 35 years. I connect my research on communication and disability, specifically among individuals who are blind and visually impaired, to Maines' discussion of narratives incorporating Rawlins' exploration of similarity and difference. I discuss narratives of disability as difference using three examples: A short story written by H. G. Wells; the American with Disabilities Act; and interviews conducted with elite blind goalball athletes. I conclude with 10 lessons learned about disability and difference including that the goal of my research is to help us all perceive disability as a difference that matters, but not as a difference that disables.

Several studies have been conducted on social inequalities. Despite highlighting inequalities between the rich and poor, researchers often overlook the fact that disabled people in Africa are marginalised more than their counterparts elsewhere. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a theory and data analysis method, this study sought to answer two questions: (1) What is reported about the inclusion of disabled people in using digital media? (2) How is it reported? Twenty-two articles were purposively sampled: 15 from Newsday and 7 from The Herald published between 20 November 2017 and 24 September 2022. Findings indicate that the two papers exposed marginalisation of disabled people in an educative and informative way and had erudite analysis from disabled columnists. This was successful because the papers relied on the disabled community as sources of information and contributors of published material. The papers also engaged stakeholders such as corporates, government and civil society organisations. It is recommended that other newspapers and many forms of mass communication provide a representation of people with different forms of disabilities. Future studies could seek the views of disabled communities about their presentation in the digital media through disabled writers and providers of information.

This chapter sought to answer the following questions: (a) what does special education means for students with intellectual disability?, (b) what is being done, and (c) how do we maintain tradition? The answers, while complicated, suggest special education for students with intellectual disability historically and currently involves attention to what, how, and where, with the how being the key elements of special education for students with intellectual disability. This chapter discussed the what, how, and where for students with intellectual disability in a historical and current framework while also providing evidence-based practices for students with intellectual disability to implement to maintain the tradition of high-quality services.