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Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) and the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), this study compared the post-high school outcomes of young adults with learning disabilities (LD) or emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) in 1990 and 2005. These cohort comparisons reveal how the results of special education have changed over that time period as evidenced in the post-high school outcomes of nationally representative samples of youth. The extended data collection time period of NLTS2 (2001–2009) also enabled an assessment of the evolution in the post-high school outcomes of young adults with LD or EBD who had been out of high school up to 8 years. The post-high school outcomes considered included high school completion, postsecondary education enrollment and completion, employment status and wages, and community integration as illustrated by living arrangements and criminal justice system involvement. Findings for both the NLTS/NLTS2 cohort comparisons and the longitudinal analyses from NLTS2 indicate progress in efforts to improve outcomes for youth and young adults with LD or EBD but also underscore the work ahead in setting these groups on a path to successful adulthood. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Thorough assessment of communication is of utmost importance for successful working with people with learning disabilities. Indeed, recent legislation now makes it incumbent on professionals working with people with learning disabilities to address issues of communication, both their own communication to clients and that of their clients. There are clear associations between learning disabilities, emotional, behavioural and psychiatric problems, and impaired communication. The nature of the communication impairments experienced by individuals with learning disabilities is likely to be complex, with cumulative and inter‐related features associated with the general developmental delay, the phenotypical presentation in a particular syndrome, the presence of specific linguistic impairments and the indirect impact of other difficulties on communication skills. A number of parameters need to be addressed in a communication assessment in order to take account of the complexity and dynamism of the communication process. They concern not only the underlying developmental and communication impairments affecting particular areas of functioning, but also many aspects of the wider context in which the communication takes place.

Questions about the short- and long-term effects of the trauma of 9/11 on students with special needs and the coping strategies used by their teachers to deal satisfactorily with the effects prompted the creation of a survey to examine these issues. While the survey was in its inception and before its completion, a consultation was held with a counselor from the Behavioral Studies program at the University of South Alabama to ensure that the survey was thorough and relevant to post-traumatic stress.

People with disabilities have always existed in our communities and societies; however, how we treat them has always been an issue. For example, for a long time, people with physical disabilities received more attention than those with disabilities that we could hardly see (e.g., learning disabilities). Very early research focused on students with sensory impairments and then the focus shifted to students with cognitive impairments. Finally, the focus was on students with learning disabilities and emotional behavioral disorders. Early research with this last group of students focused on comparing students with and without disabilities to document deficits and characteristics of these individuals. Over time, when the characteristics were established, researchers moved their attention to interventions or ways to improve deficits in specific content areas such as reading and mathematics. This chapter is an introduction to the rest of this volume that addresses different viewpoints on interventions for students with different types of disabilities.

Little research has been conducted regarding the disproportionate representation of minority learners in programs for students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (E/BD). To date, the majority of the disproportionality literature examines multiple eligibility categories, most frequently the high incidence disabilities of Mild Intellectual Disabilities, E/BD, and Learning Disabilities. This chapter narrows analytical attention to a single category to add specificity and depth to disproportionality knowledge through a review of the E/BD literature between 2000 and 2010. Of the 16 studies reviewed, we found 11 socio-demographic, quantitative studies that analyzed E/BD special education placement patterns or office discipline referrals for students with E/BD. Two quantitative studies explored ecological conceptualizations of behavioral problems to understand interactions between institutions' special education eligibility processes, and socio-cultural and spatial contexts of schools. Finally, we located three studies that targeted families' perceptions of student behavior, and professionals' biases related to disproportionality. We conclude with reflections about what the current literature suggests as necessary for the next generation of research on this important topic.

In the field of behavioral disabilities, systematic direct observation (SDO) has been an integral tool for describing and explaining relationships between student and teacher behavior in authentic classroom settings. However, this method of measurement can be resource-intensive and presents a series of complex decisions for investigators. The purpose of this chapter is to review a series of critical decisions investigators must make when developing SDO protocols to address their research questions. After describing each decision point and its relevance to the measurement system, we identify trends and special considerations in the field of behavioral disabilities with respect to each decision. We organize content according to deciding what to measure, deciding how to measure it, and critical steps to prevent system breakdowns. Finally, we identify avenues for research to further the impact of SDO in the field of behavioral disabilities.

An exploratory study was undertaken to examine the implementation of strategy instruction in persuasive writing with a class of 10 adolescent students with severe emotional/behavioral disabilities (EBD). Several learner characteristics were observed to interact with curriculum and instructional variables. Modifications were made, on an ongoing basis, to respond to these student characteristics. After approximately four months of instruction, findings indicated that all students had mastered the components of effective persuasive essay writing, and performed competently on criterion writing measures, greatly different from performance at the beginning of instruction. Although the design of this investigation does not allow for definitive causal explanations, insights were gained regarding the interaction between EBD characteristics and strategy instruction. Implications for further research are discussed.

Currently there is a lack of evidence existing on technology specifically to support students with emotional-behavior disorder (EBD) in schools (Fitzpatrick & Knowlton, 2009). However, assistive technology (AT) considerations for all students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) must still occur. Evidence exists that technology can compensate for students with other identified disabilities and while the specific research of students with EBD is lacking, students with disabilities, in general, appear to benefit from the support of technology. This chapter discusses how technology supports access to the general education curriculum for student with EBD in the academic areas of reading, writing, and math as well as supports self-management. Resources for free AT are also highlighted.

In this chapter, we examine the current research on how technology is applied to benefit students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders (EBD). First, we describe the iterative yet unpredictable nature of technological innovation to suggest that incremental successes are qualified by the creation of often unforeseen consequences. We then identify commonly used nonelectronic technologies in education to emphasize that the hoped-for advances in electronic technology have failed to deliver on their decades-old promise of educational revolution. We continue with our review of the literature on empirical studies examining how technology is used to support students with EBD. These findings indicate that the research design primarily employed in this field is single-subject. Examples of specific findings include web-based graphic organizers for student writing, virtual self-modeling for targeting student behaviors, and virtual coaching for teachers of students with EBD. We conclude by reviewing how leaders in the field of special education predict the field will change in the future. Overall, with an increased emphasis on research accessibility and practitioner-validated knowledge, and advances in neuroscience and artificial technologies, practitioners may hold a more central role to the creation and dissemination of knowledge.

This chapter focuses upon high school preparation and transition planning activities as they apply to students with disabilities. The reader will find a review of needs for reform of high school standards-based curricula, the development of inclusive general education curriculum content, and strategies for integrating functional and daily living skill training and meaningful transition planning activities, which include collaboration with adult agencies. The authors further present a number of evidence-based practices to address these needs and make recommendations for moving forward in ways to improve post-school outcomes for youth with disabilities.