Special Education in Contemporary Society

Book excerpt: This engaging text and media package, designed for students of special and general education, provides a rare glimpse into the lives of persons with exceptionalities, their families, and their teachers. Focusing on human exceptionalities across the life span, it employs a traditional organization beginning with four foundations chapters covering such important topics as the historical and legal contexts of special education, service delivery models, cultural and linguistic diversity, and a full chapter on parents and families. Ten "categorical" chapters, each of which share a common organizational format, follow these chapters. The Second Edition includes a new full chapter on ADHD, "Persons with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder," reflecting growing prevalence of this disability. Each categorical chapter also features sections on transition, cultural diversity, technology, instructional strategies, and family considerations. The "Making Inclusion Work" feature, prepared by in-service teachers, offers strategies for effective inclusion and appears in most of the categorical chapters. The FREE CD-Rom includes video cases that focus on the teaching of children with exceptionalities, paying special attention to inclusion and working with families. A margin notation in the text, "Video Case Connections, directs you to specific videos that are keyed to relevant areas of text coverage.