There are many challenges that lie ahead for families of children with special needs. It is indeed a time for conquering the unknown and diligently exploring the options in an effort to locate, understand, and ultimately embrace the as yet undiscovered beauties of the new setting. This paper will consider some of the issues relevant for parents,…

"Special Education Law," by Laura F. Rothstein, is organized into three major segments: (1) conceptual background material about the history of special education law; (2) analysis of issues in identification, evaluation, programing, placement, provision of related services, and due process protection; and (3) more esoteric legal matters.…

This book is the first publication in the fifth series of seminars organised by the SEN Policy Options Steering Group to examine policy issues to do with special educational needs. The aim of the seminar was to examine in depth several underlying issues raised by the recent Audit Commission Reports on special educational needs. The seminar…

This one-page abstract, was derived from document abstracts listed in "Research on the Effectiveness of Mainstreaming," an ERIC Computer Search Reprint containing bibliographic information and abstracts on more than 120 studies. In the studies reviewed, the role of regular and special education teachers is identified as critical to the…

Reviews book describing service delivery model for transition program. Describes book as combination of pragmatic, specific information about transition program curriculum and philosophical and historical information. Suggests described program is comprehensive, community-integrated effort at transition program for students with mild disabilities.…

Reviews "Contexts of Early Intervention: Systems and Settings." Maintains that the book's strengths include its discussion of how macrosystems reflect the overall context of early intervention, funding issues, and the comprehensive description of family child care. Suggests that not all chapters are equally strong in emphasizing research…

Ten books, which focus on persons with special needs, are reviewed. Topics include teaching strategies, testing, reading and language arts, mainstreaming, perspectives of disabled children and adults, and a fictional account of a disabled child's experiences. (IAH)

This book review of "Creating Collaborative and Inclusive Schools" by Lorna Idol summarizes the factors the book sees as critical in the development of such schools but raises concerns about the author's distinction between inclusion and mainstreaming and the lack of attention to specific skills needed for effective communication and…

Reviews Lipsky and Gartner's book, "Beyond Separate Education: Quality Education for All," and Biklen, Ferguson, and Ford's book, "Schooling and Disability: (NSSE Yearbook Series)." Discusses the shared opinion that the direction of reform should be toward the integration of handicapped children into the regular school program. (JS)

Reviews the longitudinal study on special needs adoption examined in Groze's work. Notes that the main strength of the book is showing how these adopted families are different from other families. Criticizes the work's limitations, including small sample size, use of self-reports, and decreased information when the children became adolescents.…

Over the past two decades a new model of behavior change--one derived from a functional contextual philosophy, while up holding to basic principles of learning with an eye on practical utility--has emerged tour de force of the psychotherapy scene. This model is based on a modern behavior analytic account of language and cognition known as…

There has recently been an explosion of interest and writing about autism, autism spectrum disorders, pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDDNOS). This issue of the "Early Childhood Bulletin" suggests readings for parents, therapists, and professionals serving on Interagency…

Gives criteria with which to evaluate children's and young adult books that depict mentally disabled characters, including accuracy of information, lack of stereotypes, literary quality, confronting the disability, and not "using" disabled characters. Six exemplary titles are examined in light of these criteria, and 11 other books are…

Describes as advances of the Hauser-Cram et al. study increasing basic information about children with disabilities and their families, showing a combined organismic-contextual developmental perspective, and operationalizing tenets of developmental psychopathology. Considers as limitations: the role of etiology, the need to reconceptualize…

Reviews 17 publications covering a variety of topics including abused disabled children; child placement; helping attachment disordered children; open adoption; family empowerment; teenage fostering; the Children Act of 1989 (Great Britain); family law; social services and child care law; and challenging racism in the early years. (TJQ)